Starting

Here’s how to start using Q&A versions 3 and 4 for DOS. (Version 5 resembles version 4. Versions 1, 1.1 and 2 resemble version 3.)

I’ll assume you have a hard disk whose CONFIG.SYS file mentions "files" and "buffers" (as I recommended in the MS-DOS chapter).

Copy Q&A to the hard disk

Version 3 comes on seven 5¼-inch floppies. Version 4 comes on eight 5¼-inch floppies. (If you want 3½-inch floppies, ask your dealer for the 3½-inch version.)

Here’s how to copy Q&A to the hard disk.

Put Q&A System Disk 1 into drive A, and type "copy a:*.*" (which copies all the floppy’s files onto the hard disk). Follow the same procedure for all the other Q&A floppy disks, in numerical order: do Q&A System Disk 2, then Q&A System Disk 3, etc., and finally the Q&A Tutorial.

The computer says, "Q&A Version 4.0 Installation". Press ENTER twice.

The computer says, "DESTINATION DRIVE SELECTION". Press the down-arrow key twice, so the "C:" is darkened. Press ENTER.

The computer says "C:\QA4". Tap the BACKSPACE key (so you change the computer’s message to "C:\QA"). Press ENTER twice.

Here’s what happens next (when you’re using 5¼-inch floppies).

The computer says, "Please insert disk 2". Put the Q&A #2 Disk in drive A and press ENTER.

The computer says, "Please insert disk 3". Put the Q&A #3 Disk in drive A and press ENTER.

The computer says, "Please insert disk 4". Put the Q&A #4 Disk in drive A and press ENTER.

The computer says, "Please insert disk 5". Put the Q&A #5 Disk in drive A and press ENTER.

The computer says, "Please insert disk 6". Put the Q&A #6 Disk in drive A. Press ENTER 4 times.

Then the computer shows the top of an alphabetical list of printers. Press the down-arrow key several times, until your printer is darkened.

Press the SPACE bar (so a check mark appears next to your printer). Press ENTER 4 times.

Here’s what happens next:

The computer shows a list of tutorial files. Press the F5 key. Press ENTER.

The computer says, "Please insert disk 7". Put the Q&A #7 Disk in drive A. Press ENTER 4 times.

The computer shows a list of databases. Press the F5 key. Press ENTER 4 times.

Then the computer shows a list of utility files. Put check marks next to ASC-CODE.ASC, LINE-DOC.DOC, and QABACKUP.EXE. (Do not put a check mark next to HIMEM.SYS, since that version of HIMEM.SYS is obsolete.) To create a check mark, press the down-arrow key repeatedly until the item you want to check is darkened, then press the SPACE bar. When you’ve created all three check marks, end the whole process by pressing ENTER.

The computer says, "Please insert disk 8". Put the Q&A #8 Disk in drive A. Press ENTER 5 times.

Make Q&A act better

After you’ve copied Q&A to the hard disk, make Q&A act better. Here’s how.

If you’re using version 3, here’s what happens next:

The computer says "LIST OF PRINTERS". Press the PAGE DOWN (or PgDn) key repeatedly until you see the name of your printer (or a similar printer). Use the arrow keys to move to your printer’s name. Press ENTER twice. Press the F10 key.

If you’re using version 4, this happens instead:

The computer says "LIST OF PRINTER MANUFACTURERS". If you don’t see name of your printer’s manufacturer, press PAGE DOWN (or PgDn) key. Use arrow keys to move to your printer’s name. Press ENTER. You see a list of printer models. Use arrow keys and PAGE DOWN key to move to your printer model. Press ENTER twice.

Finally, the computer says, "Your printer has been installed". Press N. The computer says "UTILITIES MENU" again.

Run Q&A

To run Q&A, turn on the computer without any floppy in drive A.

If you’ve put the DO.BAT file onto your hard disk (as I recommended in the MS-DOS chapter) and put Q&A into the QA subdirectory (as I recommended above), your life is easy! Just type "do qa".

If you have not put DO.BAT onto your hard disk, do this instead: type "cd qa" and then "qa".

