Best Apple ][ word processors

[db]

Just wondering if there is any consensus as to which word processor is considered best for the Apple ][. Please, commence opining and state why you prefer your choice to others.

[David Schmidt]

On 7/13/2013 3:32 PM, db wrote:
> Just wondering if there is any consensus as to which word processor is considered best for the Apple ][. Please, commence opining and state why you prefer your choice to others.

I don't know about "best," but in terms of "most popular" - the one that
people come to me for help with old disks the most is AppleWorks. Seems
like it was the word processor of choice for those scads of IIc and IIe
machines that were in use.

[Michael Black]

Which one did Captain Crunch write? Or the one Paul Lutus wrote? It
seems fitting that all I can reemmber is who wrote them, rather than the
names of the programs. I gather the latter one is now freeware.

Michael

[db]

Cap'n Crunch: Easy Writer. Apparently the first word processor for Apple II and edited and debugged while he was in jail :P Any opinions on that one? Others I've heard mentioned are Bank Street Writer and BeagleWrite. Anyone have experience with these?

[Steve Nickolas]

Paul Lutus wrote AppleWriter/Freewriter, não?

I've never seen a version of Freewriter apart from its fork FrEdWriter
though.

-uso.

[Michael Black]

On Sat, 13 Jul 2013, db wrote:

Wasn't Bank Street Writer intended for kids? The company was about
educational software. And if so, it's likely to have a limited set of
functions, and maybe odd things like 40 columns only (kids write
differently from adults).

Michael

[omn...@iinet.net.au]

My first exposure to a word processor was when I bought the IIc, and was directed to Zardax. Enjoyed using it, though its been 30years since I last touched it. Written by someone up in Queensland Australia.

[Coconut]

To: db
Re: Best Apple ][ word processors
By: db to comp.sys.apple2 on Sat Jul 13 2013 12:32 pm

> Just wondering if there is any consensus as to which word processor is consi

I always used Appleworks on my IIe. Will be again as I just put it all back
together :)
--- Synchronet 3.16a-Win32 NewsLink 1.102
Time Warp of the Future BBS - telnet://time.synchro.net:24

[barrym95838]

On Saturday, July 13, 2013 12:32:30 PM UTC-7, db wrote:
> ... Please, commence opining and state why you prefer your choice to others.

AppleWriter all the way for me. It was lean and mean, and worked great in upper-case 40-column text mode on my ][+ with the shift-key jumper modification. It even had its own macro language, IIRC. My Epson MX-80 cranked out tons of school papers using that set-up, back in the day, on the pin-fed fan-fold paper (in double-strike mode for the final run).

Mike

[db]

Thanks for your opinions so far. Keep 'em coming!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjHC9hOhesE

An interesting video of the guy who wrote apple writer (and some other programs for the apple ][) that I found in another thread here. He has a funny story about he and Cap'n Crunch being wooed by IBM to make them a word processor. Check it out! He also mentions a graphics program he wrote called Apple World. Anyone know where I can find that?

[bry...@yahoo.com]

On Saturday, July 13, 2013 12:32:30 PM UTC-7, db wrote:

> Just wondering if there is any consensus as to which word processor is considered best for the Apple ][. Please, commence opining and state why you prefer your choice to others.

ALADIN by Advanced Data Institute
1) integrated
2) written in Pascal

[db]

Were there any gui based word processors with selectable fonts?

[Warren Ernst]

On Monday, July 15, 2013 4:36:25 AM UTC-7, db wrote:
> Were there any gui based word processors with selectable fonts?

Sure. MultiScribe (which was later bought out and renamed to BeagleWrite) was arguably the most popular "MacWrite" style of word processor for the 8-bit Apple II. It used the DHGR screen and graphical fonts with pull-down menus. It worked well enough for basic documents.

AppleWorks' Word Processor, especially when combined with Beagle's UltraMacros and TimeOut software, was pretty much THE STANDARD in Apple II word processing through the late 80's and beyond,

It seems to me, though, that WordPerfect for the Apple II was probably the most powerful - especially the GS version.

-Warr

[db]

Well, it seems that so far AppleWorks is edging out AppleWriter but just by a bit. Anyone else care to weigh in on this one?

[Michael Black]

On Mon, 15 Jul 2013, db wrote:

> Well, it seems that so far AppleWorks is edging out AppleWriter but just
> by a bit. Anyone else care to weigh in on this one?
>

I tend to think of Appleworks as coming fairly late, and in 1984 it was
late at the time. But that kind of coincides with a new wave of users,
the IIE and the IIC, so I suppose it was still prime time for the Apple
II.

Certainly Don Lancaster wrote quite a bit about Appleworks, which probably
reflects a popularity, but also might help to make it a desired editor.

Michael

[Michael J. Mahon]

db <darrenbe...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Well, it seems that so far AppleWorks is edging out AppleWriter but just
> by a bit. Anyone else care to weigh in on this one?

Appleworks was the most popular Apple II software *ever*. It was a good
word processor, though not WYSIWYG, and later versions integrated well with
SuperFonts, which provided very versatile output.

Of course, it was also a good database and a good spreadsheet, all nicely
integrated. It's no wonder that it was so pervasive.

-michael - NadaNet 3.1 and AppleCrate II: http://home.comcast.net/~mjmahon

[Kirk Mitchell]

On Saturday, July 13, 2013 1:32:30 PM UTC-6, db wrote:
> Just wondering if there is any consensus as to which word processor is considered best for the Apple ][. Please, commence opining and state why you prefer your choice to others.

I loved Applewriter. It's dot commands were simple and it could do footnores. "if anyone know what those were". Started my WP with the Pascal Editor though.

[Jerry]

Lancaster wrote quite a bit about AppleWriter, including a book called
"AppleWriter Cookbook". I don't know that he mentioned AppleWorks,
except maybe in passing.

One of the great things about AppleWriter was that it had serial
communications abilities, so it could talk to modems. It wasn't a
terminal emulator, but for simple BBSs and the like it worked fine. I
used it until I bought ProTERM.

Another powerful feature of AppleWriter was its WPL (word processing
language), also called a macro-language. It allowed automation of a LOT
of things, and Lancaster really used this feature to a great extent.

I'd have to say I used both AppleWriter and AppleWorks quite a bit. As
the years went on, AppleWorks won out, probably because it also had a
spreadsheet, and that was useful to me as well.

--
--
Jerry awanderin at yahoo dot ca

[db]

Anyone have any experience with MouseWrite?

[Sean Fahey]

On Tuesday, July 16, 2013 1:19:44 AM UTC-5, Jerry wrote:

> Lancaster wrote quite a bit about AppleWriter, including a book called
> "AppleWriter Cookbook". I don't know that he mentioned AppleWorks,
> except maybe in passing.

Jerry, you are spot-on, I was going to point out the same facts but you quickly and ably beat me to it.

Lancaster did on occasion write about AppleWorks, but a lot of it was recycled material from his prior AppleWriter series updated for AppleWorks users. His other notable articles documented working with Postscript and laser printers.

[Sean Fahey]

On Sunday, July 14, 2013 3:45:20 AM UTC-5, db wrote:

> Thanks for your opinions so far. Keep 'em coming!

Depending on one's standards, there are really only 4 or 5 truly noteworthy word-processors for the Apple II. The rest may have had their own virtues, but compared to the big 5, they weren't nearly as popular.

