
 
W e b W r i t e r / 2

Version 1.0


A HyperText Markup Language editor for OS/2.

Don't write Home without it!


Written by John Blumel.

(C) Copyright 1995 John Blumel.
All rights reserved.

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INTRODUCTION

    WebWriter/2 is an HTML editor designed and written for OS/2.

    Currently WebWriter/2 directly supports the creation of HTML version 2.0 
documents.  It also includes the capability for the user to define tags which 
are not currently supported, allowing users to include tags from more recent 
HTML specifications.  At least some knowledge of HTML is assumed and no syntax 
checking of documents is performed.

    This version of WebWriter/2 was released on August 19, 1995.  If this 
version of WebWriter/2 is more than a couple of month's old or if you just want 
to make sure that you are up to date you may wish to check for the latest 
version at:

        http://www.wilmington.net/bmtmicro/ww2.htm

Or you may contact me through one of the methods listed in the Getting Technical
Support section below.

    WebWriter/2 is shareware and its use and distribution are subject to the
terms specified in the license.txt file and the license panel of the on-line 
help.

    Thank you for trying WebWriter/2.  I hope you find it both useful and easy 
to use.  If you have suggestions for enhancements or useability improvements, 
or if you discover defects in WebWriter/2, please contact me through one of the
methods listed in the Getting Technical Support section below.

    WebWriter/2 is implemented in REXX using Watcom International Corporation's
VX-REXX.

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NOTE

    The file README.HTM is an HTML version of this document which can be loaded
into a WWW client.  

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INSTALLATION

Prerequisites:

    1. You must have installed OS/2 REXX support.
       REXX support is installed automatically with OS/2 version 3.0 (i.e., 
       Warp).  If you have using  a 2.x version of OS/2 you will need to
       install REXX support using the Selective Install utility if you have 
       not already done so.

    2. You must have the file vrobj.dll.
       If the .zip file containing this file did not include vrobj.dll, you
       can retrieve vrobj21c.zip from:

                http://www.watcom.on.ca/fix_vxrexx/vrobj21c.zip

       It is also available via anonymous ftp from:

                ftp.watcom.on.ca/pub/bbs/wrexxpf/vrobj21c.zip

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Installing WebWriter/2:

    1. Install OS/2 REXX support, using the OS/2 Selective Install utility if 
       necessary.

    2. Unzip ww2_100.zip into a temporary directory.

    3. Make sure that 
       a. vrobj.dll exists in a directory in your LIBPATH.
      or 
       b. You have the file vrobj.dll in the directory that you unzipped 
          ww2_100.zip into.

    4. If you are reinstalling WebWriter/2, delete the WebWriter/2 Folder and 
       Program objects before continuing.

    5. Run Install.exe.

    6. You may wish to view the readme file that is loaded in the WebWriter/2 -
       Installation window before you continue.

    7. Select Install/Install from the WebWriter/2 - Installation menu to start
       the installation process.

    8. Fill in the Install WebWriter/2 options and click Continue.  You may wish
       to install VROBJ.DLL to the C:\OS2\DLL directory rather than another
       directory which will need to be added to your LIBPATH statement in your
       CONFIG.SYS file.

    9. WebWriter/2 will be installed using the entries you have made and a
       WebWriter/2 folder and program objects will be created on your desktop.

   10. If your CONFIG.SYS was updated you will need to shutdown and restart your
       system for the changes to take effect.
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USING WebWriter/2

    WebWriter/2 allows you to create HTML documents from scratch or to markup 
existing text documents.  You may also preview documents using either IBM's 
WebExplorer or another WWW client including Netscape.  If you use IBM's 
WebExplorer as your WWW client you can use WebWriter/2 as your viewer for HTML
document source.  For more information on how  to do this consult the 
WebWriter/2 on-line help. 

    WebWriter/2 uses a MSDI (Multiple Single Document Interface) method of 
editing multiple documents.  You can open as many WebWriter/2 windows as you 
want as long as you can keep track of what you are doing.  To help manage the 
open documents you may wish to display the WebWriter/2 - Window list.  You can
do this by selecting it from the Windows menu or from the OS/2 window list.  
Clicking mouse button 2 on the WebWriter/2 - Window list will bring up a context
menu of options.