The computer will print this on the screen:

Q&A MAIN MENU

F - File

R - Report

W - Write

A - Assistant

U - Utilities

X - Exit Q&A

If you’re using version 4 and have a mouse, you’ll see a small red rectangle in the middle of the screen. Move that rectangle out of the way — to the screen’s top right corner — by rolling the mouse toward your desk’s back right corner.

Get into typing

To use Q&A’s word processor, choose "W - Write" from the main menu by pressing the W key. (That works if you followed my instructions about "select automatic execution". If you did not follow those instructions, you must press ENTER after pressing W — and you must press ENTER after choosing any item from any menu!)

WRITE MENU

T - Type/edit

D - Define page

P - Print

C - Clear

G - Get

S - Save

U - Utilities

M - Mailing labels

That menu is a list of what Q&A’s word processor can do for you.

To begin, choose "T - Type/edit" from the write menu (by pressing T).

The lower right-hand corner of the screen will say "Line 1 of Page 1 of 1", which means you can begin typing your document.

Type the document

Begin typing whatever document you wish to create. For example, try typing a novel that begins like this:

Once upon a time, a man was walking down the street, when lo and behold, his house was gone. As he gaped into the hole, a burning sensation in his shoes warned him that…

I’ll let you complete that paragraph yourself! Be creative!

If you want to double-space between paragraphs, press the ENTER key twice.

To indent the word even farther, press the TAB key extra times before typing the word. Each extra time you press the TAB key, the word indents a full inch farther.

3 cups of powdered milk

2 cups of water

1 pound of sugar

1 pound of cocaine

mix & shape

bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes

serves 7 ghosts

press the ENTER key at the end of each line.

Try typing this English-French dictionary:

ENGLISH FRENCH

love amour

pain peine

tenderness tendresse

Here’s how. Type the first column’s heading (ENGLISH), press the TAB key several times (to move far to the right), type the second column’s heading (FRENCH), and press ENTER. Type "love", press the TAB key repeatedly until you’re under FRENCH, type "amour", and press ENTER. Use the same technique for the table’s other lines.

CAPS LOCK

If your keyboard is modern, its top right corner has a Caps Lock light. When you’re in caps mode, that light glows.

NUM LOCK

When you’re in number mode, the screen’s bottom center says "Num".

If your keyboard is modern, its top right corner has a Num Lock light. When you’re in number mode, that light glows.

Press the NUM LOCK key if necessary, so that you’re not in number mode.

Move the cursor

After you’ve typed a few paragraphs (and pressed the ENTER key at the end of each paragraph), you can move around the screen and edit your document.

(If the arrow keys don’t work, that’s because you’re in number mode. Get out of number mode by pressing the NUM LOCK key.)

While holding down the CONTROL key, you can tap the left-arrow key. That makes the cursor hop left to the beginning of the current word; if the cursor’s already at the word’s beginning, it will hop to the beginning of the previous word.

As you type, the computer automatically divides your document into pages and screenfuls.

When you’re at the top of a page, the screen shows the top of that sheet of paper, like this:

When you’re at the bottom of a page, the screen shows the bottom of that sheet of paper, like this:

When you’re moving from one page to the next, the screen shows the bottom of one page and then the top of the next page, like this:

Near the top and bottom of each page, the screen shows a blank space, for the top and bottom margins.

HOME the beginning of the line

HOME HOME the top of the screen

HOME HOME HOME the top of the page

HOME HOME HOME HOME the beginning of the document

Ctrl with HOME very top (same as four HOMEs)

END the end of the line

END END the bottom of the screen

END END END the bottom of the page

END END END END the end of the document

Ctrl with END very end (same as four ENDs)

PAGE UP (PgUp) the previous screenful

PAGE DOWN (PgDn) the next screenful

Ctrl with PgUp the previous page

Ctrl with PgDn the next page

DELETE key

To delete the character you just typed, press the BACKSPACE key. To delete a character you typed long ago, move the cursor to that character, then press the DELETE key (which says "Del" on it). To delete a passage typed long ago, move the cursor to passage’s beginning, then tap the DELETE key several times (or hold down the DELETE key a while), until the passage disappears.

By pressing the up-arrow key, move the cursor to the first paragraph’s bottom line. Move to the end of that line, by pressing the END key. Delete the end-of-paragraph mark, by pressing the DELETE key.