WordStar - wildly successful for it's day, it was an essential hedge for Apple II owners concerned that 'serious' productivity applications wouldn't be published for the Apple II. It seemed like the rest of the world ran on CP/M back then. Then, AppleWriter came out...

AppleWriter - AppleWriter with WPL is arguably the most powerful word-processor ever published for the Apple II right out of the box. As a dedicated program, it was peerless at what it did. Times were changing though and people were tired of the hassles of converting, importing and exporting data between different applications. Then AppleWorks happened...

AppleWorks - AppleWorks was like the second coming of Visicalc, in that many people and small businesses purchased Apple IIe and IIc systems just to use AppleWorks. It's appeal and strength were in it's application integration and it's cost - AppleWorks was less expensive than buying 3 separate apps (that were probably proprietary and incompatible). It was also easy to learn and use, but still required add-ons like the Time-Out series to make it's word-processor (and spreadsheet, database) more capable than it's contemporaries.

AppleWorks was a tremendous success - I read a statistic from the Software Publisher's Association that claimed for every copy of AppleWorks sold, 20 more were illegally copied. Hundreds of AppleWorks how-to books were published essentially becoming unofficial manuals for the bootlegging users.

WordPerfect - WP had a huge installed base in business and especially in the medical, legal and academic professions.

Bank Street Writer - hundreds of thousands of copies were sold, it was the most popular word-processor for kids used in schools and at home.

[Michael Black]

I couldn't remember which it was he focused on, and a quick search had
"don lancaster" and "appleworks" on the same pages, so I went with that.

Michael

[Rich Hare]

I can't claim it was any where near the BEST, but my first introduction
to word processing came from...
MAGIC WINDOW. It gave 80 column output from a 40 column screen and had
lots of codes to accomplish capitalization and upper and lower case for
my 48K Apple II. It even had feedback to the speaker to add a
typewriter-like feel to using it.

Rich

[db]

Since people keep mentioning AppleWorks and the fact that you needed certain add-ons for it to really shine; which add-ons are considered essential and why?

[Gary Gray]

On 07/16/2013 02:36 AM, db wrote:
> Anyone have any experience with MouseWrite?
>

Yes, that was the primary wordprocessor I used back in the day. I found
it pretty intuitive to use, with its Mac-like interface. Freshman year
of college, I had a lot of people visit my dorm room to use it, rather
than trudge up to campus to use the Wang wordprocessing system to write
papers. Not having to memorize a bunch of obscure key combos to do
uncommon tasks (like create footnotes, apply styles, and so forth) was
great.

And, of course, it had a puzzle to keep you occupied when writer's block
hit ;)

As I recall, the later version allowed for multiple documents to be open
at the same time. I think it directly took advantage of the extended RAM
in my //c (I had 1024K on a Z-RAM ultra card). As I recall, I just used
a RAM disk and copied the dictionary for the spell-checker over to it,
in order to speed things up.

[Coconut]

To: db
Re: Re: Best Apple ][ word processors
By: db to comp.sys.apple2 on Tue Jul 16 2013 03:40 pm

> Since people keep mentioning AppleWorks and the fact that you needed certain

For me Time works was the add-on I use(d) the most

[db]

> For me Time works was the add-on I use(d) the most

Which time works add-ons did you use?

[drk...@gmail.com]

On Saturday, July 13, 2013 3:32:30 PM UTC-4, db wrote:
> Just wondering if there is any consensus as to which word processor is considered best for the Apple ][. Please, commence opining and state why you prefer your choice to others.

Screenwriter ][ was one of my favorites. I had just finished my Ph.D. research and was writing papers for journal submissions, and it was a Godsend. 80 columns, upper/lower case displayed on the screen... Absolutely wonderful program. Eventually migrated to Appleworks, but Screenwriter ][ still owns a place in my heart!

Ken
www.Apple2Online.com

[Hugh Hood]

Darren,

Since AppleWorks' (especially Version 5.1) word processing module with
integral spell checking, mail merge and 16,000+ line in-memory capacity is
pretty capable right out of the box, it's hard to say that any add-on would
be considered 'essential,' but add some of these TimeOut apps to it and it
becomes an 800-pound gorilla.

I'm biased, of course, but here are my Top '5' (+ 1 extra) word processing
add-on picks:



1. TimeOut UltraMacros (Randy Brandt)
(previously an add-on, but was built into version 5.1)

Man oh man, what _can't_ you do with UltraMacros? It's not just a
'keyplayer.' It's an entire programming/scripting language inside
AppleWorks.

I'm _still_ using UltraMacros in ways I never even imagined 20 years ago.
It's just that powerful.

If I could have only _one_ AppleWorks add-on, this would be it.



2. TimeOut Thesaurus (Alan Bird)
Very handy when you 'just can't come up with the right word.'



3. TimeOut TextTools (most by Mark Munz)

This package included the following separate apps:
(Some more useful than others - in no particular order):

Analyst
Copyblock
Glossary
Indexer
MarkMerge
Multiprint
Quickstyles
Quicktabs
CR Stripper
SuperFind
Table of Contents Generator



4. From miscellaneous TimeOut collections:

Page Preview (see graphically how the pages will split when printed)
Case Converter



5. TimeOut Grammar (Dan Verkade)

Neat, but I'll confess that I never use it much. It probably shows. <grin>



+ 1 Extra (Some others might mention) TimeOut SuperFonts (Mark Simonsen)

Also neat, but by the time I picked up a copy, I'd already moved on to using
LaserJets (which had dozens of built-in fonts anyway) for printing from
AppleWorks, and at that point going back to Dot Matrix printing just wasn't
for me.

Besides, most of my stuff was either business correspondence or tech
reference writing, so the 'fancy print' capability SuperFonts offered wasn't
something that I really needed.

Others, though, swore by it for producing newletters and the like,
particularly prior to the entrance of dedicated DTP programs like PublishIt!
(which could import AppleWorks AWP files and output to PostScript).



I hope this helps. AppleWorks may not have done everything when compared
with the brawniest word processors (e.g. - WordStar), but it did everything
most people needed extremely easily and very quickly.





Hugh Hood






in article 2f2560ae-5443-41d6...@googlegroups.com, db at
darrenbe...@gmail.com wrote on 7/16/13 5:40 PM:

[db]

You mention AW 5.1. I have a IIc. Do you know what the latest version that will run on it is? I have v3 right now.

[db]

I'm having trouble installing AppleWorks add-ons. Any idea of which version of AW you need to install them?

[db]

Can anyone help me figure out how to install timeout add-ons? Is there a particular version of AppleWorks I need to work with them?

[Jerry]

I seem to remember around 1983 / 84 that bunches of folks used SuperText
as well. It used the hi-res screen to give 70 characters per line. I
always thought it was ugly as can be, but I recall teachers at school
using it.

[barrym95838]

Yeah, I wasn't too impressed with SuperText. All of the 'M's, 'W's, and 'N's (among others) had serious legibility problems, and it had trouble keeping up with my typing when I was on a good roll. I couldn't out-run my AppleWriter, even @ 1 MHz.

Mike

[Hugh Hood]

Darren:

If you have at least a 256K machine (either a IIGS or IIe/IIc/IIc+ with
expanded memory card), get and run AppleWorks 5.1. That program is as good
as it gets on the Apple II.

