Description of word processing

Word processing is the process of adding text to a word processing unit such as a computer or typewriter. The typed words are stored in the computer or word processor temporarily to allow for editing before a hard copy of the document. The term «word processing» is a fairly general term, so it may refer to several types of writing without the use of pen and paper. Typewriters, for example, process words directly onto a paper without storing the data, while computers use specific programs to store the typed data before printing.

Modified typewriters have been commonly used in the past for word processing. The typewriter would store the data — usually with the use of a computer chip — before printing the words onto a page. The person using the word processor could then check the writing for errors before printing the final draft. When computers became common in the workplace and at home, word processors became mostly obsolete, though some models are still used for a wide range of purposes, including as educational devices for students with special needs.

Computers have generally taken over word processing duties. The computers feature specific programs in which a person can type manuscripts of any length. The data is stored as an electronic document that can be opened, closed, saved, and edited at any time. This allows the user to make corrections or changes to a document multiple times before printing out a hard copy of the document. In many cases, the document is not printed out onto hard copy paper at all; instead, it can be used on the internet, in e-mails, or for other digital purposes.

Simpler programs, such as text editors or notepads, can be used to record text quickly without excess formatting options, such as multiple fonts or font sizes. Such programs are easy to use and do not come loaded with formatting features, such as color, multiple fonts, line spacing options, and so on. They are meant to be used for quick word processing that will not need to be formatted for presentation.

Word processing software often includes several features unavailable on typewriters or older word processors. Such features may include the ability to manipulate the layout of the text, the size and color of the font, the type of font used, line spacing, margin adjustments, and the ability to insert photos, web links, graphs, charts, and other objects directly into the document.

Goals

• Students will recognize the major types of word processing programs.
• Students will discriminate the types of problems that are best solved
  with various types of word processors.
• Students will recognize the major tools that are available in word
  processor application programs.
• Students will use a text editor to create and modify a simple ASCII
  text file.
• Students will use a high end word processing program to practice
  common text formatting problems.

Prereqs

• Comfort with the keyboard and mouse
• Experience with the STAIR process for solving problems
• Familiarity with principles of data encoding
• Familiarity with differences between hardware and software
• Understanding of the attributes of RAM
• Familiarity with operating systems, file names and directories

Discussion

Word processing is one of the most common applications for computers
today. It would be difficult to spend a day in a modern office or
university without coming into contact with a word processing program.
Most people have had some contact with word processing. We shall
examine the concept in some detail, so you will be familiar with a
number of levels of word processing software applications, the types
of tools such programs make available to you, and so you will know
what kinds of problems are best solved with this type of program.

How Word Processors Work

The advantages of word processing programs can best be illustrated by
thinking of some of the disadvantages of typewriters. When we use a
typewriter to create a document, there is a direct connection between
the keys and the paper. As soon as you press a key on the keyboard,
there is an impact on the paper, and the document has been modified.
If you catch a mistake quickly, you can fix it with correction tape or
white-out. If your mistake is more than one character long, it is
much harder to fix. If you want to add a word, move a
paragraph, or change the margins, you have to completely retype the
page. Sometimes this necessitates changes on other pages as well. A
one word change could lead to retyping an entire document.

Word processing is a type of software that focuses on the ability to
handle text. The computer does this by assigning each letter of the
alphabet and each other character on the keyboard a specific numeric
code. These numeric codes are translated into computer machine language,
and stored in the computer’s memory. Because the information is in memory,
it is very easy to change and manipulate. This is the key to the
success of word processing.

Example

Information in memory can be moved very quickly and easily. If we
want to change a word in a document, what happens in the computer is
something like this:

Imagine Darlene has started out her resume with the following word:

REUME

Obviously she has forgotten a letter. If she were using a typewriter,
the page would be trashed, and she would have to start over. Since
this is a word processor, Darlene can manipulate the memory containing
codes for the word «REUME» and add the «S» to it. When she tries, the
following things happen:

She moves her cursor to the spot in the text where she wants the S to
show up. The «cursor» is a special mark on the screen that indicates
at which place in the document the computer is currently focused. In this
case, Darlene wants to put an S between the E and the U. Her word
processor won’t let her put the cursor between two letters (although
some will), so she puts it on the U.