Press the DELETE key a few more times (to delete unwanted TAB spaces and ENTERs).

INSERT key

When you start using Q&A, it’s in typeover mode. In typeover mode, the cursor’s an underline.

To switch to insert mode, tap the INSERT key (which says "Ins" on it). When you’re in insert mode, the bottom of the screen says "Insert" and the cursor’s a square (instead of an underline). To switch back to typeover mode, tap the INSERT key again.

Move the cursor to where the incorrect characters begin. Make sure you’re in typeover mode (so that the cursor’s an underline). Then type over the characters you want to change.

Move the cursor to where you want the extra characters to begin. Make sure you’re in insert mode (by tapping the INSERT key if necessary), so that the bottom of the screen says "Insert" and the cursor’s a square. Then type the characters you want to insert.

The other characters on the screen will automatically move out of the way to make room for the extra characters.

What word should begin the second short paragraph? Move the cursor to that word’s first letter.

Make sure you’re in insert mode (by pressing the INSERT key if necessary), so that the bottom of the screen says "Insert". Press ENTER. Now you’ve split the long paragraph into two!

If you want to double-space between the two short paragraphs, press ENTER again. If you want to indent the second paragraph, press the TAB key.

Function keys

By pressing the function keys, you can give these commands:

Assign fonts Ctrl F9

Calculate Alt F9

Capitalize F8 then B then A This command is just in version 4.

Center F8 then A then C In version 3, press F8 then C.

Continue F10

Copy F5

Copy to file Ctrl F5

Define page Ctrl F6

Delete block F3

Delete line Shift F4

Delete to right Ctrl F4

Delete word F4

Double space F8 then A then D This command is just in version 4.

Draw F8 then L then D In version 3, press F8 then D.

Enhance Shift F6

Export Ctrl F8

Field Alt F7

Footer F8 then L then F In version 3, press F8 then F.

Go to Ctrl F7

Header F8 then L then H In version 3, press F8 then H.

Help F1

Hyphenate Alt F6

Insert doc F8 then D then I In version 3, press F8 then I.

Left F8 then A then L In version 3, press F8 then U.

Lowercase F8 then B then L This command is just in version 4.

Macro Shift F2

Macro run Alt F2 This command is just in version 4.

Move Shift F5

Move to file Alt F5

New page F8 then L then N In version 3, press F8 then N.

Print F2

Print block Ctrl F2

Restore Shift F7

Right F8 then A then R This command is just in version 4.

Save Shift F8

Scroll up F9

Scroll down Shift F9

Search F7

Set tabs F8 then L then S In version 3, press F8 then S.

Single space F8 then A then S This command is just in version 4.

Spell Shift F1

Spell word Ctrl F1

Statistics Ctrl F3

Temp margin F6

Thesaurus Alt F1 This command is just in version 4.

Title F8 then B then T This command is just in version 4.

Triple space F8 then A then P This command is just in version 4.

Put that chart (or a photocopy of it) next to the computer.

While you’re using Q&A, the bottom of Q&A’s screen displays a different abridgment of the chart.

Here’s how to use those function keys.…

Delete word (F4)

To delete a word, put the cursor at the word’s first character, then say "Delete word" (by pressing the F4 key).

Delete line (Shift F4)

To delete a whole line of text, put the cursor in that line, then say "Delete line". (Here’s how to say "Delete line": while holding down the Shift key, press the F4 key.)

Delete to right (Ctrl F4)

To delete the far right part of a line, put the cursor where that part begins, then say "Delete to right". (Here’s how to say "Delete to right": while holding down the Ctrl key, press the F4 key.)

Go to (Ctrl F7)

To make the cursor hop to page 3, say "Go to" (by pressing Ctrl with F7), then type 3 and press F10.

Statistics (Ctrl F3)

If you say "Statistics" (by pressing Ctrl with F3), the computer will tell you how many words, lines, and paragraphs are in your document. It will also tell you how many words, lines, and paragraphs are in your document’s first part (the part before the cursor) and how many are in the second part (the part after the cursor).

When you finish looking at those statistics, press the ESCAPE key (which says "Esc" on it).

Align (F8 A)

This line is flush left.

This line is centered.

This line is flush right.

The computer assumes you want each line to be flush left, unless you say otherwise. Here’s how to change the line’s alignment.

