15 Conclusion


We have now gone through the commands available on the VIEW word processor, and discussed some of the things you can do with them.

Once you have processed a few documents, even short ones, you will find yourself discovering new ways of doing your work. For example, there may be many pieces of text which you find yourself typing time and time again as parts of longer documents. Why not record these as files? Then when you need them, you can just READ them into the text you are composing and move them to wherever you want them at the time. The methods suggested in chapter 10 for macros can be developed a good deal further too.

15.1 The Second Processor


As you work with VIEW you will probably come to use larger and larger files. The EDIT facility can be useful here, but if you need more text memory within the computer you should consider the Second Processor module. This provides 30K of memory in any screen mode, so if you use MODE 3 you will have about three times as much memory for text.

15.2 Mode switches


If you normally want your computer to start up in a particular mode - say MODE 3 when using VIEW - you may find it convenient to have mode switches fitted. These are installed below the keyboard and should be fitted by your dealer.

15.3 *FX commands


Finally you should not neglect your BBC Microcomputer System User Guide. We mention in the VIEW Guide the *TV commands for preventing screen flicker and adjusting the height of the screen image, and the *FX commands for managing printing, but there are many more. For example you will have noticed that if you hold a key down the character auto-repeats on the screen after a short delay. Both the delay and the auto-repeat rate can be reset as follows:

To change the delay: *FX11,X RETURN
where X is the delay in hundredths of a second.

To change the auto-repeat rate: *FX12,X RETURN
where X is the number of characters per second.

To reset both rates to the default values: *FX12,0 RETURN

15.4 Colours


The BBC Microcomputer System User Guide also goes into a good detail of detail concerning colour, most of which is of no relevance to word processing. If you use a colour monitor or a television set, however, you may wish to take advantage of alternative screen colours.

Both text and background colours can be changed. The colours available are:

0 - black
1 - red
2 - green
3 - yellow
4 - blue
5 - magenta
6 - cyan
7 - white

Try the following examples in MODE 3.

For a green screen effect:
   Hold down CTRL and press S
   Press: 1 2 0 0 0

For white text on blue background:
   Hold down CTRL and press S
   Press: 0 4 0 0 0

For black text on white background
   Hold down CTRL and press S
   Press: 0 7 0 0 0
   Hold down CTRL and press S
   Press 1 0 0 0 0

The first digit indicates whether it is text or background colour that is to be changed. 0 means background and 1 means text. The second digit indicates the colour, as in the table above.

Changing modes resets colours to white on black.

The purpose of this book is to help you become aware of the opportunities which VIEW offers, but using them effectively is a matter of practice. As you work with VIEW, place the VIEW Guide beside your computer for quick reference. It is fully indexed and groups the facilities so as to minimise page turning. Above all remember that word processing is a partnership between you and the system, but that the system depends on you for judgement and control. The more you understand about VIEW and about your computer the more effective you will be in using both.