By moving the cursor, Darlene is telling the program to move around in
memory as well. When she place her cursor on the U on the screen, she
is telling the program to point to the corresponding spot in the
computer’s memory. The computer is now concentrating on the memory
cell that contains the code for the character «U».

She checks to be sure she is in insert mode (more on that later),
and she types the letter «S».

When Darlene does this, the computer shifts all the letters one memory
cell to the right, and inserts the code for the S in its proper
place.

Word processors and RAM

It sounds like a lot is happening. That’s true, but computers do all
these things so quickly that it seems instantaneous to us. You don’t
really have to know exactly where the stuff is in memory, or how it
gets moved around. The important thing to understand is that all the
information in your document is stored in some kind of digital
format in the computer’s memory. When you modify a document, you are really
modifying the computer’s memory. A word processing program handles
all the messy memory manipulation, so all you have to do is concentrate
on writing your paper.

RAM (Random Access Memory), where all the action is happening, has
one serious drawback. It only lasts as long as the computer is receiving
electrical power. Obviously this will cause some problems, because you
can’t just carry a computer around to show people your documents.
(Imagine the extension cord!) You also might run into some serious
problems if your computer were suddenly hit by a monsoon or something,
and you lost electrical power. In short, you cannot count on RAM memory
alone.

Word processing programs (as well as almost every type of program) are
designed to allow you to copy your information. Computer scientists
refer to the information your program is using as data. The data in
RAM can easily be duplicated to floppy disks or a hard drive. This is
called saving. Copying the data from RAM to a printer is called
printing. You can also copy data from other places to RAM. Copying the data
from the disk is referred to as loading the data. You might already
know what saving and printing are. We don’t mean to insult you by
telling you again. We just want to illustrate that it all boils down
to copying binary information to and from RAM.

Types of Word Processing Programs

There are many flavors of word processing programs. Different
programs are better for different types of jobs. One common problem
is deciding which program you will use to do a certain type of job.
It is important to know your options.

Text Editors

The simplest programs that do word processing are known as text
editors. These programs are designed to be small, simple, and cheap.
Almost every operating system made has at least one built in text
editor. Most text editors save files in a special format called
ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange — Whew!)
ASCII is a coding convention that almost all computers understand.
Each letter is assigned a numeric value that will fit in eight digits
of binary notation. «a» is 97 in ASCII, and «A» is 65. All the
numeric digits, and most punctuation marks also have numeric values in
ASCII. You certainly don’t need to memorize all the codes, (That’s
the text editor’s job.) but you should recognize the word « ASCII».
The biggest advantage of this scheme is that almost any program
can read and write ASCII text.

Text editors can be wonderful programs. The biggest advantage is the
price. There is probably already one or more installed on your
computer. You can find a number of text editors for free on the
Internet. Text editors are generally very easy to learn. Since they don’t
do a lot of fancy things, they are generally less intimidating than
full fledged word processor packages with all kinds of features.
Finally, text editors are pretty universal. Since they almost all use
the ASCII standard, you can read a text file written on any text
editor with just about any text editor. This is often not the case
when using fancier programs.

The ability to write ASCII text is the biggest benefit of text
editors. ASCII is also the biggest disadvantage of most text editors.
It is a very good way of storing text information, but it has no way
of handling more involved formatting. Text editors generally do not
allow you to do things like change font sizes or styles, spell
checking, or columns. (If you don’t know what those things are, stay
tuned. We will talk about them later in this chapter.)

Text editors aren’t all simple, though. Text editors are actually the
workhorses of the computing world. Most computer programs and web
pages are written with specialized text editors, and these programs
can be quite involved. You won’t need to learn any hard-core text editors
for this class, but you may end up learning one down the road.

If all you want to do is get text written, and you aren’t too
concerned about how fancy it looks, text editors are fine. (In fact,
this book was written entirely in emacs, a unix-based text editor.)

Common text editor programs:

• Windows: Notepad
• Macintosh: SimpleText
• Linux: vi, emacs
• Multi-platform: notepad++, jedit, synedit, many more

Integrated Packages

Frequently these software packages are included when a person buys a
new computer system. An integrated package is a huge program that
contains a word processor, a spreadsheet, a database tool, and other
software applications in the same program. (Don’t worry if you don’t
know what a spreadsheet or a database is. We’ll get there soon
enough!) An integrated application package is kind of like a «Swiss
army knife» of software.