TimeOut is already installed on that version and you merely copy the TimeOut
Apps to the default TimeOut directory, which is normally something like:

/MYHARDDRIVENAME/APPLEWORKS51/TIMEOUT

FWIW, the default TimeOut directory name can be changed in the 'Settings'
menu.

Note that _some_ apps will need updating to use with version 5.1, but there
is a script on the AppleWorks 5.1 install that will do that for you. (You
still must run it yourself, though).

If you must use AppleWorks 3.0 (due to a lack of memory), download one of
the pdf docs from any of the TimeOut add-ons and there will be detailed
instructions on how to install it.

Regards,





Hugh Hood




in article deaddb76-4f9c-4771...@googlegroups.com, db at
darrenbe...@gmail.com wrote on 7/17/13 9:26 PM:

[db]

Thanks for the info! I only have an unmodified IIc so it's version 3 for me. I tried to install it according to the procedure described in the manual a couple times now but I keep getting a "unable to locate prodos" message, if I'm remembering correctly. I'll give it one more shot and see what happens though.

[Michael J. Mahon]

That's a message you'll see if you attempt to boot a disk that does not
contain ProDOS.

[Coconut]

To: db
Re: Re: Best Apple ][ word processors

By: db to comp.sys.apple2 on Tue Jul 16 2013 05:31 pm

> > For me Time works was the add-on I use(d) the most
>
> Which time works add-ons did you use?

Timeout file master
timeout thesaurus
timeout quickspell
timeout spreadsheet
I believe I also have desktools II and possibly Graph but I cannot remember
without digging through my multitude of 5 1/4" containers :)

[datawiz]

On Saturday, July 13, 2013 3:32:30 PM UTC-4, db wrote:
> Just wondering if there is any consensus as to which word processor is considered best for the Apple ][.

I vote for ProTerm's text editor. I probably used that more, generally for informal work. It allowed me to do something productive without leaving the terminal. :) This was handy, especially while waiting for BBS' that were busy all the time.

[db]

> If you must use AppleWorks 3.0 (due to a lack of memory), download one of
>
> the pdf docs from any of the TimeOut add-ons and there will be detailed
>
> instructions on how to install it.

Well, I tried to install timeout desktop tools and it told me it's not compatible with AW version 3 : < Oh well, I'll make do with an add-on free AW. Perhaps it's because it's more what I'm used to gui-wise but I prefer multiscribe so far. I know AppleWorks is historically the killer app for it's ease of integration but I honestly hardly ever have occasion to use a spreadsheet or database. I don't plan on hooking a printer up to my IIc so I'll only be using the word processor to write notes or journal entries. Is there any way to easily (and hopefully freely) transfer and convert the file formats from the Apple II to my macmini? Also, did people use any word processor on the Apple II as a text editor for programming? Just wondering.

[Hugh Hood]

in article ee003b82-f972-4f8b...@googlegroups.com, db at
darrenbe...@gmail.com wrote on 7/19/13 3:51 AM:

> Also, did people use any word processor on the Apple II as a text editor for
> programming? Just wondering.

1. BASIC
=========

It's certainly possible to use any of the Apple II word processors as an
editor for BASIC by doing the LIST/EXEC dance, but Alan Bird's (Beagle Bros)
'Program Writer' is so much better for that task than any of the word
processors are.



2. Merlin Source Files
=======================

Here is where the proper word processor (e.g. AppleWorks 5.1) can improve
greatly upon the Merlin editor. Don't get me wrong -- Glen's stuff was
great, and I still gladly use it regularly, but his concept of a user
friendly interface and mine just never were the same.

Merlin source files are a 'strange' variant of text files, in that the high
bit is set on almost all characters, with the exception being the nominal
'tab' character, which isn't a tab ($09) at all, but rather a 'space'
character with the high bit cleared ($20).

Anyway, AppleWorks 5.1 will load Merlin source files as is, clearing the
high bits in the process and substituting real tabs for the $20 space
characters.

But, saving the Merlin file back to _Merlin_ format so that Merlin will use
it again requires a short macro to poke in the correct save format. (high
bit set; low hex spaces as tabs)

If anyone (other than me) thinks this is useful and would like to see the
macro, just speak up and I'll post it here. It's really pretty short.

Basically, after you load a Merlin source file, you execute the macro and
it:

1. Sets the AppleWorks tab ruler so that it mimics the way 'tabs' are
displayed in the Merlin editor (i.e. - everything 'looks' the same as it
does in Merlin); and,

2. Gives the user of choice of save formats: AWP, Text, or Merlin.


After that, any saves on _that_ file (while the file is still on the
AppleWorks desktop) will reflect the user selected save format.

I recall that Joe Walters switched all his Merlin source code development to
AppleWorks 5.1 and wrote a complete AppleWorks macro set just to do
Merlin-type tasks. I have it here ... somewhere.





Hugh Hood

[db]

Sorry to respond to such an old post but I was away from my apple ii for awhile and am just getting back into it again. So, did you prefer to edit merlin files in appleworks 5.1 and then convert them back to merlin? If so, then please do share the macro you use.

[N.N. Thayer]

For the II+, I would definitely say that Magic Window was one of the better word processing options available. I used Magic Window II, which took advantage of my full 64K and Videx (not sure what other versions there were). The designers of the program really seemed to do everything they could to turn the II+ into a capable and *usable* word processing machine; little touches like the audio feedback showed that it was a thoughtful product.

In fact I'd say it was maybe the best option for a home user of a II+; WordStar was more capable, but the technical barrier to entry for that on the II+ was almost comical, and I don't mean just the Z80 and 80-column cards you needed. Look at the manual - the user has to wade through a ton of careful configuration just to get the thing booted and working properly with their hardware. It *was* possible, and objectively it was remarkable that you could do WordStar on a II+, but for anyone that didn't need its capabilities I'd recommend Magic Window over it in a hot second.

[Carsten Lucassen]

Am Samstag, 13. Juli 2013 21:32:30 UTC+2 schrieb db:
> Just wondering if there is any consensus as to which word processor is considered best for the Apple ][. Please, commence opining and state why you prefer your choice to others.

Okay, I can see that Apple Writer is perhaps the most innovative word processor on the original Apple II series, because it was quick, elegant and offered a clever solution to the "no caps"-problem.

On the other hand, AppleWorks was one of the first integrated software packages and served as a role mole for many later developments. After all, isn't Microsoft Office simply AppleWorks on steroids and with a bunch of unnecessary feature (read: Powerpoint) thrown in?

What has not been taken into consideration is the not too small number of people who used the UCSD Pascal Editor as a word processor. This was especially true here in Germany, where Apple II software wasn't easily available before 1985. If you got lucky (I didn't, my school used Acorn Computers), your computer teacher turned a blind eye to all the students copying Apple Pascal (and Zaxxon, of course). With practically no other software at hand, typing letters or papers into the UCSD editor and printing them on 9 needles wasn't such a bad alternative, was it?

[db]

I understand George R. R. Martin (Game of Thrones) used and still uses Word Star to this day. He said he's never worried about his stories being leaked because he's writing on obsolete technology not connected to the internet. Here you can see him commenting on the theme of science and technology in science fiction on the truly great show, Prisoners of Gravity:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ8pUAHPt5s

P.S. They should really bring this show back. There was and still is nothing else like it that I know of.

