Last updated: 9/29/03
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IST 3715: Word Processing Overview

  1. The core task for word processing is to manage text. This includes:
    1. Create (enter) text
    2. Edit (change) text
      1. By character or by selecting a block
        1. Delete
        2. Move
        3. Copy
      2. Import
      3. Correct
        1. Spelling
        2. Grammar (?)
    3. Format (change the appearance of) text at different levels:
      1. Character
      2. Paragraph
      3. Document
      4. Organization
        1. Columns
        2. Tables
        3. Lists
    4. Store and retrieve text
    5. Print and display text
  2. Current word processors add
    1. Outlines
    2. Table of Contents and Index
    3. Automatic dates
    4. Automatic numbering for sequences such as figures, tables and chapters
    5. Drawing
    6. Images
    7. Links
    8. HTML format
    9. Equations
  3. Strong methods Vs weak method - use strong methods in this course.
    1. Example 1: centering a title
      1. Weak - space bar
        1. Must be redone if font / font size changed
        2. Must be redone if paper size or orientation are changed
        3. Must be redone if margins are changed
      2. Semi-strong - Center tab
        1. Must be redone if margins are changed
        2. Must be redone if paper size or orientation are changed
      3. Strong - Format > Paragraph > Alignment > Center. Do it and forget it.
    2. Example 2: starting a new page to keep related text together
      1. New paragraphs via <Enter> (<Return> on Mac) - weak method. Susceptible to changes in font, margins, content
      2. Insert page break. About the same.
      3. Best is Format > Paragraph > Line and Page Breaks
        1. Widow and orphan control
        2. Keep lines together
        3. Keep with next
  4. Word processing file formats
    1. Proprietary computer applications, such as MS Word, MS Excel and MS Access, Corel WordPerfect and Corel Quattro Pro have proprietary (secret) file formats. The actual text is in universal ASCII codes, but the formatting codes are proprietary (secret).
    2. Word can read Word Perfect files and Word Perfect can read Word files, except for the latest round of enhancements
    3. Using Word to create your personal web page. The HTML text for IST 3720 recommends against using Word to create HTML, although Word will Save As HTML. Early versions of Word (e.g. 6.0) did a good job, but recent versions insert a lot of proprietary tags with the effect that:
      1. Lengthy files, long download times
      2. Hard to edit with other HTML editors
      3. Pages are Browser dependent
  5. Using Microsoft Word. Open Microsoft Word using Start > Programs > Word.
    1. File menu handles files as a whole.
      1. Open
      2. Save Vs Save As...
        1. The path to a document is drive, folders, name, extension (tells what application created it - dox, exe, mdb, htm, txt)
          c:\My Documents\doc\dis\ist3715\QuizTopics.htm
        2. Save As... sets the path. Must be the first save of a new file since the path is completely unknown.
          1. Word proposes a path. Check drives, folders and name for meaning to you, leave extension unchanged.
        3. Save repeats the path in the last Save As...
      3. Print - whole document, current page, page range
      4. Page setup / section
    2. Creating and editing text from the keyboard
      1. Text creation or entry: making new text. Done with the keyboard in the document window.
      2. Keyboard editing. <Backspace> deletes to the left, <Delete> deletes to the right, arrow keys skip the insertion point over characters without changing them. <Shift> and arrow keys expands the selection.
    3. Edit menu. Change text, including its order. Cut, Copy, Paste, Find, Replace it (Microsoft calls this "Select, Then Do.")
      1. Select text by dragging over it, or click at one end of selection (beginning or end) then use arrow keys with <Shift> key down to move selection or click at other end (end or beginning) with <Shift> key down
      2. Selection in Word (also applies to all of Office and even Windows) - selecting an object or section for action. Drag over SOME of your text to select it. The selected text is "highlighted" -- shown in reverse colors. This is the normal Windows signal that something is selected for further action.
        1. "Typing Replaces Selection" is the default. With some of your text selected, and while watching the screen all the time, type something on the keyboard. What happened to your selection? Whatever you typed replaces whatever you had selected. This can make editing much easier, BUT BE VERY CAREFUL WHENEVER YOU HAVE ANYTHING SELECTED (highlighted). Whatever action you take next, such as accidentally hitting the <delete> key, will affect the whole selection.
        2. You can bring the text back with Edit > Undo, or use the toolbar button ( - Redo is grayed out here) that works for multiple levels of undo.
        3. You can change "Typing Replaces Selection in Tools > Options > Edit. Click or unclick "Typing Replaces Selection," then click OK.