The advantages of an integrated package derive from the fact that all
the applications are part of the same program, and were written by the
same company. It should be relatively easy to use the parts of an
integrated package together. These programs tend to be smaller, older
versions of larger programs, so they might be less complicated to use.
Since they were presumably written together, they should all have the
same general menu structure, and similar commands. (The command to
save a file would be the same set of keystrokes in all the programs,
for example.) Integrated packages are often designed with casual
users in mind. This might make them easier to use than more robust
programs. The word processor built into an integrated package is
probably more powerful than a typical text editor. Integrated
packages are often already installed on new computers, so they might
not cost you any more than the original purchase price of the
computer. The word processor on an integrated package will almost
certainly give you some features you would not expect to find on plain
text editors.

Integrated packages have some disadvantages. With the advent of
graphic user interfaces and modern operating systems, programs have
become more and more standard even if they were written by completely
different companies. Almost every program for Windows uses Alt-F-S to
save, for example. Also, as in the Swiss army knife analogy, the
programmers had to make some compromises in order to make all the
applications fit in one program. A Swiss army knife does contain a
saw, but if you had to cut down a tree, wouldn’t you rather use a real
saw? The programs in an integrated package are usually stripped down
or older versions of the company’s high end software. They certainly
have fewer features, and might be less friendly. Word processing
programs that are part of integrated packages generally have their own
special code for storing text information, although they can usually
read and write ASCII as well. (However, if you choose to save in
ASCII, you cannot save all the special formatting commands).

Common Integrated Packages:

• Microsoft Works
• Lotus Works
• Claris Works

Today the trend is to package all the high-level programs together, so
MS-Office and OpenOffice.org both contain fully-featured Word
Processors, Databases, Spreadsheets, and more.

High-End Word Processors

Word processing programs have evolved a great deal from the early
days of computing. A modern word processing program can do many
things besides simply handling text.

Since the early ’90s, most word processors feature a WYSIWYG
interface. WYSIWYG (pronounced «whizeewig») stands for «What You See
Is What You Get.» This means that the screen will look reasonably
like the printed document. This feature is important because the
real strength of word processors is in the formatting they allow.
Formatting is the manipulation of characters, paragraphs, pages, and
documents. Most of the word processor features we will discuss below
are various ways of formatting the text, or changing the way it looks
on the page. Formatting was possible before WYSIWYG, but it required
more imagination from the writer, because you couldn’t see the effects
of the formatting until you printed out the document.

Modern word processors also are designed to have numerous features for
advanced users. Since a large portion of most people’s computer time
is spent with a word processing program, it is important that these
programs have features to make editing documents easier. Some of the
additional features that one can expect to find on a modern word
processor are spelling and grammar checkers, ability to handle
graphics, tables, and mathematical formulas, and outline editors. The
word processing market is a very competitive one, and the major
software companies are always competing to have the word processor
with the most advanced features available.

Software companies are also interested in making their programs as
easy to learn as possible. With this goal in mind, most word
processors come with tutorial programs, extensive on-line help, and
clear menus.

These full featured word processors sound wonderful, and they are.
You might wonder if they have any drawbacks. Of course they do.
Word processing programs as have been described often cost hundreds of
dollars. The cost seems prohibitive for something that doesn’t even
have a physical presence! Many of the features of full-fledged
word processors are not needed by casual users. Sometimes the sheer
number of unneeded features can be intimidating. Using a full-power
word processor just to write a couple of letters a week is like
killing flies with a chain saw. You simply might not need that much
power to do the job properly. High end word processing programs
almost always save documents in special proprietary codes rather than
as ASCII code. This means the programs can save all the special
formatting that ASCII cannot handle (like font sizes, columns,
graphics, and so on.) It also means that if you write a document in
WordPerfect, you may not be able to read it in Word. Even
different versions of the same program might not be able to read each
other’s documents directly. There are ways you can work around this
problem, but you should know it exists.