[Hugh Hood]

Darren:

OK. Remember, you asked for it. <grin>

Here's a macro to use with AppleWorks 5.1 that allows you to set the save
format of files in the Word Processor module.

Choices are:

1. Standard AWP File
2. Standard TXT File (CR line endings)
3. Merlin TXT File

Option #3 also implements the special Merlin 'tab' ruler so that everything
appears pretty much the same as if you loaded it into the Merlin Editor. The
advantage, of course, is that the AppleWorks editor is a much, much better
editor than the Merlin editor is.

Option #2 can be changed to MS-DOS (CR+LF) TXT files if needed. See the
comments.

Let us know if you have any questions. I've also been working on a real
TimeOut application to load ORCA source files in the AppleWorks Word
Processor, but since some ORCA source files are forked (and some aren't),
I'm having to incorporate a de-forker into the read routine to get the data
fork first. One of these days ...

Regards,





Hugh Hood

-------------------------------------------------------------------

// Present Menu of Save Types
// Make Sure 'Save Text Files as Text' setting is selected in
// the Word Processor Options section of Standard Settings Menu

<ba-M>:<awp :
.menubar "Save/Work format","Word Processor|Text|Merlin (proper screen
tabs)" :

// AWP File Save
if z=1 poke $7c68,$0 : // AWP save format
poke $a76,$09 : // 'TAB' saved as 'TAB'
poke $a77,$00 : // High Bit saved as 'off'
endif :


// TXT Save Type (CR line endings)
if z=2 poke $7c68,$20 : // TXT save format
// with CR line endings
// (change to $30 for
// MS-DOS CR+LF)
poke $a76,$09 : // 'TAB' saved as 'TAB'
// (global setting)
poke $a77,$00 : // High Bit saved as 'off'
// (global setting)
endif :

// Merlin TXT Save Type
if z=3 poke $7c68,$20 : // TXT save format
// with CR line endings

poke $a76,$a0 : // 'TAB' saved as high space
// (global setting)
poke $a77,$80 : // High Bit saved as 'on'
// (except $20)
// (global setting)

// Set up Merlin Tab Ruler for proper screen display

$5 =
"==============<======<===========<=========================================
==== " :
.PokeStr $5, $7C10 : // Tab Ruler stored at $7C10

.jiggle : // make new ruler 'stick'
// (command is from
// I.UM.SCRN.TOOLS init)
// (replace .jiggle with
// 'oa-q : rtn' if command
// is not available on
// your system)
oa-t : // open Tab Ruler menu
>m< esc : // select 'm'odify current
// & exit

endif :>!

-------------------------------------------------------------------




in article f954c1c1-c8cf-4e09...@googlegroups.com, db at
darrenbe...@gmail.com wrote on 6/17/14 4:50 PM:

[Michael Black]

But that was a long time ago, the sets probably long demolished, and the
main actor probably too damaged from The Red Green Show to be useful now.

The reality is, many people who write do stick with the familiar. Lester
Del Rey had some habit of writing with one typewriter, then switching to a
different one to make a good copy, rewriting as he went.

William Gibson either used a typewriter for a long time, or an Apple II (
I suddenly cant' remember which antiquated system he was using).

Jo Walton has blogged quite a bit about using some old system, indeed she
had problems at one point when the hardware she was using no longer
worked, so she couldn't run the old program that she had to have, luckily
some reader had what she needed. She uses fancier computers, but not for
writing.

I wonder if Jerry Pournelle is still using an 8080 (or an 8088?) When he
had that column in Byte, he'd write about all kinds of new hardware, the
luck of being reasonably famous and writing for a computer magazine, yet
he'd always return to his main system, that was an 8080 or Z80 until he
jumped to the 8088. He was probably the last one using a Godbout system.

The thing is, for writing, you don't need the ability to layout things.
You need something that works fast, and if you're constantly having to
move to some new word processor because the old one is no longer available
(or doesn't run on new hardware), you end up wasting time learning the new
word processor, but not needing the new features.

When I ran a Mac Plus (which was actually late, between 1993 and 1998), I
had an early version of Word for the Mac, but other than play with all the
fonts, didn't use it much. The only good thing was it had a driver for a
simple printer (when otherwise you were expected to have an Imagewriter),
so I could print to my Micronics printer by using my Radio Shack Model 100
as a serial to parallel converter. But, I found that for any writing, a
desck accessory was fine. I can't remember which. But writing isnt'
about presentation, so writers can stick with what they are used to.

Michael

[db]

> William Gibson either used a typewriter for a long time, or an Apple II (
>
> I suddenly cant' remember which antiquated system he was using).

Typewriter. He only got a computer after writing Neuromancer. He said that when he got his first computer and someone tried to explain to him how it worked; that it was not some mysterious thing being powered by dilithium crystals but was, in fact, basically a metal pin scratching against a magnetic disk that he saw it as something much more late 19th century than late 20th. I'm probably remembering that quote from Prisoners of Gravity, BTW ; >

[db]

Thanks, Hugh!

[db]

On a similar note: Is there an easy way of sending any of these old format word processing files through ADT to my macmini and then converting them to a modern format or just text? I'd like the ability to write on my iic but also to be able to easily share or rework it, if need be. Any ideas?

[Bryan aka R.I.P.]

On Saturday, July 13, 2013 12:32:30 PM UTC-7, db wrote:
> Just wondering if there is any consensus as to which word processor is considered best for the Apple ][. Please, commence opining and state why you prefer your choice to others.

I personally preferred Apple Writer //, but know lots of people that like Apple Works. I think it had more to do with the prominent OS was when you got your system though (DOS or ProDOS). I also remember a good many people swore by PFS Write.

Bryan

[CC Rider]

> I can't claim it was any where near the BEST, but my first introduction
> to word processing came from...
> MAGIC WINDOW. It gave 80 column output from a 40 column screen and had
> lots of codes to accomplish capitalization and upper and lower case for
> my 48K Apple II. It even had feedback to the speaker to add a
> typewriter-like feel to using it.

> Rich

I was also a Magic Window user. It got me through college in the early 80's. I've got a copy of the program on the shelf as a reminder of those years.

My wife wrote her senior project using Magic Window. There was a disk error and she lost the entire project. Many tears. I created a blank document using a fresh disk and examined the file header. After an hour or so I was able to recover her file on the original disk (copied). I was a hero for a day.

Clay

[David Schmidt]

On 6/18/2014 6:00 PM, db wrote:
> On a similar note: Is there an easy way of sending any of these old format word processing files through ADT to my macmini and then converting them to a modern format or just text?

Yes. CiderPress and AppleCommander have built-in translations for a few
of the more popular word processors. Pick one that they support, and it
couldn't be easier. There is support for many more types with
Transformenator* but that is a more involved workflow, where you need CP
or AC to first extract the raw binary files to the modern filesystem.

* http://transformenator.sourceforge.net
List of built-in transforms is here:
http://transformenator.cvs.sourceforge.net/viewvc/transformenator/transformenator/src/org/transformenator/transforms/

[db]

Thanks! I downloaded AC and though I can see it will open the A2 files I can't see where to go for file conversion. Is there a way to save it as modern file format, say Pages? Or is that where I would need Transformenator?

[David Schmidt]

On 6/18/2014 7:32 PM, db wrote:
> Thanks! I downloaded AC and though I can see it will open the A2 files I can't see where to go for file conversion. Is there a way to save it as modern file format, say Pages? Or is that where I would need Transformenator?