    To insert HTML tags, select the desired tag from the Tags menu.  Tags which 
have additonal or optional elements will present the user with a dialog 
prompting for the necessary information.  Additional tags may be defined and 
inserted by selecting Tags/More tags... .  Special characters can be selected 
from the Characters menu or from the Character entities dialog which is 
displayed by selecting Characters/More characters... .  When inserting HTML 
tags, selected text will be wrapped by the tag if it is two sided.  One sided 
tags will be inserted before selected text.  Character entities will be inserted
before selected text.  

    More detailed information on specific features of WebWriter/2 can be found 
in the on-line help which is now available.

    If you are not familiar with HTML you may wish to obtain one of the many 
books available on this topic.  "Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML in a 
Week" by Laura Lemay ( SAMS Publishing, 1995 ) is a good book for beginners.  
By the time you read this "Teach Yourself More Web Publishing with HTML in a 
Week" by Laura Lemay ( SAMS Publishing, 1995 ) should be on the shelves.  There 
are also many WWW sites which provide up to date HTML documentation and 
examples.  Although these are too numerous to list here, one good site is:

                http://www.w3.org/hypertext/WWW/MarkUp/MarkUp.html  

You can refer to the HTML20.HTM file included with this .ZIP for basic HTML 
information.

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WHAT'S NEW


NEW IN VERSION 1.0
 
Enhancements:

    1. WebWriter/2 now has full context sensitive help.  Most of the help 
       information that was previously in this readme file can now be found in 
       the on-line help.
   
    2. The Tag manager & Character manager dialogs are now resizable and no 
       longer resize themselves when columns are displayed and hidden.  This 
       can allow these dialogs to be used as palettes for Tags and Character 
       entities by resizing them to display only the tag or character name and 
       making them as tall as desired to display many tags or characters at once.

    3. The speed of the "Change all" option of the Find dialog has been 
       increased considerably.

    4. The "Change to" string in the Find dialog is now saved between 
       invocations of this function.

    5. You can now preview without saving from the default document directory.  
       This option can be specified on the Paths page of the settings notebook.  
       This is particularly useful for previewing documents with images which 
       are stored in the default directory or for testing links to other 
       documents in the default directory.

    6. The Printer setup dialog now allows you to specify wrapping of printed 
       output at up to 106 columns.  This defaults to wrapping at 80 columns.

    7. Accelerators were added to several menu items in the Tags menu.  
       The following accelerator keys can now be used for inserting tags:
                
        a. Headings
           - Alt+1,2,3,4,5 or 6 will insert the
             corresponding heading tag (<Hn></Hn>).
        b. Paragraph
           - Alt+P will insert the the paragraph tag
             (<P></P>).
           - Ctrl+Enter will insert a newline then the 
             paragraph tag.
        c. Horizontal rule
           - Alt+H will insert a <HR> tag.
        d. Line break
           - Alt+B will insert a <BR> tag.
        e. List item
           - Alt+I will insert a <LI> tag.
           - Shift+Enter will insert a newline and then a
             <LI> tag.
        f. Unordered list
           - Alt+L will insert the <UL></UL> tag.
        g. Ordered list
           - Alt+O will insert the <OL></OL> tag.

    8. Technical support has moved to: 

        jblumel@gs.net	



Fixes:

    1. Fixed a problem where the document path used in file dialogs would be 
       changed to the TMP directory following previewing a document.

    2. If Cancel was clicked in the "Save as" dialog when previewing a document,
       the preview would continue.  This was changed so that the preview 
       operation is now cancelled as well as the save.

    3. The "Printer setup" dialog would get lost behind other open windows if 
       another window was clicked on while the dialog was open.  The "Printer 
       setup" dialog is now system modal and must be closed to continue.

    4. Fixed a problem with the Edit window not refreshing properly following no
       more occurences for a "Change then find" operation.  This along with the 
       not found message  was somewhat confusing.

    5. If the settings notebook was opened while many Edit windows were open, 
       the open windows would not properly refresh their settings when the 
       notebook was closed.  This resulted in the preview applications 
       disappearing from the File/Preview menu.  This was changed  so that the
       Edit windows refresh their settings the next time they become active 
       rather than immediately.  This avoids the problem which seems to have 
       been caused by sharing conflicts when accessing the .ini file.