High-end Word Processing Packages:

• WordPerfect
• Microsoft Word
• OpenOffice.org Write

Ironically, there is now a trend away from WYSIWYG towards
«semantic markup.» The idea is not to put all the formatting details
in place, but to explain the meaning of the text in the document. The
actual markup of each meaning is defined in a separate document. For
example, here’s the semantic markup of this paragraph:

<p class = "update">
Ironically, there is now a trend away from WYSIWYG towards
"semantic markup."  The idea is not to put all the formatting details
in place, but to explain the meaning of the text in the document. The
actual markup of each meaning is defined in a separate document.  For
example, here's the semantic markup of this paragraph:
</p>

In another part of the document I describe how to format «updates»:

  .update {
    border: 1px black solid;
    background-color: #FFFFCC;
    padding-left: .5em;
  }

It’s completely OK if you don’t understand any of the code. The
important idea is how markup can be separated from meaning.

Desktop Publishing

Another classification of programs you should know about has an
uncertain future. These programs are called desktop publishing
applications. Desktop publishing takes text that has already been
created, and applies powerful formatting features to that text.
Traditionally, applications that allowed the integration of text and
graphics, and allowed the development of style sheets were thought of
as desktop publishing. Such a program makes it easy to create other
kinds of documents rather than just plain pages. With a desktop
publisher, there are already style sheets developed to help you create
pamphlets, cards, signs, and other types of documents that you wouldn’t
be able to create on a typewriter.

The higher end word processing programs give you most of the features
you could want in a desktop publishing program. It is possible to do
many of the same things. Desktop Publishers are still very popular in
certain specialty fields (graphic arts, printing, and publishing,) but
the effects can be duplicated with skillful use of a word processing
program.

Common Desktop Publishing programs:

• Pagemaker
• Microsoft Publisher

Sign / Banner Programs

Another level of desktop publishing that has become very popular is
the advent of specialty printing programs such as «The Print Shop» or
«Print Master +». These programs are designed specifically to help the
user create signs, banners, and greeting cards. They are very easy to
use, and much less expensive than full-feature desktop publishing
applications, but again the effects can be duplicated with a higher
end word processor.

How Do You Choose Which Word Processor You Use?

As always, the critical question is: «What kinds of problems are you
trying to solve?» For most beginners, the lower end word processor
that came with their computer is a fine start. If it does what you
need, and you are happy with it, don’t spend money unnecessarily.
Many people find that if they do a lot of writing, they begin to yearn
for the features of a more powerful word processing program. As you
gain experience, you will find a favorite program and learn its
commands and idiosyncrasies well. You will find if you concentrate on
the concepts, that all word processors of a certain level are pretty
much the same, although the exact layout and command structure may
differ. You will also probably discover if you do a lot of writing
with the computer that you have several programs you use
interchangeably. A skilled computer user often chooses the program to
solve a specific problem much like a golfer chooses a different club
for each type of shot. Sometimes a text editor is sufficient, and
sometimes only the best, most powerful, and most expensive program
will do the job properly. Learning what is best for you is part of
the process.

Layout of Word Processors

Word processing programs of any type usually share the most basic
features. They universally reserve most of the screen for the text
being edited. Most word processing programs also contain a
menu structure with most of the programs commands available in a
hierarchical organization scheme. Many word processors have graphic
toolbars with icons representing the most critical commands. Almost
all such programs have scroll bars or some other mechanism for
allowing the user to move around in large documents. All word
processors also have a cursor, which is usually a small box or line,
which shows the user where in the document she is currently typing.

Commands Available In Most Word Processing Programs:

Different types of word processing programs will have different
commands available. Generally, text editors have the fewest commands.
More complex programs often start with the same types of commands and
add to them. Commands may be available in a number of ways; by
locating them on the menu system, by looking up shortcut keys, or by
pressing an icon on a graphic tool bar. If in doubt, utilize the
on-line help to locate the command you want.

File Handling Commands

Any level of text editor or word processor will have commands to save,
load, and print your text. These commands are so frequent that you
will usually see many ways to invoke them.

Save Document

Allows you to save your document onto some kind of disk.
If you have already saved this document at least once, it will save
the document to the same drive, directory, and file name you used last
time. Saving a document really means making a copy of the codes in
memory that represent the document, and copying those codes onto a
disk file. If you have never given this document a name, a Save
command often acts like a Save As. (see below) You might also look for
a Write command, a picture of a disk, or a Save As command.