Press F8 then A. (The A stands for "align".) Then press L (to make the line be flush left) or C (to make the line be centered) or R (to make the line be flush right).

If you want to center the line, press F8 then C.

If you want the line to be flush left, put the cursor on the line’s first word (or anywhere to the right of that word), then press F8 then U. (The U stands for "uncenter").

Version 3 doesn’t understand how to make the line be flush right.

Help (F1)

If you forget how to use Q&A, say "Help" (by pressing the first function key, F1). You’ll see a chart that reminds you what each function key does. Then press the ESCAPE key (which says "Esc" on it).

Blocks

Delete block (F3)

To delete the block, say "Delete block" (by pressing F3). Then put the cursor at the block’s last character, and press F10.

Copy (F5)

To copy the block (instead of deleting it), say "Copy" (by pressing F5). Then put the cursor at the block’s last character, and press F10. Put the cursor where you want the block’s copy to appear, and press F10.

Move (Shift F5)

To move the block (so it vanishes from its current location and reappears elsewhere), say "Move" (by pressing Shift with F5). Then put the cursor at the block’s last character, and press F10. Move the cursor where you want the block’s new position to be, then press F10 again.

Enhance (Shift F6)

To enhance the block (so it looks different from the rest of the document and stands out), say "Enhance" (by pressing Shift with F6).

Then say which enhancement to perform:

press U to Underline (so the block looks like this)

press B to make Bold (so the block looks like this)

press I to italicize (so the block looks like this)

press X to X out (so the block looks like this)

press S to Subscript (so the block is lowered, like this)

press P to suPerscript (so the block is raised, like this)

press R to make Regular again (so the block looks like this)

Put the cursor at the block’s last character, and press F10.

You face the same hassle with other enhancements (X out, subscript, and superscript): on your screen the block just changes color. The desired enhancements occur just on paper, and just if your printer knows how to perform them.

Final steps

After editing your document, copy it onto the hard disk and paper and move on to a different task. Here’s how.…

Save (Shift F8)

While you’re typing and editing your document, it’s in the computer’s RAM chips but not on a disk. If the computer’s electricity is knocked out (by a thunderstorm or by your cat pulling the plug) or you accidentally hold down the DELETE key awhile, the RAM chips and your document will be erased.

To save, just say "Save" (by pressing Shift with F8).

Then the computer will ask you to invent a name for your document. The name must be short: no more than 8 letters. For example, the name can be "jennifer" or "al". Type the name you wish and press ENTER.

The computer will copy the document onto the hard disk (drive C) and put that document into the QA subdirectory.

Afterwards, if you improve the document by editing it further, the improved version will be in the RAM chips, but the disk will still contain the old version. To copy the improved version onto the disk, say "Save" again (by pressing Shift with F8) and press ENTER. The computer will replace the disk’s old version by the new version.

Typing a long document? Say "Save" every 10 minutes, so if an accident happens you’ll lose at most 10 minutes of work!

Print (F2)

Here’s how to copy your writing onto paper.

Make sure the printer is turned on. Make sure you’ve saved your document (to protect yourself in case the printer doesn’t work). Then say "Print" (by pressing F2). The computer will say "PRINT OPTIONS". Press F10.

Clear (Esc C)

Here’s how to erase the screen (so you can start creating a new document).

Press the ESCAPE key, which says "Esc" on it. You’ll see the write menu. Choose "C - Clear" (by pressing C).

If the computer asks "Are you SURE you want to continue?", press Y.

Get (Esc G)

Here’s how to copy a document from your hard disk to your screen.

Press the ESCAPE key, which says "Esc" on it. You’ll see the write menu. Choose "G - Get" (by pressing G). Either type "jennifer" (and press ENTER) or choose JENNIFER from a menu (by pressing ENTER, moving the cursor to JENNIFER, and pressing F10).

If the computer asks, "Are you SURE you want to continue?", press Y.

Exit (Esc Esc)

When you’ve finished using Q&A’s word processor, press the Esc key twice. (If the computer asks, "Are you SURE?", press Y.) You’ll see the main menu. Choose "X - Exit Q&A" (by pressing X). The screen will show a C prompt, so you can give a DOS command.