Re: XyWrite For Windows

[Stephen Crutchfield]

Well, as you know I've had some nasty problems using XyWrite for Windows, which
seem to be peculiar to my setups (IBM 57, OS/2). On the whole, though, I'm very
happy with it. Here are my wishes/suggestions/reactions:

1. Will there be documentation of the dialogue and menu system? The old
'Customizing XyWrite' manual from 4.0 for DOS is a help, but there seem to be
lots of new quirks and features for the Windows dialogues and menus.

2. I'd like to see a 'Pick List' of most recently opened files added to the
File pull-down menu. Most Windows programs (Word Perfect, Excel) offer this
feature. I've discovered a "ReOpen" dialogue box in the XWDLG.DLG file which
is currently unused: it lists all the files recently opened by the File Open
menu sequence. I modified my menu system to add a ReOpen option which calls up
this dialogue box, and its quite handy. The problem is that the list of files
is not maintained between sessions. (When I get some time to play around with
it I'll figure out a way to do it).

3. The process of selecting addtional text by the SHIFT+ARROW KEY combination
is very jerky and slow.

4. The default of O1=2 (adjusting screen/font mis-matches) seems ill-chosen. I
found many instances where text was truncated at the right margin for certain
font/size combinations. I chose O1=1, and got MUCH better results.

5. Typing text into the ZOOM and IP boxes in the format bar doesn't work (I
already reported this bug).

6. The installation program is atrocious, with regards to RE-installing
features.

7. I get random 'Protection Violations', which don't crash the program but make
me a tad nervous.

On the postive side:

1. The new ruler bar makes formatting tables a breeze. I really like it!

2. The button bar is useful and pleasant to look at.

3. The speed and 'snappy feel' of the program are light years ahead of the
competition: Editing heavily formatted text in a GUI environment with Word
Perfect for Windows is a chore; with XyWrite it's almost fun.

4. File compatibility with the DOS version is excellent.

5. Many of my customization routines (menus/dialogues/XPL programs) have come
over to the Windows version very nnicely.

6. Working in the WYSIWYG view is a dream. It's vastly superior to XyWrite for
DOS; the screen is easier on the eyes and the speed is much improved. I also
like the ability to use ATM and True Type fonts with the Windows printer
driver: Complex, font-filled documents I used to do in PageMaker can now be
produced with ease in XyWrite.

More responses as I have time to fiddle around more. Thanks for the opportunity
to contribute.