Save As…

Often you will see this command in addition to a save command. There
is a subtle difference between the two commands. Save As {it always}
asks you for the name and location of your file. Most of the time,
the Save command does not ask for this information. If the Save
command does not know what to call the file (because you have never
saved it before) it will automatically invoke a Save As. The only
time you absolutely must use a Save As is when you want to load a
file, make some changes to it, and save it as a NEW file with a
DIFFERENT name. If you use the Save command, the new changes will be
written on top of the old document. With Save As, you can force the
changed document to be in a new file. This really doesn’t happen very
much. Many people spend their whole lives using nothing but Save.

Load or Open

You will almost always see a command that allows you to open or load a
document. These terms usually mean the same thing. You will usually
get some sort of a dialog box asking you for the directory and file
name of a text document, and the program goes to the disk, grabs the
file, and loads it into the editing area of the screen. (Actually, it
loads the file into memory, and then shows a copy of the memory onto
the screen.)

Print

A print command takes the document and copies it to the printer.
Obviously, for this to work, you must have a printer attached to your
machine. There are occasional variations to this command. You might
get a dialog box that asks you which pages to print, how many copies you
want, which printer you want to use (if more than one is set up on
your computer), and so on. You might also see a Print Preview command
that shows a picture of what the page will look like when printed.
This is especially useful when you are using a program that does not
support WYSIWYG.

Editing Commands and Block Manipulation

There are a number of commands you will find on nearly any word
processor that enable you to manipulate text in special ways.
Frequently you will find these commands on an Edit menu. The editing
commands are based on a concept called block manipulation.

Block manipulation simply means taking a «chunk» of text and marking
it in some way so it can be treated as one unit. Once a block of text
is marked as such, it can be deleted or manipulated easily.

Marking a Block

Many modern programs allow you to mark a block of text with the mouse.
Simply point the mouse at the beginning of the text you want to mark,
hold down the mouse button, and drag to the end of the block. You
will probably see the text you have dragged over change color. Some
programs put highlighted text in inverse video. Many programs also
allow you to select text with the Shift key and the arrow keys in
combination. This is sometimes more precise than the mouse
techniques. Some older programs require you to move the cursor to the
beginning of the text, mark it as the beginning of a block, move to
the end of the text you want to manipulate, and mark it as the end of
the block. Learn how your program does it. It is worth the effort.

Copying a Block

You will usually find some kind of command called Copy. It only works
after you have marked a block of text. Copy by itself doesn’t do
anything on the screen, but it is still a very important command.
What it does is to take the block of text and make a copy of it in a
special part of memory called the clipboard (or sometimes the buffer).
The copy command does not change the original text; it just places a
copy of the text in the clipboard.

Cutting a Block

Cutting is very similar to copying. You must start by marking a block
of text. When you activate a cut command, the original block will
disappear. It isn’t gone forever, though. A copy of it has been made
in the clipboard.

Pasting a Block

The paste command doesn’t make much sense until you have cut or copied
a block of text into the clipboard. The paste command copies the
contents of the clipboard into the document at whatever point the
cursor was sitting when the paste command was activated.

How Block Manipulation Works

These commands really need to be used together to be useful. Which
ones you use depend on the kind of problem you are trying to solve.
If you had to write «I will not talk out in class» 100 times, you
might write the phrase once, mark it as a block, copy it, and then
paste it 99 times.

If you have written a document and realize that the last line really
belongs at the beginning of the document, you might mark the line you
want to move as a block, cut the block move the cursor to the
beginning of the document, and activate the paste command.

Formatting Commands

Another set of commands are found less frequently on text editors, but
are common on higher-level word processors. These commands are for
formatting various elements of a document. You may find a format
menu. Many of these commands also are available on toolbars.

Formatting a Character

A character is one letter or other symbol. There are many ways to
format characters in word processing programs. It is possible to make
characters bold, italic, underlined, or perhaps some other attribute.
Not all word processors will do all these things, but most will do
bold, italic, and underline. Often you activate the command by
choosing it from a menu, clicking on a toolbar icon, or activating a
key sequence. Once you have started the command, anything you type
will be typed in that style. When you want to go back to standard
letters, you activate the same command again. Commands that turn off
and on like this are called toggles, because they are reminiscent of
toggle switches. Many word processors allow you to enter the text
without any format, then to select a set of characters as a block
(like you did to copy and paste), then to activate the command.
Experiment with your word processor to see how it works.