It's automatic - if you select a file within a disk image and ask to
save it, it'll get saved as either plain text or .rtf that Pages will
understand.

If you're using the command line version of AC (available as part of the
ADTPro package) you can automatically extract all files:

ac.sh -x <imagename> [<directory>]
...extract all files from disk image to a directory (or the current
directory if unspecified)

[db]

Thanks again, David!

[db]

On Wednesday, June 18, 2014 9:18:41 AM UTC-4, N.N. Thayer wrote:

> In fact I'd say it was maybe the best option for a home user of a II+; WordStar was more capable, but the technical barrier to entry for that on the II+ was almost comical, and I don't mean just the Z80 and 80-column cards you needed. Look at the manual - the user has to wade through a ton of careful configuration just to get the thing booted and working properly with their hardware. It *was* possible, and objectively it was remarkable that you could do WordStar on a II+, but for anyone that didn't need its capabilities I'd recommend Magic Window over it in a hot second.

If Wordstar was one of the earliest word processors available for the apple ii why can't I find a copy on Asimov? Is it because it was just so hard to use that no one's interested?

[bloomer_au]

On Sunday, 14 July 2013 11:52:16 UTC+10, omn...@iinet.net.au wrote:
> My first exposure to a word processor was when I bought the IIc, and was directed to Zardax. Enjoyed using it, though its been 30years since I last touched it. Written by someone up in Queensland Australia.

Zardax was also our first word processor. We ran it on the II+. I didn't even know it was a local product!

I just checked my cupboard and I've still got the Zardax docs in the vinyl folder.

We had a Brother Daisy Wheel printer back then. And that's how we ran until 1990 when we got the IIGS. All at once we changed computers, word processors (to AppleWorks GS) and printers (to the Imagewriter II).

-Wade

[N.N. Thayer]

There are several images of Wordstar in /images/cpm/productivity.

It does require a CP/M card such as the Microsoft Z80 SoftCard, and I don't know whether any Apple II emulator has covered that hardware yet.

Here's one user's experience with getting WordStar to work on a II+, taken from the March 1983 issue of Creative Computing:

http://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v9n3/81_Word_processing_on_the_Ap.php

[N.N. Thayer]

So, taking stock of everything that's been mentioned so far:

EasyWriter
AppleWorks
Apple Writer
Bank Street Writer
MultiScribe / BeagleWrite
Freewriter / FrEdWriter
Zardax
Magic Window
PFS Write
WordStar
WordPerfect
MouseWrite
ScreenWriter II

Time for me to peruse the usual Apple II archives and see which of these aren't yet preserved. :) I believe that FrEdwriter and Apple Writer 1.1/2.1/IIe are still outstanding.

[db]

On Thursday, June 19, 2014 6:04:09 AM UTC-4, N.N. Thayer wrote:
> On Wednesday, June 18, 2014 11:02:51 PM UTC-4, db wrote:
>
> > On Wednesday, June 18, 2014 9:18:41 AM UTC-4, N.N. Thayer wrote:
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > > In fact I'd say it was maybe the best option for a home user of a II+; WordStar was more capable, but the technical barrier to entry for that on the II+ was almost comical, and I don't mean just the Z80 and 80-column cards you needed. Look at the manual - the user has to wade through a ton of careful configuration just to get the thing booted and working properly with their hardware. It *was* possible, and objectively it was remarkable that you could do WordStar on a II+, but for anyone that didn't need its capabilities I'd recommend Magic Window over it in a hot second.
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > If Wordstar was one of the earliest word processors available for the apple ii why can't I find a copy on Asimov? Is it because it was just so hard to use that no one's interested?
>
>
>
> There are several images of Wordstar in /images/cpm/productivity.
>
>
>
> It does require a CP/M card such as the Microsoft Z80 SoftCard, and I don't know whether any Apple II emulator has covered that hardware yet.

Ah! CP/M...that's why. No can do on the IIc.

[db]

Multiscribe specific question: I like this program but I've noticed I'm having a hard time save work to a blank floppy. It always asks me to insert the multiscribe disk back in and then saves it to that. I've tried specifying drive 1, which shows a blank disk in the path. Any ideas? Also is there a program like this (mouse input possible) but with a few more features (like footnoting, etc. )? I see that there's a option in the apple menu to install and run accessories. A: Would these add options for footnoting? and B: Where would I find these accessories?

Running version 3.01

[Steve Nickolas]

On Thu, 19 Jun 2014, N.N. Thayer wrote:

> There are several images of Wordstar in /images/cpm/productivity.
>
> It does require a CP/M card such as the Microsoft Z80 SoftCard, and I
> don't know whether any Apple II emulator has covered that hardware yet.

Agat Emulator, Apple Oasis and AppleWin all emulate Softcards.

-uso.

[N.N. Thayer]

Not impossible - I believe that if you have one of the earlier revisions of the IIc, you can use Applied Engineering's Z-RAM Ultra-3... but good luck finding one!

http://i.imgur.com/ZRl8EmX.jpg

[gid...@sasktel.net]

There is also:

SpeedScript - in Nibble magazine
Edit - by Bill Tudor which is on Softdisk
GraphicWriter - though more of a presentation software
HomeWord
Softword
DotWriter
SuperTextHomeOffice
TextPro
WriterRabbit

There are also some very good Text Editors with assemblers and Terminal programs

SC Assembler
Merlin 8
Edasm
Proterm has an excellent word processor

[Ralph Glatt]

On Saturday, July 13, 2013 5:53:32 PM UTC-4, Steve Nickolas wrote:
> On Sat, 13 Jul 2013, Michael Black wrote:

>
>
>
> > On Sat, 13 Jul 2013, db wrote:
>
> >
>
> >> Just wondering if there is any consensus as to which word processor is
>
> >> considered best for the Apple ][. Please, commence opining and state why
>
> >> you prefer your choice to others.
>
> >>
>

> > Which one did Captain Crunch write? Or the one Paul Lutus wrote? It seems
>
> > fitting that all I can reemmber is who wrote them, rather than the names of
>
> > the programs. I gather the latter one is now freeware.
>
> >
>
> > Michael
>
> >
>
> >
>
>
>
> Paul Lutus wrote AppleWriter/Freewriter, não?
>
>
>
> I've never seen a version of Freewriter apart from its fork FrEdWriter
>
> though.

Wasn't FrEdWriter a ripoff of AppleWriter? I seem to remember the guy who wrote Applewriter being upset because he wanted to sell AppleWriter and someone used some (most?) of the code to write a freeware word processor.

[gid...@sasktel.net]

> There is also:

> SpeedScript - in Nibble magazine
> Edit - by Bill Tudor which is on Softdisk
> GraphicWriter - though more of a presentation software
> HomeWord
> Softword
> DotWriter
>
> SuperTextHomeOffice
> TextPro
> WriterRabbit

> There are also some very good Text Editors with assemblers and Terminal programs

> SC Assembler
> Merlin 8
> Edasm
> Proterm has an excellent word processor

My personal favorite is the one I wrote (of course :)

Right here Right now!

