 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Boxer - A Text Editor, Programming Aid, Word Processor John Talbot |
0n our BBS there has been some discussion of the relative merits of two Shareware text editors/word processors, QEdit and Boxer, that led Ron Taylor to suggest a pair of reviews. This is a review of Boxer, which comes ready for operation under DOS or OS/2, but here I will not be dealing with OS/2 installation or operation.
Starting
Downloaded BOXER.LZH and have uncompressed it to a directory on your hard disk. You look at the list of six files and notice there is only one command file (BOXER.EXE); if you area Windows fan you create a new program item in a DOS box accordingly. Then, either at the DOS prompt or in Windows, you run that file (after all, if it's the only EYE file why bother reading the BOXER.TXT file first?).
More Automatic Decompression
If in DOS you will observe that BOXER.EXE is a self-extracting file and, after you have answered a few easy configuration questions you will see it is doing its stuff in a big way, producing no less than eighty-three files. In Windows you will note the same, but curse because you realise you are going to have to reinstall that program item!
Demonstration and Main Edit Screen
At the end of the installation process a demonstration opportunity is offered; it will show off some of Boxer's features, but who would bother with that? There's also something about viewing a list of all the default options-maybe worth looking into later. So you either type B in the DOS directory, or double-click from Windows, and the main editing screen appears with a menu bar at the top bearing the following across it (on one line):
F10: File Edit Search Window Blocks Misc GoTo WP Options Macro Help
Perhaps there are a few more items than expected, but all them look as if they would yield easily enough to commonsense. The F10 is there to enable the poor, deprived non-mouser to access the choices with arrow keys or by an Alt+highlighted character. Accessing the items at random shows again that there are a few more choices than expected on each of the drop-down menus; most choices seem straightforward, but there are some puzzling ones: maybe it might be necessary a bit later on to look for an online manual, or go back to that list of options we passed earlier. But, in passing, the following features mentioned in one of the README files are confirmed:
- Multilevel Undo and Redo,
- Colour
- Syntax Highlighting
- Multiple files and windows
- Full mouse support
- Keyboard reconfiguration
- 28/35/40/43/50 lines for EGA/VGA
- Column marking
- Macros
- Colour preferences
- Context sensitive online help
- Search with wildcards
- Compile within the editor
- EMS swap for DOS shell
- Graphic drawing
- Auto indent
- Find matching parenthetical characters
- Block commands: cut, copy, append, paste, delete, write, print, fill, sort, total, average, case convert, invert, entab, detab
But you might like to press on and actually try something-maybe hook Boxer up to Blue Wave and try some message preparation and editing.
So, into Blue Wave's Setup parameters and enter B.EXE @F in the editor directory line; while there you may as well make sure your spell checker is properly nominated too (and remember to save the changes to the Blue Wave configuration file!). Then a good first test is to enter a message in any area via the Closed Packet menu. After filling in the headings offered by Blue Wave, lo, you are into the Boxer editing screen again.
Begin typing the message itself, then ... but wait, there is no word-wrap operative! In the WP menu find a Wordwrap option, select it, and the message bar at the bottom of the screen says: Wordwrap enabled. And so it is! Perhaps you should set a text width, so select that line, and the message bar invites you to type in the width you want.
Thus there are no problems with the message, cursor movement is reasonably intuitive, and the drop-down menus hold the answer to any odd questions that come up. You save the message by your usual word-processor keystrokes (or via the menu) and exit-Blue Wave is dutifully asking for a tagline, and Boxer has done its job.
Check the Spelling?
Does the spelling of the message need to be checked? The separate program for this (say, GDSPELL, on the BBS as GDSPELL.LZH and fast and neat) is, of course, nominated in Blue Wave from where it can be invoked, but perhaps a check of the spelling should be made before leaving Boxer. As spell-checking isn't visible in the WP menu, maybe there is a macro. Yes, one is already set up by the thoughtful Boxer makers, so drop down the Macro menu, choose Chart and see the names and letters of all the macros so far set up in the DEFAULT.MAC file. It's easy enough now to make any minor changes in the spell-check macro-path and command changes will probably be required. Yes, the spelling checker operates (not that you really need it, of course!).
The Pull-Down Menus
It's time to have a closer look at all those pull-down menus-and maybe answer any queries they create by a quick skim through the manual. Later you can configure to have the menus drop down automatically as you scan across the bar.
Making the Manual
The formatted manual BOXER.REF is generated by applying MAKEMAN to the on-line help file BOXER.DOC. This is seventy pages in length if printed by the COPY PRN command with 70 lines to the page. It has a table of contents and cleverly, there is a MAKEINDX facility to generate a new index whenever you have made your own amendments to the online help text or pagination. It takes account of your selected keyboard definition when helping, printing, and indexing. There seems to be a file for everything in Boxer and, what's more, that includes a file (DESCRIPT.ION) which gives a short description of every file in the Boxer suite
Syntax Highlighting by File Extension
Feel like venturing a bit further? Try loading a program or script file; AUTOEXEC.BAT will do, but it might be nicer to see what happens to a Telemate Script file, like the famous mail-gathering one written by Peter Young. If you have any other language-type files, load one or two. It will be seen that comments, reserved words, constants and symbols are each highlighted and/or coloured distinctively, simplifying program development and editing. Boxer determines what should be coloured (or highlighted) according to the extension of the filename.
