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[FO90030]

Re: Diacritics with WordPerfect 5.1 DOS
 
Status: RO

WordPerfect 5.1 (DOS) supports the use of 512 screen characters with EGA/VGA-
compatible adaptors, whereby 256 of those characters can be freely defined by th
e user.
VGA screens can display 8x16 or 8x14 sized characters but EGA screens only 8x14.
 The
definitions of the screen characters are contained in a file called VGA512.FRS a
nd their
assignments in a file called VGA512.CHM (Character map). It is possible to chang
e
from one set of 512 characters to another by means of a macro that can be called
 by
pressing any key one designates for the purpose. One set of 512 characters is su
fficient
for most purposes. It can include all the diacritics used for Indian and Iranian
 studies as
well as Cyrillic.
 
      Screen fonts can be easily produced using WordPerfect's Screen Font Editor
,
which however must be purchased separately. It does however contain definitions
of all
the standard WordPerfect characters including Japanese, Greek etc. and these can
 be
simply taken over into one's own set. WordPerfect does not envisage all the char
acters
needed by Indologists. In particular the dotted letters (retroflexes, anusvara a
nd visarga
etc.) are not included. They can however be incorporated into character set 12 (
the user-
definable character set).
 
      WordPerfect 5.1 also supports user-defined keyboard layout files. It is po
ssible to
shift from one layout to another by means of a designated key. Thus I use a keyb
oard
layout for writing Cyrillic, but if I press ALT-L it changes to a keyboard for w
riting
English and Sanskrit etc. This keyboard also makes use of the number sign (ASCII
 35)
to invoke a macro that enables me to enter a code for characters that I do not f
ind it
convenient to locate under simple keys or combinations of keys with ALT and CTRL