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Dataset card Data Studio Files
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CTRL X (toggle between 40 and 80 column modes)
Sometimes 40 column mode is preferable, particularly when creating source
files for an assembler (like the CBM assembler) or for reading, editing or
creating messages that you want to stay in 40 column format.
You can also use this feature to convert 80 column text to 40, or 40 to 80.
Best way to do it is to load the text in 80 column mode, switch to 40 mode
and perform a CTRL A realignment (to convert from 80 to 40). Or just a CTRL A
operation for conversion of 40 to 80 column text.
Switching modes will always result in the margin markers being turned off,
and you will be taken to the beginning of the document. You can always reset
the margins after the mode change (they must be turned off during the mode
change to avoid inadvertently "hiding" text under the markers).
CTRL H (gets the help screen)
NOTE: When the cursor is in the fast-flash mode, any other editing keys that
do not fast-flash the cursor can be used. This means you can move from one
end of the document to the other (with CTRL L, for example) while defining a
block. Let's say you wanted to repack the entire document. The CTRL KEY
sequence could be CTRL F (go to beginning) CTRL A (define block beginning)
CTRL L (go to end) CTRL A (define block end and execute block-align).
Also, you will probably notice that any of the keys that fast-flash the
cursor can be used to define the start of a block. It's the LAST key you
press that defines the function at the same time it defines the end of the
block. For example, this means that the sequence CTRL A, CTRL C will
accomplish the same thing as CTRL C, CTRL C.
FUNCTION KEYS (f1 thru f8)
f7 moves the cursor to the next tab to the right. The cursor returns to the
left margin after the last tab is reached.
f5 moves the cursor to the next tab to the left. The cursor returns to the
right margin after the last tab is reached.
f4 set up tabs at every 5th column and erases all other tabs
f3 sets a tab at the cursor position
f2 clears all tabs
f1 clears the tab at the cursor position
The other function keys are not used
LOADING FILES
You can load an ASCII file or a PET-ASCII (CBM) file. Selection 4 for a CBM
file, or 4a for a standard ASCII file. If the file was not created with this
editor, the margins will default to 0 (left) and 80 (right), otherwise the
editor will create the margins from information contained in the first few
bytes of the file. More on how it does this later. It's a good idea to clear
text memory before a load, though, or you will have some merged text...it's
surprised me at times. This can also be used to some advantage. After the
load, the DOS message will be displayed until you press a key to return to
the menu. There you can read the file, edit it or re-save it as either an
ASCII or PET-ASCII file. I use the latter trick to convert files all the
time.
NOTE: On either the load or save function, you can abort reading or writing
with the STOP key. Pressing this key during these i/o operations will close
all files and return you to the editor's menu.
SAVING FILES
Same options are available, but you may want to know a few of the technical
details of the save. All blank lines are saved as a carriage return (or a
carriage return and linefeed for standard ASCII files). Also, you have the
option of adding extra carriage returns to the file to provide perforation
skips for your printer (you'll be prompted for this selection). If selected,
the editor will assume your text page is 66 lines per page. If you have your
lines per page set at 55 (function 2 from the menu), 11 carriage returns will
be added after every 55 lines. If you reload a file that has these extra
CR's, you'll see blank lines inserted in your text. Resaving such a file
without first deleting these lines could cause chaos in your page formatting,
so be sure you delete the lines prior to resaving. Also, if you save a file
that "maxed out" your text buffer, extra CR's will cause a reload to ignore
the last part of your lengthened document, so be aware of these details when
you make your choice.
All files saved by the editor contain information for setting up the left and
right margins. This information is contained in the first few bytes. To
explain this, let's assume you are saving a document with a left margin of 5
and a right margin of 75. The first 5 bytes of the file will be nulls (binary
zeros), the next byte will be a 128 (separator) and the next 5 bytes will be
nulls. To printers, nulls and 128's are transparent...they are ignored. These
characters are also ignored by most BBS systems. CIS ignores them just fine.
However, the editor does not ignore them, and uses them to set up the margins
when you load the file. If your margins were set to 0 left & 80 right, no