Hello Kathy and list,
I don't mind speaking of imperfections if what you speak about is truly an
imperfection. one thing which has been corrected in Keysoft 4.0 or maybe
4.2, I can't recall for certain, was the ability to delete or erase files
while in the Word Processor or Book Reader for that matter. I successfully
erased a file a few minutes ago while in the book reader. Try going to a
file list as you normally would in Keysoft either in the book reader or
word processor. Go through your file list with spacebar or type the first
letter of the file you wish to erase. If more than one file begins with
that letter, keep tapping the letter till you have the right file. Once
you do, type backspace with dots one, four on a BT keyboard. If you
please, backspace with C. You will be asked whether you wish to erase the
file you pointed to? Type Y for yes and it is gone! I rarely use the file
manager to erase files. Check your commands for the QT in the commands
list. I believe it is one of the appendices.
I usually move or copy files while in the file manager. Going through the
directory structure is tedious at times especially when I'm trying to bring
up a list of files on my network and PC. I find though having Keysoft
prompt me through this process has been helpful so I can keep track of
where I am in the directory structure. The processor in the BT is slow so
one must wait a bit for things to happen or there is a large file list to
deal with. The M-power with its faster processor should be much better.
I haven't had any problems with the block commands menu myself! I usually
mark the top, then bottom at all times and that has worked well for
me. I'm not a high powered writer so you may notice things more than I
would.
HTH
Jim Aldrich
At 08:10 AM 08/16/2005 , you wrote:
It is difficult to know whether or not Humanware is interested in fixing
inconsistencies in the software. As has been noted, keysoft has been
around a long, long time. On one hand you'd think if they cared to fix it,
they would have. But on the other they keep saying they are continuing to
work to improve yada yada yada, so perhaps some of these anomalies we
stumble upon have simply never been noticed and reported before. In that
spirit, I am starting a focused thread on odd occurrances that might be
considered for change in future updates. Or might be explained to me so I
can correct my own operational errors.
Blocking backwards. It is often more direct to build a block backwards,
that is from the bottom of block to the top of block. When you work in
this direction, you are required to reenter the block process to indicate
what you want done with the block you have created. If working from top to
bottom, you are left in the block process after marking the bottom to
instruct where to put the block. A small difference, but distracting from
a speedy editing process to be sure.
Keyword lacks a hard exit. When you are writing in keyword, one tap of the
ESCAPE key takes you back to the keyword menu closing your document.
Mercifully it does an automatic save to the filename you gave upon
originating the file, but you must now go not to create, but to OPEN a
file, find this filename and reopen it to continue your work. Because the
ESC key is in the touch typing alignment position of the 1 key on other
keyboards, unfortunately this happens too often. With all the places an
affirmative verification is required before keysoft proceeds, this would
be a nice one to include so that you can't back out of editing a document
until you are ready to be out of it. This would avoid loss of things
marked and in process of editing among other things I think.
There is an inconsistent pattern to back out of processes I have not
documented yet, but stumble upon often enough to note it for us to watch
and perhaps request for improvement. In general I refer to the fact that
it takes more layers to get into a process than to back out of it. This
happens in the area of file management and keyweb where you work down
through a given path, then one or two steps backwards up the path have
suddenly thrown you all the way back to the main menu rather than back up
the path to a prior branch. With so much of computer navigation now
being branching, it is unsettling to keep falling out of the tree.
Finally, and this has been noted often before, but not slated for change
as far as I've heard, the fact that file management and files usage are
totally separate is baffling to me. Why you cannot delete an unwanted
file from the keyword client or open a wanted file from the file
management client I cannot fathom. Even in DOS this was possible. Why not
in Keysoft? It is really annoying to have to go from keyword where you
have finished with a file to file management to erase it. The Tendency is
to just leave it cluttering the drive, and there's not that much drive
space to clutter. And when doing housekeeping in the file section, it is
often necessary to look at a file before you are certain it is the one you
wish to erase, copy, or move. So it's in and out and round about to get a
simple job done.
As long as ongoing work is being done on keysoft all the time, it would be
nice if some or all of these issues were addressed in future versions.
If the Humanware Disciples on the list object to speaking of
imperfections, try to understand that there are those of us among you who
want the product to perform properly and reliably, and it is in that
spirit that we communicate the difficulties we encounter.
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