





                             Word Counter Version 2.01A
                 This program is really simple to use, and is generally
            self-explanatory. Before running this program, you should
            save two copies of the file you are working on: a copy to
            actually run Word Counter on (saved in Text format or
            printed to disk), and a backup just to be sure that the file
            is safe (an ordinary save, for instance). Be sure that you
            save the two files  with DIFFERENT extensions. This program,
            when run, looks to the command line to see if there is a
            parameter there. If the parameter, which would be a
            directory list and filename up to 66 characters long, is
            found, then the program attempts to open the file. If the
            file is not found, the program states so, then terminates.
            If it is found, however, it goes through the entire file
            counting the words. This program determines if a set of
            characters is a word or not by looking to see if there is a
            space (Ascii character 32) after every non-space character.
            If it finds one, it counts it as a word.
                                    *** NOTE ***
                 The program counts sets of characters without spaces in
            them as a single word. For instance:

                                 ThisIsASingleWord,
                           While these are several words.

                 Also, this program will tell you if there are no words
            in a file, which would mean that the file has a length of 0
            bytes. This program is not perfect, but it definitely helps
            those people who own word processors that don't have a
            function to count the words in a text file (such as
            Microsoft Works for Dos).
                 While this program is Public Domain, I claim all credit
            for this particular version. My claim of "Once Free, Always
            Free!" stands, always. This program is not to be sold or
            distributed for any amount of money, save for the cost of a
            diskette if this file is present on it.
                 This program was written in Turbo Pascal Version 6. I
            have included the code for anyone who wishes to make a
            modification to it. My only request to any would-be
            modifiers is that you give me credit for the original
            version of the program in your supplemental documentation.
                                    *** NOTE ***
                 I discovered, while using Word Counter Version 1.00,
            that there was often a very large difference in the number
            of words that Microsoft Word for Windows said I had and the
            number that Word Counter said. (Word for Windows reported
            more words.) I discovered that the problem was due to the
            size of the paragraphs I had written: Word Counter was only
            reading the first 256 characters, then skipping to the next
            carriage return. Being a writer, I immediately knew
            something was wrong with Word Counter. So with version 2.01,
            not only have I changed the visual effects of the program,
            but I have also redesigned the way Word Counter counts
            words. Now the program loads blocks of the text file into





            memory, counts the words in it, then loads another block of
            equal or smaller size (depending on the size of the file
            when Word Counter is near the end of it). Also, if Word
            Counter stops its execution, the screen will show what
            percentage of the file was counted prior to its termination.
            This program termination has generally been caused by files
            that are not text files. Also, be aware that files
            containing more than several thousand words tend to be
            listed as having more words than they really do. This is
            because the new way of counting the words counts every non-
            letter/number character as a separation point for a word.
            Therefore, "1)Another" is two words rather than one.

                                 Raymond C. Rodgers
                   Raymond Rodgers
                   P.O. Box 32100
                   Detroit, Michigan 48232-0100
                   
                   CompuServe ID 72074,1731
                   Internet: 72074.1731@COMPUSERVE.COM

                                  *** Attention ***
                 To all who would revise this document and/or modify
            this program, please notify me in one of the aforementioned
            ways, add a revision comment underneath the variable
            assignment "ver=", AND replace the following information in
            the documentation:
                                Revision: 2.01A
                             Compiled On: May 27, 1993
                             Compiled By: Raymond C. Rodgers
                   Documentation Written: May 27, 1993
                   Documentation Updated: September 29, 1993
              Documentation Improvements: Updated means of contacting
                                          me (Raymond Rodgers).
                   Revision Improvements: Better Documentation.
