Printable View
I am working on some code and while googling for ideas on how to
hypenate words I came across an old (1991) article stating that
wordstar used to hypenate words using a software routine. So I started
wondering, was there any cpm wordstar clones with source code that
would show how they did it? Anybody have any clues?
Bill H
Bill H wrote:[color=blue]
> I am working on some code and while googling for ideas on how to
> hypenate words I came across an old (1991) article stating that
> wordstar used to hypenate words using a software routine. So I started
> wondering, was there any cpm wordstar clones with source code that
> would show how they did it? Anybody have any clues?[/color]
The algorithm Knuth wrote for TeX is pretty well known, and
likely used for other more recent systems.
Otherwise, you can disassemble the old code.
-- glen
Hello, "Bill H"!
[color=blue]
> I am working on some code and while googling for ideas on how to
> hypenate words I came across an old (1991) article stating that
> wordstar used to hypenate words using a software routine. So I started
> wondering, was there any cpm wordstar clones with source code that
> would show how they did it? Anybody have any clues?[/color]
Better than a clue: an informed opinion!
I don't know if you have remarked, but I am the only one, in the comp.os.cpm
Newsgroup, who uses WordStar (Version 4) for writing.
According to one of my programs, I have 800+ WS4 files on my hard disk.
None of them uses hyphenation.
I decided, years ago, never to use hyphenation, after reading, from time to
time, articles or books were lines were broken at the wrong place -- because
the editor re-used a file without checking it. The author had written his
text using hyphenation for a particular width, and the editor was using
another width.
So, my solution is simple: no hyphenation, no problem.
(If you insist on hyphenating, the "WordStar Reference Guide" explains how
it hyphenates. I cannot retype everything (it is too long), but the
following paragraph seems interesting: "WordStar decides when to stop and
ask for an hyphen by counting the number of characters to the left of the
right margin in any word that straddles that margin. If that number exceeds
a preset minimum, WordStar stops. If not, it automatically moves the word to
the next line. The default minimum value is five characters and can be
changed with WSCHANGE." Conclusion: Read The Formidable Manual!...)
Yours Sincerely,
Mr. Emmanuel Roche, France
Mr. Emmanuel Roche, France wrote:[color=blue]
> Hello, "Bill H"!
>[color=green]
>> I[/color]
> So, my solution is simple: no hyphenation, no problem.
>
> (If you insist on hyphenating, the "WordStar Reference Guide" explains how
> it hyphenates. I cannot retype everything (it is too long), but the
> following paragraph seems interesting: "WordStar decides when to stop and
> ask for an hyphen by counting the number of characters to the left of the
> right margin in any word that straddles that margin. If that number exceeds
> a preset minimum, WordStar stops. If not, it automatically moves the word to
> the next line. The default minimum value is five characters and can be
> changed with WSCHANGE." Conclusion: Read The Formidable Manual!...)
>
> Yours Sincerely,
> Mr. Emmanuel Roche, France
>
>
>[/color]
I don't know if it will help.
[url]http://oldcomputers.dyndns.org/public/pub/manuals/ws4.pdf[/url]
Hello, fritz!
[color=blue]
> I don't know if it will help.
>
> [url]http://oldcomputers.dyndns.org/public/pub/manuals/ws4.pdf[/url][/color]
Well... I prefer my old paper version!
(Page 176 of the paper version becomes page 195 of the PDF file.)
Yours Sincerely,
Mr. Emmanuel Roche, France
On Aug 14, 5:39*pm, "Mr. Emmanuel Roche, France"
<roche...@laposte.net> wrote:[color=blue]
> Hello, fritz!
>[color=green]
> > I don't know if it will help.[/color]
>[color=green]
> >[url]http://oldcomputers.dyndns.org/public/pub/manuals/ws4.pdf[/url][/color]
>
> Well... I prefer my old paper version!
>
> (Page 176 of the paper version becomes page 195 of the PDF file.)
>
> Yours Sincerely,
> Mr. Emmanuel Roche, France[/color]
THanks guys - exactly what I was looking for - gives me enough to go
by.
Bill H
*Mr. Emmanuel Roche, France* wrote on Thu, 08-08-14 20:22:[color=blue]
>because the editor re-used a file without checking it.[/color]
With decent programs that can't happen when reusing files --
hyphenation is internally marked as such and distinct from
hyphenated compounds. It does happen when copying and pasting text.
Acrobat is very good here, when copying from Acrobat hyphenated words
get stuck together again making lines more ragged.
My own little script for reformatting text looks for double line ends
and replaces them by some unique unused character, for copied material
I can use TAB here. It then looks for the sequence hyphen-line end and
deletes both. After that all line ends get replaced by spaces and for
the last step the auxiliary caracter is replaced an end of paragraph, a
<CR><LF> in the simplest case.
This algorithm will make mistakes every time a hyphenated compound gets
split across lines. There is no universal solution for this. One might
look for capaital letters and prevent French-American becoming
FrenchAmerican, but the majority of comounds are not capitalized and
red-green would still become redgreen.