Xy tip

["James D. Besser" jbesser@xxxxxxxx]

   Thought I'd pass along an XY tip that may be elementary to
many of you--but I was impressed with myself for doing it!

   I've been working with long and complex files; reading
reviews of the new WordPro with its ability to create tabbed
indices in files, I was wondering if I could do something
similar, tho cruder, in XyWrite/Dos.

   What I came up with is this. As I acquire data
(interviews, generally) I give each segment a slug-- usually the
last name of the interviewee. At the beginning of the interview
material, I include that name in all caps.

   Then I maintain a running index at the top of the file, with
the slugs similarly in all caps.

   I then did a little XPL program to allow for quick searches:
     XD,DW ≪sv01≫ BC sea /≪pv01≫/ XC XD. Then I assigned
that to a key.

   How it works: I cursor thru the index; when I find the name
I want, I hit the appropriate key, it executes the search command
for that slug and brings me to the appropriate section of text.

   Not as fancy as WordPro's tabs--but, I suspect, a lot faster.

   For what it's worth.....

jim besser