Re: XYwrite on other platforms

["Richard A. Sherer" rasherer@xxxxxxxx]

At 12:05 PM 4/16/98 -0700, you wrote:
>" 04/16/98 -0700, Daniel Say wrote:
>" >    Does anyone use XYWin exclusively?
>"
>" I do. For straight-ahead reporting, it has all the advantages of the old
>" XyDos versions and more flexibility than the other word processors I've
>" been forced to use. I'm not interested enough in programming or specialized
>" applications to spend a lot of time trying to tweak it. It's been
>" reasonably stable, except when I overload Win95 with too many open
>" programs. I still use the command line for most functions, although the CUI
>" menus aren't too bad.
>	Then it seems like Xy4DOS, graphic fonts with command line
>	and pulldown menues.

Very much. I got started with XyWrite when it was ver. II, so I'm
accustomed to the DOS-based command structure and only use the menus for
some of the more advanced functions. Generally, though, it's just a GUI
over the DOS engine. (I'm sure Carl and Robert will disagee, but I speak
only as a user, not an expert!)

>	Is SmartWord all such menues? Being CUA compliant, we
>	are probably cut off from the redefining every key
>	idea.

Dunno. Haven't seen SmartWords. Couldn't afford to spend that much on a
word processor and have no need of all the legal attachments.

>	There are some people, (Hello ADPF), who redefine the
>	keyboard by geography and would hate the straight-jacket
>	of CUA function keys. But then not everyone uses the wide
>	keyboards of the Standard Poodle, and I have to adapt to
>	the 88 keys of some Toy Poodles such as laptops, but the
>	key pattern-combinations are the same.

I've always appreciated XyWrite's adaptability, but I've been able to
customize it using the basic elements. It works for me, so I'm happy. I'm
also glad that other people can adapt it to their styles, so we aren't
constrained by Redmond's view of the world.

>	Rothstein's book on XY mentioned redefining the keyboard
>	to act like the Wordstar of those days. Myself, I redefined
>	the keyboard to keep the Chiwriter keys the same, along
>	with my keyboard of PC-Write 2.6 ('the last good one')

Is that Rothman? I was fascinated by some of the tricks he had, and adapted
some of his macros. I still treasure the book.

>	And with my recent flurry of visiting the second hand
>	computer shops, swap meets and such, have enough Fujitsu
>	5100 and Gateway 2000 keyboards to last for several years
>	of 'geographical familiarity'. Spilling LoongJiang tea
>	onto the keyboards and my lap has less fear these days.

Haven't tried that. I confine my spills to French Roast.

>" I am getting desparate, however, for new conversion
>" filters, since Adobe sold Word for Word and there's no new version on the
>" market.
>" Richard A. Sherer
>" 	
>	Conversion to and from what? Often, Xywriters use
>	external BATch or XPL programs to call other conversion
>	programs.

To other word processors. I'm a freelancer, and most of the pubs I write
for want copy filed in a particular format. _They_ don't have the smarts or
the time to convert text, so I write it in XyWrite and and convert it to
the desired format. With Word for Word, I could even convert to some MAC
formats. But Adobe sold WfW and the new owner hasn't shown any interest in
updating the product, so the newer formats aren't supported.

>	And besides, should all options only be determined by
>	its appearance on paper?

Unfortunately, that's not my call. Publishing houses want text they can
have some barely trained technician pull into an off-the-shelf DP program,
and they don't want to screw around with converting obsolete WP text to
Microsoft's latest version. I know Annie and Leslie have a raft of tricks
for importing XyWrite into DPs, but my customers don't use them (or care!).

Richard A. Sherer