QUICKNOTES (the program)(requires 80 column card of a IIe/IIc/IIGS)

- make quick notes without loading big applications
- up to 10 screen fulls can be created and saved in a text file
- when saving a file, enter the filename to save in the current path
or, enter the full path to save anywhere on the volume.
i.e /MYVOL/DIR/FILENAME

USAGE:

- use the ESC sequence with the arrow keys to navigate
- does not have insert mode
- press RTN or ESC down-arrow until you get to the 22nd line, then RTN for menu
- when the menu is displayed, you can page forward and backward with the arrows
- you may also go directly to any page by pressing its page number 0-9
- if you use the ESC sequence past line #22, the screen will scroll up and lose
the top lines. Don't fret. Use ESC to go back up to line# 22, press return
to get the menu, press the up arrow to scroll the screen down, and retype
the top few lines that scrolled off the screen
- B) Blank Screen blanks the current page only. It does not advance to the
next page. Use the arrow keys to advance to the next page.


0 REM uses scrn801
1 LOMEM: 8192
3 DIM B$(21,9):D$ = CHR$ (4): IF PEEK (3574) < > 14 OR PEEK (1015) < > 14 THEN PRINT D$"-/my.work/cmds2000/scrn801"
4 PRINT CHR$ (27): GOSUB 130: GOTO 15
5 GOSUB 60: ONERR GOTO 7
6 ON NOT FL GOTO 15: PRINT D$C$(FL)F$: PRINT D$D$(FL - 1)F$: GOSUB 70
7 PRINT D$"CLOSE":X = PEEK (222): POKE 216,0: IF X = 5 AND I = 0 AND J = 0 THEN PRINT D$"DELETE"F$
8 CALL - 3288
9 I = 0: GOSUB 400: GOSUB 100: GOTO 15
10 VTAB 1: POKE 1403,0
14 CALL 64879: ON PEEK (37) > 21 GOTO 15: ON PEEK (49168) = 13 GOTO 14
15 TEXT : GOSUB 100: & GET X: ON X = 27 GOTO 57
16 IF X > 47 AND X < 58 THEN GOSUB 300:I = X - 48: GOSUB 400: PRINT CHR$ (25): GOTO 15
17 IF X = 21 OR X = 8 THEN GOSUB 300:J = I:I = I + (X = 21) * (I < 9) - (X = 8) * (I > 0): ON J < > I GOSUB 400: PRINT CHR$ (25);: GOTO 15
18 IF X = 11 THEN POKE 35,22: PRINT CHR$ (22);: GOTO 15
19 IF X = 10 THEN POKE 35,22: PRINT CHR$ (23);: GOTO 15
20 ON X = 76 OR X = 108 GOTO 5
25 IF X = 63 THEN HOME : PRINT D$"CATALOG": GOTO 15
28 IF X = 32 THEN VTAB 23: PRINT CHR$ (26): PRINT "Use ESC + arrow keys to navigate" CHR$ (29);: GOTO 10
29 IF X = 66 OR X = 98 THEN HOME : GOTO 15
30 ON X < > 83 AND X < > 115 GOTO 15: GOSUB 300
35 VTAB 22: PRINT : PRINT "New name -> " CHR$ (29);: & INPUT F$:X = I
37 ON F$ = "" GOTO 15: ONERR GOTO 45
40 PRINT D$C$(1)F$: PRINT D$D$(1)F$: GOSUB 50
45 PRINT D$"CLOSE": POKE 216,0:I = X: GOTO 15
50 FOR I = 0 TO 9: IF B$(0,I) = "" THEN NEXT : PRINT CHR$ (0);: RETURN
51 ON I = 9 GOTO 52: IF B$(0,I + 1) < > "" THEN FOR K = 21 TO 0 STEP - 1: GOTO 55
52 FOR K = 21 TO 0 STEP - 1: IF B$(K,I) = "" THEN NEXT : STOP
55 FOR J = 0 TO K: PRINT B$(J,I): NEXT :K = 0: NEXT : NEXT : PRINT CHR$ (0);: RETURN
57 TEXT : END
60 VTAB 22: PRINT : PRINT CHR$ (26)"File to load -> ";: & INPUT F$:FL = F$ < > "": RETURN
70 IF NOT FL THEN RETURN
75 FOR I = 0 TO 9: FOR J = 0 TO 21: & INPUT L$:G$ = L$
76 IF LEN (G$) > 79 THEN B$(J,I) = LEFT$ (G$,79):J = J + 1:G$ = MID$ (G$,79):I = I + (J > 21): ON J < 22 GOTO 76:J = 0: GOTO 76
80 B$(J,I) = G$: NEXT : NEXT : RETURN
100 VTAB 23: PRINT : PRINT "ESC-Quit <SPC> Edit B) Blank Scrn L) Load S) Save ^ v <- -> page# "I;
120 RETURN
130 C$(0) = "PR#3":C$(1) = "OPEN":D$(0) = "READ":D$(1) = "WRITE": RETURN
300 FOR J = 0 TO 21: & DEF B$(J,I),J: NEXT : RETURN
400 HOME : FOR J = 0 TO 21: PRINT B$(J,I): NEXT : RETURN



DF0: a9 00 8d f6 03 a9 0e 8d f7 03 60 00 00 00 00 60
: c9 84 d0 2b 20 b1 00 20 e3 df 20 6c dd 85 85 84
: 86 20 6f fd 9e 00 02 bd ff 01 09 80 c9 8d d0 03
: 9e ff 01 a2 ff a9 00 a0 02 20 e9 e3 4c 9a da c9
: be d0 2f 20 b1 00 20 e3 df a9 20 20 ed fd a9 88
: 20 ed fd ad 00 c0 10 fb 29 7f 20 93 eb a4 84 a6
: 83 20 2b eb a9 a0 20 ed fd a9 88 20 ed fd ad 10
: c0 60 c9 b8 d0 49 20 b1 00 20 e3 df 20 6c dd 85
: 85 84 86 20 4c e7 8a 20 47 f8 a0 00 a2 00 2c 55
: c0 b1 26 2c 54 c0 9d 28 02 e8 b1 26 9d 28 02 c8
: e8 e0 50 90 e9 ca 30 07 bd 28 02 c9 a0 f0 f6 e8
: 9e 28 02 a2 ff a9 28 a0 02 20 e9 e3 4c 9a da c9
: ba d0 13 20 b1 00 20 7b dd 20 00 e6 86 07 84 06
: aa d0 03 4c 8e fd 60 00


BSAVE SCRN801,A$DF0,L$D8

[gid...@sasktel.net]

> 3 DIM B$(21,9):D$ = CHR$ (4): IF PEEK (3574) < > 14 OR PEEK (1015) < > 14 THEN PRINT D$"-/my.work/cmds2000/scrn801"

Change line#3 to the location of your binary file, or remove the prefix altogether.

[db]

Still hoping someone will respond to my Multiscribe questions as I've been unable to locate any sort of online documentation for it. However, I came across this: http://monoskop.org/images/c/c9/Brand_Stewart_ed_Whole_Earth_Software_Catalog.pdf from back in the day (summer '84 to be exact) and it has a decent chapter on word processors from back then, comparing and contrasting the various offerings from that era. The games chapter has the guy who wrote Hackers as one of the reviewers. It's a fun and interesting read and I'm sure some of you here will enjoy it.

[db]

BTW, thanks for your offering. I now have another project to do!

[db]

Well, I'm still having difficulty saving multiscibe files to anything other than the multiscibe disk. I format the blank disk in ADT Pro and then try to select that as the path but when I press enter it asks me to insert the multiscribe disk and then when I do it starts saving there. Any ideas?

