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JOE PRITCHARD tries out an easy-to-use word processor aimed at the home market LAST year Logotron introduced PenDown, a rom-based word processor for the BBC Micro, which was aimed at the junior and infant age group. The same program is now available on disc for the CPC Amstrads, but aimed at a different market. Described by Logotron as "a first word processor for the whole family", it is pointed at the home market, not surprising when you consider that this is a lot larger than the educational one for these machines. So how does PenDown shape up as an introductory word processor? On start up you're confronted by a writing area (the page length) 19 lines deep. This is set by default, but can be changed - the documentation suggests using 60 or so lines for older children or adults. PenDown is a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) word processor. In other words, the text appears on the screen exactly as it will be printed. However, it's not possible to see on the screen any of the optional fonts or print sizes that work with any Epson-compatible printer such as the DMP 2000. You type text into a 40 column page width, and this can be altered to 80 columns if desired. As you type in The status line keeps you informed of the page number, position on the current line, currently selected page width (40 or 80) and length. Maximum file length is restricted to 350 lines of text; not enough for budding Tolstoys but sufficient for beginners or anyone your text the arrow keys. Shift and Delete all have their usuaf functions. Words automatically wrap around at the end of each line, preventing them from being broken. My main complaint about entering text into the program, and I had this problem with the BBC version as well, is that once you get to the bottom of a page you have to select the new page option or use the down arrow key to move on to a new page. At this point your previous text apparently disappears, which can be rather alarming. The text is still in memory, however, and can be recalled using the up arrow key. You do get used to it, but it can be a little startling at first. There's more to this program than simply editing text. The function keys activate a series of drop down menus which give you access to a variety of functions. For instance, fO activates the writing options which provide a series of functions designed to help when entering text.
You make your choice using the arrow keys to move a highlight bar then press Enter to confirm your choice. Using the writing menu you can also switch between 40/80 column screen modes, turn to another page, change page width and length, justify and unjustify text and so on. One tab stop is allowed, which is set from this menu, and a rather nice search and replace facility is also offered. I was amazed to discover that changing screen mode from 40 to 80 column width clears the text from memory, after a suitable warning. Yes, you can save it then reload, but it should be possible to preserve and reformat the text automatically. This is the package's one major defect. Other function keys allow disc filing, printer control, cut and copy, a help function, a dictionary and a planner. The latter is a simple tree-structured writing facility for getting your ideas in order. Each idea is typed in as a heading, and each heading can be expanded into a series of sub heads, which you can then use to form the basis of a piece of text. The dictionary option is just that, and not a spelling checker. It provides a list of words from which you can make a choice using the arrow keys and Enter, and the selected word is then copied over to the current cursor position in the text. The word list chosen can be based on the words' first letters, or words related by meaning or usage -Amstrad CPC words or words meaning happy, for instance. An alphabetic list is provided on the disc to start you off, and the package offers easy editing and creation of these dictionary files. A Help option allows files of useful information regarding the program to be created and accessed from within the package. Writing your own help files is easily done from within Pen-Down itself, and instructions are provided from within the Help function. The Printer option allows you to output normal text using any printer, but the special fonts are only available on an Epson-compatible. A Font editor is included with the package just in case the ones supplied are not to your taste. The main editing screen is shown in Figure II. [NOIMG] The documentation certainly isn't up to the same standard as the software. It's reasonably well produced, but has some errors, which is a bit off in a package aimed at beginners. For instance, in one place you're told to use Control+Q rather than Tab to move to the tab stop because a Tab key isn't available. Well, Tab DOES work, but Control+Q doesn't. Elsewhere we find "keyboard interface programs" mentioned. This phrase turns up just once, and although I've a rough idea what it means, it might start people wondering "Why hasn't my disc got a keyboard interface program file on it?". The clue to the documentation lies in the phrase on page nine - "you probably know how to use the disc filing system on the RML 480Z". The documentation has been "versioned" for the CPC as well as the program. None of these errors were fatal in any way, but it seems a shame that the documentation fell a little short of the program. As a beginner's tool, or for educational purposes in home or school, I'd say this a good buy. The planner and dictionary facilities will obviously help even the most disorganised among you to get to grips with word processing. If you were to get the word processing bug in a big way you'd need to move on to a more sophisticated system, but I feel that CPC PenDown is an easy-to-use, friendly, beginner's word processor that will coax out the writer in all of us. CWTA |
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