Category: Geeks r Us
I'm having an extremely weird problem with Wordperfect 5.1. I opened a file straight from a floppy to read it. I'm able to read it but I can't use my cursor keys, except the up and down arrows, to navigate around the document. The reading itself sometimes works fine and is sometimes strange. For example, there are times when it reads lines fine, one right after the other. But most of the time, it'll say blank when there's no blank instead of reading text and then it'll pick up at another point in the file. So if I have six lines of text, it might read the first one fine, say blank for four of them and then pick up in the middle of the last. At first, I thought it was cause there was something wrong with the floppy, so I tried another and the same thing happened. Then, I thought it was cause these files were saved with Windows as txt and not txt -MS-DOS format, so I tried some files on the hard disk that were saved in the latter format and no luck. I even played around with Vocaleyes itself but that did nothing, aside from teaching me a few new things. Maybe, I forgot how to navigate with VE? The weird thing is that when I make a file with WP it'll met me use the left and right arrows to go letter by letter. Perhaps, I can try a different screenreader.
So does anyone have an idea of what's happening? My new hypothesis is that word-wrap is turned off. I know in Windows Wordpad does things like that. If so, how do I change this? I've used Wordperfect on three different machines and never had this problem. Also, it asks me for a three-character username whenever I start it. What's going on there? I never thought I'd have to say this, but I might look for another wordprocessor if all else fails.
Okay, so I discovered, through the path command, that I have two versions of Wordperfect on this machine. I got it and it's twin from the New Jersey Comission of the Blind. they were throwing away all their dos stuff and they knew that I was interested in old tech so gave them to me. The odd thing is that I never had that problem with the other one. But In any case, I'm gonna try the WP 60 directory and see if I can get that version working or if it's only for windows 3.1. I doubt that's what's causing the problem, since 5.1 is listed first. Still, I need to find a good wordprocessor or text editor for when I switch over to Enhanced DR-DOS. I'll probably stick with a text editor, since I don't use most of the features of a wordprocessor, but I won't ignore the latter if it's a good one.
So after all my questions, I actually have some good news to report. For one thing, WP hasn't done that weird file thing in awhile, at least, not with files that other people have made like help and readme ones. Tomorrow, I'm going to try some txt files that were created on the Windows machine and see what happens. In any case, I discovered today that I actually have the ed.exe file, the same editor from WordPerfect that comes with their office suite and that I've been seeking for over a month! It's been hiding in a directory called sh40, which stands for shell 4.0. The really good thing is that the editor can not only read but also save txt files. So, if it works, I won't have to open WordPerfect 10 on the XP machine to convert the 5.1 files for use on the net etc. The shell program also seems very accessible, though I doubt I'll really be using it that much. Still, it'll be fun to try out. Now I'm wondering if I can copy the editor files to use in my Compaq and Dell when I get them. That way, I don't need to hunt around for a text editor. I'd try the shell too but I think that would interfeer with the multitasker, which has it's own menus etc and basically does the same thing.
Today, I tried the VocalEyes set files for the WordPerfect Editor and they worked like a charm. No stupid broken lines, no blanks where there should've been words, just nice smooth reading. Hopefully, it'll continue as I try out different files, but for now, I'm just thrilled to finally have a text editor and with alll the keystrokes from WP51 on top of it! My only fear is that I won't be able to copy it over to the new desktop when I get it. I hope I can just copy the files from the directory and they'll be installed. If not, then I'm in huge trouble because the text editor is extremely difficult to find.
Hi,
Not sure if you still have that word perfect problem, but it could be the margins used in that file. to fix it, press home 3 times, press down arrow (this takes you to the end of the document), then press home 3 times again and then press up arrow (takes you to the top of the document). this should allow you to use arrows properly and let you read the document normally.
I don't have a home key on that keyboard but I'll definitely remember it for when I switch computers if it does this again. Oh and great news! A friend taught me that by hitting f5, I could save as DOS/ASCII text which means that I don't even need to change programs! She also said that Word Perfect 6.2, which I don't have yet, saves as .rtf and as older versions of Microsoft Word. So I can read modern files and save them for those who, for whatever reason, have problems with regular .txt or .rtf. This is so cool!
Shouldn't you be posting these questions on BBS's? 1989 is calling and they don't have any of them there fancy php and javascript html sites.
If I remember correctly, this site is called The Zone BBS. But if you mean a traditional one, which I'm sure you do, I just might be able to do so. Here is an incredible website for BBS users and operators both new and old. This is their about page. The main page is full of great information and resources.
http://www.bbscorner.com/about
Yet again, you've turned a sarcastic comment into an educational experience. Thanks.