[Antoine Vignau]

Captain Crunch's Easy Writer is available @ http://www.brutaldeluxe.fr/crack/
It is a clean and working crack,
Antoine

[N.N. Thayer]

Hey Antoine - ever manage to get Cap'n Crunch's Forth cracked? ;)

[gid...@sasktel.net]

On Friday, 20 June 2014 00:30:07 UTC-6, db wrote:
> Well, I'm still having difficulty saving multiscibe files to anything other than the multiscibe disk. I format the blank disk in ADT Pro and then try to select that as the path but when I press enter it asks me to insert the multiscribe disk and then when I do it starts saving there. Any ideas?

My copy works fine.

Don't just click on drive 1, since you are using floppies, that is considered the boot disk.

Enter the path of where you want to save your work.

[gid...@sasktel.net]

On Thursday, 19 June 2014 16:03:32 UTC-6, db wrote:
> Still hoping someone will respond to my Multiscribe questions as I've been unable to locate any sort of online documentation for it. However, I came across this: http://monoskop.org/images/c/c9/Brand_Stewart_ed_Whole_Earth_Software_Catalog.pdf from back in the day (summer '84 to be exact) and it has a decent chapter on word processors from back then, comparing and contrasting the various offerings from that era. The games chapter has the guy who wrote Hackers as one of the reviewers. It's a fun and interesting read and I'm sure some of you here will enjoy it.

You didn't look very hard. The manual was found on the second page of a google search.

lu0.nitroroms.com/download/file/35320/Apple_II/ZZZ-UNK-Multiscribe%20Docs.zip

[db]

I actually did look very hard and didn't find it on the second or 3rd page. I guess I'm an idiot because I don't see it there either but just a
403 Access Denied message; and when I try to use their search function the connection resets. I'd like to get the manuals for this program but don't really want to have to register anywhere. Thanks.

[Marco Verpelli]

Do you really need a manual for that program? IMHO is quite intuitive.
Anyhow have a look at:

http://mirrors.apple2.org.za/landover.no-ip.com/Applications/ZZZ-UNK-Multiscribe%20Docs.dsk

This is not a real manual but a softdox, aka hand written documentation for warez, a very popular thing many year ago!

Marco

[db]

Need? No. Does anyone really "need" to be using an apple ii these days? I'm just fairly new to this machine and would like to learn more about it and the programs I want to use for it. Thanks though. I'll check out the link.

[db]

So, is it a program that I would essentially need 2 drives to be able to back up work? If so, is there a WP program that will work with just one drive that way?

[Marco Verpelli]

No, used version 3.xx for years on a //c with only the build-in 5.25 drive.

Yust a matter of swapping program/data disk at the right time. If I remember right: select open, select drive 1, swap disk, select file, ...

Marco

[db]

Ok. I think I'm starting to figure it out. It was saving my work to the disk I was using but because it would always ask for me to put the program disk back in I assumed it was saving it there when it was just reloading the program. I can now see and open the saved files in multiscibe. However, if I just put my work disk in and restart the computer I get a "unable to load prodos" message. I thought I would at least be able to see the files. Anyway, I put my work disk in and then transferred it to my macmini through ADT Pro. It transferred my test files but when I tried to export them from Apple Commander there was no text in them. I suppose I'm asking more of an Apple Commander question now but can anyone help? I've almost achieved what I want to do. Perhaps I'm selecting the wrong type of file format to export to?

[Marco Verpelli]

If you don't put the SYS file ProDOS on the disk it won't boot!
Maybe you should read something about the differences from DOS 3.3 to ProDOS.

Multiscribe wrote TXT file with an header, I'm using CiderPress (Win only, sorry) and it can display and export the file from the disk image.

Marco

[gid...@sasktel.net]

> > lu0.nitroroms.com/download/file/35320/Apple_II/ZZZ-UNK-Multiscribe%20Docs.zip

> I actually did look very hard and didn't find it on the second or 3rd page. I guess I'm an idiot because I don't see it there either but just a

> 403 Access Denied message; and when I try to use their search function the connection resets. I'd like to get the manuals for this program but don't really want to have to register anywhere. Thanks.

My fault for not testing the link. I gave you a direct link to the file, but it looks like the website was rigged that you can only download while viewing the website.

Click on the "Download Now" button on this website.

http://nitroroms.com/show/file-info/35320/Apple_II/ZZZ-UNK-Multiscribe%20Docs.zip.html

[db]

Yeah, I don't know what to tell you. I could see and open them in multiscribe. First hurdle cleared. I can transfer them through ADT Pro to my mac mini and open the disk image where I can see my test files when I do. Second hurdle cleared. However, when I try to export the files I'm guessing about the file format. Apple Commander gives you a bunch of options here. I've tried most of them and can usually get the file to export but when I open it up it's file lite: all the file with none of the text. Any Apple Commander experts out there? I'm going to try to save my work as ascii rather than multiscribe and see if that will work next.

[db]

Thanks!

[db]

Well, I tried saving my Multiscribe text as an ASCII file tonight and then transferring it to my mac mini through ADT Pro and then opening that with Apple Commmander but, again, no text. Any ideas why? Aside from wanting to learn a bit more about BASIC and programming in general I'd love to be able to write and transfer my files back and forth between the IIc and mini. If I can't do it with this program any ideas about another? Is there another gui type word processor for the IIc? Sorry for all the questions. I know it's small fries compared to a lot of the other stuff going on here but I'd just really like to get this one sorted out. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Jeff Blakeney]

Perhaps this is a case of high ASCII versus low ASCII. If I remember
correctly, the Apple II stores text with the high bit set and that tends
to mess up Windows and MacOS machines as they use the upper part of the
ASCII table for other characters. Maybe if you stripped the high bit
(set it to zero) you would be able to see the text. I don't know if
there is an option for doing this in Apple Commander or not.

[db]

I tried the same procedure with Apple Works and and Mouse Write and it exports just fine in Apple Commander. Damn! I wish I could get the same going for Multiscribe. I kinda like that one but I guess I'll go with Mouse Write because it's only one disk and gives mouse control for editing and will export nicely to my mac; though it doesn't look as nice and no extra fonts : <

[Marco Verpelli]

Yes,the Multiscribe documents are in normal (altough for the Apple) negative ascii, A = $41, ...

Marco

[David Schmidt]

On 6/23/2014 2:25 AM, db wrote:
> Well, I tried saving my Multiscribe text as an ASCII file tonight and then transferring it to my mac mini through ADT Pro and then opening that with Apple Commmander but, again, no text. Any ideas why? Aside from wanting to learn a bit more about BASIC and programming in general I'd love to be able to write and transfer my files back and forth between the IIc and mini. If I can't do it with this program any ideas about another? Is there another gui type word processor for the IIc? Sorry for all the questions. I know it's small fries compared to a lot of the other stuff going on here but I'd just really like to get this one sorted out. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

It looks like AppleCommander is having trouble extracting these. I only
work from the command line, so you may have to switch to that to get the
same results as me. But just doing a normal text extract (ac -e) quits
after the first line. I had to do a binary get (ac -g), which pulled
the whole file out and it looked just fine. If you're using the full
GUI, I'm not sure what options are available.

[Hugh Hood]

Darren:

Schmidt's idea with the command line Apple Commander is a good one. I'd try
that first.