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NEW IN VERSION 0.9 BETA 2

Enhancements:

    1. You can now define and insert your own tags using the Tag manager dialog.  

    2. Enhanced drag and drop support.

    3. Enhanced support for non-English characters.

    4. Multiple preview applications may now be configured.

    5. You may now, optionally, display a status bar which will display hint text 
       describing menu items.  For tags and character entities the element 
       inserted when the menu option is selected is displayed.

    6. You can now select the printer you wish to print to including direct 
       printing to an LPT device using the OS/2 print command.  Direct to LPT 
       printing can be useful if you are having trouble printing to an OS/2 
       printer.  This can also allow 2 & 4 up printing if you have a utility 
       that supports this.

    7. WebWriter/2 now uses the C level patch version of VROBJ.DLL.


Fixes:

    1. A problem with WebWriter/2 locking up on startup including locking up the 
       entire OS/2 system has been fixed.

    2. A problem with the edit window contents sometimes not redisplaying 
       properly when a document was inserted or opened has been fixed.

    3. Problems with locating the exact position of text in the edit window 
       during find and replace operations have, I believe, been resolved by the
       Patch level C version of VROBJ.DLL and minor code changes.

    4. Many annoying little problems which somehow manged to slip through to the 
       first beta release.




REGISTERING WebWriter/2

    If you decide that you wish to continue using WebWriter/2 beyond the 30 day
evaluation period, you will need to register it.  The registation fee is $30.00 
U.S.  When you register you will be sent a registration code.  After you enter
your registration information WebWriter/2 will display your name in the Product 
information dialog, the Registration menu will no longer appear on the Edit 
window menu bar and dialogs reminding you to register will no longer be
displayed.

    Please print and fill out the register.txt file included with WebWriter/2.
If the copy of WebWriter/2 you obtained did not include the register.txt file,
send the following information:

    - Your name
    - Postal address
    - Email address
    - Phone (Home/Work)
    - WebWriter/2 version number
    - How you obtained WebWriter/2
    - Any other comments you may have

    To register send a check or money order in the amount of the registration 
fee(s) payable to John Blumel and drawn on a U.S. bank to:

    John Blumel
    1949 Green Oak Drive
    Terrytown, LA  70056
    USA

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    For convenience of payment, you may wish to register WebWriter/2 through 
BMT Micro.  BMT Micro will accept the following forms of payment:

        - Visa
        - MasterCard
        - Discover
        - American Express
        - Money Order
        - Cashiers Check
        - Personal Check

    Checks and money orders should be made payable to BMT Micro.  Registration
through BMT Micro may be done in any of the following ways:

        Mail Orders:  BMT Micro
                      452 Horn Road
                      Wilmington, NC 28412-2411
                      U.S.A.

       Voice Orders:  9:00am - 7:00pm EST (-5 GMT)
                      (800) 414-4268 (orders only)
                      (910) 791-7052

         Fax Orders:  (910) 350-2937  24 hours / 7 Days

                BBS:  (910) 350-8061  10 lines, all 14.4K
                      (910) 799-0923  Direct 28.8K line

    If you wish to place the order through BMT Micro via Mail or Fax, please 
print and fill out the BMTOrder.txt file which was included in the WebWriter/2 
archive.


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    Corporations and/or organizations interested in site licenses should contact 
the author (John Blumel) prior to registering.

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TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Known Problems

    1. Some characters do not display properly in the "Character entity" dialog.
       These characters have been replaced with a text description equivalent in 
       the Character column.  The character entity inserted when one of these 
       characters is selected is however correct.

       This problem is due to the fact that codepage 437 which is the default 
       for English language installations of OS/2 does not support display of 
       these characters.  I am currently exporing options for a workaround for 
       this problem.  This would involve use of codepage 850 and would require 
       that this codepage be specified as either the primary or alternate 
       codepage in the CONFIG.SYS.


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Getting Technical Support

    For technical support, suggestions or to report bugs in WebWriter/2, I can 
be reached at:

        jblumel@gs.net

    Or:

        John Blumel
        1949 Green Oak Drive
        Terrytown, LA  70056

    Technical support will not be available from 2 weeks preceding Mardis Gras 
until after Ash Wednesday.

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(C) Copyright 1995 John Blumel.
All rights reserved.