      3. Auto correction is another feature that you may want to control. This makes corrections as you type, without notice. To change how this option works, use Tools > AutoCorrect...
      4. Again, select some text by dragging over it with the mouse or using the keyboard.
      5. Copy the selected text to the Windows "clipboard" (a virtual holding location for data) by selecting the Edit / Copy menu item. Alternate actions: Copy tool button (see figure below) or <Ctrl>C.
      6. Move the insertion point (the "I-Beam" cursor) to another point in the document. Paste the selection into this document using the menu item Edit / Paste. Alternate actions: Paste tool button (see figure above) or <Ctrl>V
        1. NOTE 1: "Copy" copies the text to the Windows clipboard, which is a virtual storage area for data (here, text). The "Copy" means that the text also stays in its original position, and a new copy is sent to the clipboard. Had you chosen "Cut", the text would have been removed from the original position when it was sent to the clipboard. Therefore, "Cut and Paste" moves the text from the first location to the second.
        2. NOTE 2: You can also Copy/Cut and Paste between two different documents, or even between Word and Excel, or between any two applications.
        3. NOTE 3: To move text within the same document, you may prefer "Drag 'n Drop. To use Drag 'n Drop, you first select the text to be moved by dragging the mouse over it, then release the mouse button, then click and hold. If you have done this correctly, a small box appears beneath the mouse icon. This is the sign that you can now drag the text to the desired location.
          NOTE: If you drag using the right button, when you release the button at the desired "to" location, a menu will pop up from which you can choose either Move or Copy (see figure below)
    4. Format menu - change the appearance of text
      1. Font - applies to individual letters
        1. Serif Vs San Serif. Serifs are the little feet at the ends of letters. Examples of Serif fonts are Times Roman and Courier. A San Serif font is Arial. (Reading experts say that Serif fonts are faster to read, but graphics designers often like San Serif. Common compromise - Arial for titles, Times Roman for body)
        2. Monospacing Vs Proportional. In a monospacing font, all letters are the same width, for example in Courier. In a proportional font, narrow letters such as i are narrow, while wide letters such as w are wider.Vs Proportional, as in Times Roman. There are proportional and monospacing Serif fonts, and proportional San Serif fonts, but apparently no monospacing San Serif fonts, since the serifs are used to make a font monospacing. A monospacing fond is good in cases where the characters in two lines must line up character by character. For example, on quizzes and exams, we use Courier for writing out binary problems.
        3. True Type – what you see on the screen is also what your get on the printer. Either the font listing has a "TT" icon in front of it, or "New" in the name, or both. Example, Courier New, Times New Roman (Microsoft)
        4. Font size - 12 point is 10 lines to the inch
        5. Also attributes - Bold, Italics, Underlined, more choices using menus than toolbar buttons (superscript for footnotes)
        6. Font color
      2. Paragraph - applies to whole paragraph. Line spacing, indent, outdent or hanging
      3. View menu
        1. Which toolbars to see (shortcuts to menu items)
        2. Also Header / Footer
      4. Insert menu
        1. Breaks - page or section
        2. Pictures from clip art or a file
        3. Special characters such as Greek letters, fractions
      5. Tools menu - automate actions, such as Spell Check and Grammar Check, Auto Correct - can be turned on and off item by item. Also configure Word for the way you want it to work - Tools / Customize... and Tools / Options...
        1. Makes envelopes easy
        2. Can do mailing labels and form letters
          1. Create both a data document and a form document
      6. Table. A table is an array of cells arranged in rows and columns. Does these easily.
             
             
             
    5. Troubleshooting. Can't tell whether you have tabs or spaces, page break or section break? Make Word show you these invisible things using Tools > Options or the corresponding toolbar button
    6. Repetitive formatting? Like the look but forgot how you did it? Use the Format Painter. (Also works in other Office applications)
      1. Select text with the formatting you want to copy.
      2. Click on the Format Painter toolbar button, then drag over the text you want to format.
      3. To use this repeatedly, double-click on Format Painter, use <Esc> button to exit this
    7. Saving a file
      1. Save your practice file to a floppy disk
      2. Close your file but leave Word open. How to do this: in the upper right corner of the Word window, there are two sets of controls. The top one is for Word as a whole, including the document. The bottom one is for the document only, leaving Word itself open. Click on the lower "X" to close your file.
      3. Close Word by clicking on the upper "X"
      4. This is good for handling multiple files.