Like Jeff, I thought that perhaps you had a high bit/low bit problem. I
guess not.

So, as an alternate, try using AppleWorks (I believe you're stuck at 3.0
since you've got 128K on your Iic but that will do the job) to import the
Multiscribe file.

To do that, you will choose:

A. Add files to the Desktop

B. Make a new file for the: Word Processor

C. A listing of ALL FILES will appear.

D. Choose your Multiscribe file (unless it's forked)

E. AppleWorks will import it as a word processor file

F. Change the name.

7. Save it as an AWP file or print it to text as a text file.
(3.0 won't allow saving directly as a text file like 5.1 does)

8. You know the rest.

Regards,






Hugh Hood

in article eb22ad1b-6eaa-4e83...@googlegroups.com, db at
darrenbe...@gmail.com wrote on 6/23/14 8:06 AM:

[Hugh Hood]

Darren:

Sorry. I omitted one screen and selection.

Between 'B' and 'C' below, you will see and choose:


-------
B1. Make a new file: 2. From a text(ASCII) file
-------




Hugh Hood




in article CFCDAE9C.2A42A%hugh...@earthlink.net, Hugh Hood at
hugh...@earthlink.net wrote on 6/23/14 10:14 AM:

[db]

Thank you all for your clever suggestions and workarounds. While I really appreciate it I just can't see going to that much work for a simple file transfer when another program will do it. It would be nice to be able to work within the prettiness of Multiscribe but ultimately I just need to be able to write, edit, save and transfer. I've honed in on Mouse Write, not because I think it's the best program, but because it will do those things and mouse control for when I'm feeling lazy ;> If there's a better one let me know. Thanks again.

[db]

On Tuesday, July 16, 2013 6:57:33 PM UTC-4, vengefultacos wrote:
> On 07/16/2013 02:36 AM, db wrote:
>
> > Anyone have any experience with MouseWrite?
>
> >
>
> Yes, that was the primary wordprocessor I used back in the day. I found
>
> it pretty intuitive to use, with its Mac-like interface. Freshman year
>
> of college, I had a lot of people visit my dorm room to use it, rather
>
> than trudge up to campus to use the Wang wordprocessing system to write
>
> papers. Not having to memorize a bunch of obscure key combos to do
>
> uncommon tasks (like create footnotes, apply styles, and so forth) was
>
> great.
>
>
>
> And, of course, it had a puzzle to keep you occupied when writer's block
>
> hit ;)
>
>
>
> As I recall, the later version allowed for multiple documents to be open
>
> at the same time. I think it directly took advantage of the extended RAM
>
> in my //c (I had 1024K on a Z-RAM ultra card). As I recall, I just used
>
> a RAM disk and copied the dictionary for the spell-checker over to it,
>
> in order to speed things up.

Sorry to reply to this so late but I've recently switched to using Mouse Write as my primary word processing program. I'm also pretty new to the whole apple ii scene. Can you tell me how to do that, using a RAM disk for adding dictionary and spell check to this program?

[sicklittlemonkey]

On Thursday, 19 June 2014 22:54:58 UTC+12, N.N. Thayer wrote:
> EasyWriter
> AppleWorks
> Apple Writer
> Bank Street Writer
> MultiScribe / BeagleWrite
> Freewriter / FrEdWriter
> Zardax
> Magic Window
> PFS Write
> WordStar
> WordPerfect
> MouseWrite
> ScreenWriter II

Nice list.

I will suggest an addition, although this software was mainly used in New Zealand, and perhaps Australia and the UK.

FullText Pro 80 was a great DHR WYSIWYG word processor. Here is a review:
http://archive.org/stream/Apple_2000_Vol_4_No._2_1989-04_BASUG_GB/Apple_2000_Vol_4_No._2_1989-04_BASUG_GB_djvu.txt

Some bullet points taken from the ad that interrupts the review (it continues again after the ad):

* A true "what-you-see-is-what-you-get" word-processor.

* All formatting and font changes (underline, bold, italics, sub
script, size changes.etc) are shown on screen as you edit.

* All characters can be edited to produce different fonts, foreign
characters, symbols etc - all on screen and at your printer.

* Uses PrintShop(TM) type graphics which can be inserted any-
where in the text; the text will flow around the graphics? You
can import graphics from any PrintShop library disk or create
your own graphics using the in-built graphic editor.

* The whole system sits in memory so that it leaves your disk drive
free for data disks - except when using one of the many utilities.

* Requires 128K //e. lit. //gs or Laser 128

* Prodos based, fully compatible with all Prodos drives

* Full printer control for a largo variety of printers

* Utilities Include: English Spelling Checker, Mail-merge
Character editor. DOS 3.3 file loader, Word-sort, File
transfer. Disk formatter. Ramdisk installer.

* Reference and Examples- manuals

* Five lesson files take you through tutorials tor fast learning.
All command -driven using the most obvious key-letters.

Cheers,
Nick.

[Michael J. Mahon]

Wordhandler was another WYSIWYG word processor that used the hi-res screen
to display.

Not wonderful, but quite usable, even on a II+.
--
-michael - NadaNet 3.1 and AppleCrate II: http://home.comcast.net/~mjmahon

[awanderin]

Michael J. Mahon <mjm...@aol.com> writes:

> sicklittlemonkey <nick.w...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Thursday, 19 June 2014 22:54:58 UTC+12, N.N. Thayer wrote:
>>> EasyWriter
>>> AppleWorks
>>> Apple Writer
>>> Bank Street Writer
>>> MultiScribe / BeagleWrite
>>> Freewriter / FrEdWriter
>>> Zardax
>>> Magic Window
>>> PFS Write
>>> WordStar
>>> WordPerfect
>>> MouseWrite
>>> ScreenWriter II
>>
>> Nice list.
>>
>> I will suggest an addition, although this software was mainly used in New
>> Zealand, and perhaps Australia and the UK.
>>
>> FullText Pro 80 was a great DHR WYSIWYG word processor. Here is a review:
>> http://archive.org/stream/Apple_2000_Vol_4_No._2_1989-04_BASUG_GB/Apple_2000_Vol_4_No._2_1989-04_BASUG_GB_djvu.txt
>>

[...]

> Wordhandler was another WYSIWYG word processor that used the hi-res screen
> to display.
>
> Not wonderful, but quite usable, even on a II+.

And another one was SuperText. It used the hi-res screen to do
70-columns. I had a high-school teacher that used it. I thought it was
ugly, and used Apple Writer myself, but he found it quite a good tool.

--
Jerry awanderin at gmail dot com

[N.N. Thayer]

VisiTerm did this too. I was kind of surprised that VisiCorp didn't make a word processor - they had practically everything else.

[Moose_S...@yahoo.com.au]

On Sunday, July 14, 2013 5:32:30 AM UTC+10, db wrote:
> Just wondering if there is any consensus as to which word processor is
>considered best for the Apple ][.

The general consensus above is for Apple Works, which seems quite fair, especially for the later part of the 80's onwards. The ones I remember most from the early 1980's are: Zardax word processor, Sandi's (sp ?) word processor, and Homeword. But there were others I checked out / used around this time. I remember that Homeword was particularly easy to use.

Looking back, all word processors featured amazing functionality considering the limited machine resources of the time. :) In fact, the same could be said about most Apple ][ software. Amazing work by the authors of the time. :)