Configuration-Boxer's Ace
But where Boxer really excels is in its configuration flexibility There are several ain areas of configuration and many options within each. Broad background colour preferences, keyboard emulation preferences, and printer identification were encountered at the program installation stage. These can be completely changed as discrete files or fine-tuned by appropriate selection from the main drop-down menus. If the new selections are not saved as defaults they will operate during only the current edit session, but the option of saving to whichever file you wish is always offered on the message bar. It is instructive in this context to look at the file extensions of some of the Boxer files:
- .CLR identifies colour option files, including DEFAULTCLR. There are eleven of these provided, but you may create more of your own.
- .KEY identifies the 16 keyboard configuration files, including DEFAULT.KEY There is even a QEDITKEY, which those deserting QEdit for Boxer will no doubt find useful.
- .PP identifies printer parameter files; two are provided, LASERJET.PP and DEFAULTPP; COD identifies the code files, the DEFAULT.COD being the one applicable to the printer selected at installation, but others may be selected. The WP menu illustrates the differentiation between printer parameters and printer codes; briefly, in this context parameters control the format of the printed page, codes are special embedded printer options which are defined in the selected .COD file; they are mentioned again below.
- .MAC identifies the four provided macro files, including DEFAULTMAC. More of these may be created. Each macro file will cater for only twenty-six macros, as all are single-letter operated (i.e. Ctrl+alphanumeric character).
Activating Option Flags
There are several ways to activate option flags. They may be:
- Inserted in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file (SET BOXER=flags)
- Inserted in the command line, preceded by a dash (-)
- Selected as required from the Options menu
- Incorporated in batch files appropriate to various editing tasks
- Included in the file DEFAULT.CFG - under this method flags can either operate globally or be restricted in operation to the editing of files with specified extensions Space here is insufficient to examine each of the eighty-eight or so option flags-they are all discussed in detail in the manual, but one example of interest is B, which enables Blind-friendly mode (Braille and Speech Friendly Interface). Under this the cursor is whenever possible positioned to the left of active text for easier reading by speech software, and extra beeps are given for minor errors.
Temporary override of active option flags may be exercised from the command line by typing a double dash (-) before the flag it is desired to reverse.
Everyone to Their Own Taste
By using the option flag facility widely-ranging personal preferences can thus be met and a Boxer created very different from the default configuration first installed. But the ability to select new files in lieu of the currently-operative default ones means that nothing is ever set in concrete, and it is quite possible in a jiffy to satisfy the individual tastes of several users in the one location.
Print Formatting
Print formatting is controlled separately from the option flag facility, except for the flag e, which itself toggles the feature of embedded printer codes. There can be up to a hundred of these special two-digit codes, which are contained in the text file DEFAULT.COD originally set up by the installation sequence when the type of printer was nominated. Alternative .COD files may be created and invoked when needed from the appropriate sub-menu under the WP menu. The codes equate with the actual ASCII codes required to activate particular options on the installed printer. The two-digit codes are entered in the text by using the Alt+O to Alt+9 keys unless alternative key assignments are made; the numeric keypad is not available for this. They appear distinctively coloured or underlined on the screen and, of course, do not print out; thus commonly the word 18italicsl9 will be printed-out in italics and 4bold5 in bold face.
More Features
There are many other features, many of them cleverly implemented and useful in particular circumstances; but rather than attempt to become familiar with them all at once, their best access is probably through usage and manual/help reference when in doubt. And there are limitations, set out in the manual. The most significant one is the maximum file size of 250 - 300 kB capable of being edited in one piece; I found that with my set-up this meant the manual was too large for editing by Boxer itself. A separate utility HUGEFILE.EXE, comes with Boxer to split very large files, allowing them to be edited in sections before being rejoined. There is also available a separate shareware product (Boxer/TKO) which can edit files of up to 12 MB.
Imperfections
Boxer has not yet achieved absolute perfection in the attainment of its aims. There are a few instances where the manual seems not to have quite caught up with program changes. Thus, the reading and writing of macro commands described are in practice superseded by the provision of easy access to the macro chart. Personally I would have preferred the initial default configuration to have enabled wordwrap as
on. Perhaps the authors of Boxer believe, as some Muslim builders are reputed to, that only Allah should be perfect, so they deliberately include a tiny defect in every building project.
How to Get Boxer
Boxer is available on the BBS as BOXER60A.LZH and is in the Disk Library. Its basic registration fee, without printed manual or future upgrades, is $A70 if arranged through Budgetware in Sydney, or $US35 plus $US8.00 for air mail if dealing with the U.S.
vendor.
Reprinted from the August 1994 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
