PERFECT WRITER COMMANDS


This text will document Perfect Writer commands which differ from
or may be unclear in the user's manual.  Page references are to
the original user's manual.  (Most of the commands are listed in
the help screen -- obtained by entering CONTROL--X ?.  If your
HELP file is incomplete or missing, a new one can be created by
running the bindings program.)

One caution should be noted.  UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE should the
command ESCAPE..K (delete to end of sentence) be given for the
last sentence of a text (when there is no carriage return after
it), for this will result in the terminal's hanging and loss of
all unsaved work!  For this reason, ALWAYS end the last sentence
of a text with a  carriage return (or insert a carriage return
when starting a text, and insert all characters before it).

As explained on the pages accompanying the Perfect software,
CONTROL--C (instead of CONTROL--K) functions as the DELETE LINE
command (page V-3).  ESCAPE..CONTROL--L functions as the REFRESH
SCREEN command (instead of CONTROL--L).  CONTROL--H, CONTROL--J,
CONTROL--K and CONTROL--L serve as cursor controls as do the
keyboard arrows.

CONTROL--Q      QUOTE CHARACTER -- Allows entry of a
non-alphanumeric character. For example, to embed an ASCII
"escape" (decimal 27) into a text, enter CONTROL--Q followed by
the <ESCAPE> key.  Perfect Writer still will remove the embedded
control character when formatting, but the feature can be used
when the file is read by other programs.

CONTROL--\      DELETE INDENTATION ON CURRENT LINE -- Removes
leading spaces and/or tabs from line that cursor is on (useful,
for instance, in verbatim mode when changing a line that is
centered to left justified).

CONTROL--^ or CONTROL--6        TOGGLE CASE -- Will change the
character in the cursor position from upper to lower case, or
vice versa.

ESCAPE..LINE FEED       DROP -- Drops rest of screen from cursor
one line down.

ESCAPE..J       INDENT SUBSEQUENT NEW LINE SAME AS CURRENT --
Inserts a new line directly below the current line and positions
the cursor on the new (empty) line in the same column as the
first character in the current (when the command was given) line.

ESCAPE..O       INDENT LEADING NEW LINE SAME AS CURRENT --
Inserts a new line directly above the current line and positions
the cursor on the new (empty) line in the same column as the
first character in the current (when the command was given) line.

ESCAPE..Q       FILL PARAGRAPH -- Reformats current paragraph on
screen according to the INDENT COLUMN and FILL COLUMN
specifications.  The right margin will be set to the currently
set fill column and the first line will remain where it is but
subsequent lines will be indented to the indent column.  The fill
column is the column number of the right-hand column (columns are
numbered 0 through 79).

ESCAPE..S       CENTER -- Centers text on current line (useful in
verbatim).

ESCAPE..\       DELETE WHITESPACE -- Deletes whitespace (tabs and
spaces -- not carriage returns) on either side of the
cursor.

CONTROL--X *    VERSION --  Echoes version number and release
date (not useful).   

CONTROL--X <    UNDENT REGION -- Undents (starts lines at column
0, does not fill resulting text) entire region (block out region
with marker and cursor or with ESCAPE..H before using sequence).

CONTROL--X >    INDENT REGION -- Indents entire region, leaving
all words on the same line -- possibly beyond fill column (block
out region with marker and cursor or with ESCAPE..H before using
sequence).

--X ?   HELP -- Displays menu of command summaries which can be
viewed on the screen.

CONTROL--X R    WRITE REGION -- Writes marked region to a file
with the name you supply (block out region with marker and cursor
or with ESCAPE..H before using sequence).

CONTROL--X \    DELETE TRAILING WHITESPACE -- Deletes all
trailing whitespace (all spaces and tabs that precede a carriage
return with no intervening characters) throughout entire
document.

In order to set the tab spacing, the indent column and the fill
column, type the ESCAPE key followed by the setting number
followed by CONTROL--X followed by either <TAB> (for setting the
tab spacing), or by "." (for setting the indent column) or by "F"
(to set the fill column).  For example, numbering the columns
from 0 through 79, the sequence "<ESCAPE> 15 CONTROL--X <TAB>"
will set tabs at columns 15, 30, 45, 60 and 75. NOTE:  In order
to set fill column for use entire 80 column screen, set fill at
78 (remember, columns are numbered 0 - 79), loosing the use of
the last column which will be used for spaces between words.

The "@SET" command can be used to set the page counter to a
desired number, in order to start page numbering other than at 1. 
For example, to start page numbering at 14, place "@SET(page =
13)" on the first page (it will be incremented before being
printed).

In the explanatory pages NLS originally supplied with the Perfect
software, there is some ambiguity about the commands ESCAPE..C
and ESCAPE..K.  To be clear, in Perfect WRITER, ESCAPE..K will
delete from the cursor until the end of a sentence is reached (as
given in the manual, page V-5).  ESCAPE..C  will capitalize the
letter the cursor is on, or, if the cursor is on a space, it will
cause the first letter of the next word to become capitalized. 
In either case, ESCAPE..C will place the cursor after the word
with the capital letter (page VIII-6).  The substitution of
ESCAPE..C for ESCAPE..K is for Perfect CALC.