Re: Another reply Re: oooo...kay: commands to try

[Gossamer <gossamer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ted Nelson wrote:
> >I can't see bloody much in the demo so far. Do any
> >of the commands work? Is there a version that's loaded with anything
> >familiar?
> All the commands currently work except
>  CHUG, SHEAR and MARK.
> In the listing there are lots more.
> Good commands to start playing with are
>  #L-ins, R-ins, #L-Hop, #L-Break.
> Put the left cursor on one of those and
>  hit Enter, see what happens.


Okay, since I just wrote one for OSMIC, here's Gossamer's Notes On
Getting Started With Zigzag.


1.  Install it.  
   I'll assume you can manage this much :).

2.  Start ZigZag
   Start it with a new dataset.  If you haven't used it before, then
   this happens automagically.  If you have, then delete (if you don't
   want to keep it) or rename zigzag.data - a new one gets created.

   (Note:  This is good to remember if you get stuck when you're
   experimenting - you can always delete or move the zigzag.data and
   start again!)

3.  Cursors
   First, find the cursors.  Yes, two of them.  They're the two
   coloured cells in the middle of each half of the screen (or if you
   have a mono monitor, they'll be in reverse-video).  The left cursor
   is green and the right one is blue, but you probably can't see the
   blue one just now.  Don't worry about that.

   Note:  When you "move" the cursors they will -stay- in the middle
   of the windows, and the cells will move around them.  

   Try pressing the arrow keys on your keyboard to move the right-hand
   cursor around - it should pop into view as you move it.

   Notice that you can see both cursors in both windows!  But it's the
   one in the middle of each screen that's the "live" one, so to speak.

   To move the left-hand cursor around, use the SFEC keys on your
   keyboard, have a go at that too.

4.  Note
   Cells whose first character is "#" are action cells.  They can be
   executed and things happen.  Usually, the bit after the # will tell
   you what they do.  - If you press enter and nothing happens, it's
   probably not implemented yet.

5.  Cursors II
   The left cursor is the "action" cursor and the right one is the
   "data" cursor.  Any time you press enter, the cell under the left
   cursor performs the action, and the cell under the right cursor
   supplies the data (if any) needed.

   Example:
      Position the left cursor on the cell that shows "#R-ins" (stands
      for insert-on-the-right), and the right cursor on the cell that
      shows "Home".  Now, watch the right hand window as you press
      enter - another cell pops up to the right of where the
      right-hand cursor was.  

   The new cell probably has "100" in it for the moment, but that's
   just its cell number - you can edit it so anything is in there ...

6.  Editing.  
   Easy - just put the left cursor on the cell that says "#Edit", and
   the right one on the cell you want to edit, and press enter.

   When you exit the editor, you'll be back with the cell updated.

   (Note:  Cells can only have text at the moment, but eventually ...
   anything!)

7.  Shortcuts!
   All this find-the-action-cell can take a while when there are a lot
   of them, so we have keyboard shortcuts for the most common actions.

   Example:
      Position the cursor on your new cell.  Press "insert" and then
      the "up" arrow key.

   You can find the list of all keystrokes in the ZigZag directory.

8.  Concepts II
   This is the hard bit.  Ask Ted :)


Gossamer

-- 
: Gossamer - gossamer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx - http://www.tertius.net.au/~gossamer/
:         ***   Link of the week:  http://www.gnuhoo.com/    ***
: Dead ends are illusory.  When did you ever let a 'Do not enter' sign
: keep you away from anything? Go around the brick walls. When you
: cannot go around climb over or dig under. Just don't give up.
: -- Louis Alvarez, 'The Cuckoo's Egg' (Nobel Prize Winner)