Word processors that feature WYSIWYG frequently support the use of
fonts. A font is defined in computing as a combination of a special
character set and type size. In the typewriter world, you were pretty
much stuck with the size and style of letters the typewriter came
with. Some of the later typewriters had the characters on a ball you
could change, but you still had very little control of exactly how the
letters looked. In a modern word processing application, you have a
great deal of control. You can choose different type faces that look
like script, handwriting, Old English, or whatever. After you have
chosen a basic look for your letters, you can choose what size the
letters are.

Fonts are measured by typesetters in points. 72.25 points is
equivalent to an inch. Most standard text is 10 points. A newspaper
headline might be 200 points. You may be able to control other
attributes of each letter, such as its color, a shadow, and other advanced
features.

Formatting Paragraphs}

Most writing is organized into paragraphs. These divisions make a
document easier to read. There are ways you can control how
paragraphs look on the screen. You can control how your program
handles indention. You can often force the computer to indent the
first line of every paragraph automatically. You can also frequently
control the line spacing inside the paragraph, the amount of spacing
between paragraphs, and the justification.

Justification refers to how the text is lined up between the margins.
Most documents created with a typewriter or word processor are
left-justified. That means that the left margin is lined up perfectly, but
the right margin is a little ragged. The computer keeps track of the
right margin for you when you use a word processor, so you don’t have
to press the «Enter» key at the end of every line (in fact you
shouldn’t press «Enter» at the end of every line. The only time you
should press «Enter» is when you want to end a paragraph!) The
automatic process the computer uses to send text to the next line is
called word wrap. If you want to have the right margin line up
cleanly, but let the left one be a little ragged (Maybe as you type
the return address and date of a business letter) you can choose a
right justify command. If you look at books and magazines, you will
see that both the right and left columns are justified. Many word
processors will allow you to justify both margins. This works by
adjusting the amount of space between letters and words so the margins
work out perfectly. The computer does it automatically when you ask
it to do so. Another form of justification is centering. When you
center a line, you tell the program to give it equal left and right
margins, regardless of the length of the line. Centering is useful
for headlines, but is often distracting when used for body text.

The other major element of a document is the page. There are some
page formatting commands you should be able to find in any word
processor as well. You will probably have some way to adjust the
margins of the page. Note that there are top and bottom margins, as
well as left and right margins.

You can also frequently find some kind of header/footer command.
Headers and footers are special areas at the top and bottom,
respectively, of the page. These areas are not used for regular text,
but reserved for special things like a title at the top of every page,
page numbers, and footnotes. You will have to experiment a little
to see how your word processor handles these features, but they are
well worth learning. You will never go back to the old way of writing
footnotes once you have mastered using footers to automate the
process.

One more page formatting command you might find useful is page
orientation. Many word processors allow you to choose how information
is printed on the page. The «up and down» orientation we are used to
seeing on typewritten documents is called portrait mode. (If you
think about painted portraits, they are usually up-and-down rectangles.)
When your document is printed «sideways» it is referred to as landscape
mode. (Landscape paintings are often oriented in this way.)

       __________
       |  ___   |       ________________
       | /o o  |       |              |
       ||  L  | |       |    /WWW     |
       ||___/| |       |  /          |
       |    /  |       |/            |
       |_/_____|       |______________|
       Portrait             Landscape
         mode                 mode

Most of the time you should use portrait mode, but sometimes landscape
mode is appropriate, especially when you are doing something special
like tables, graphics, or fancy desktop publishing.

Commands Found in More Advanced Programs

High-End Formatting Tools

There are a few more elaborate formatting tools generally found
only in the higher end word processors. These tools border on desktop
publishing, and allow you better control of your document. You
probably won’t use them every day, but they are wonderful when you
need them.

Tables

On a typewriter, creating a table required judicious use of the TAB
key and very careful planning. Most advanced word processors allow
you to create tables very easily. You can usually select the number
of rows and columns, change the size and format of rows and columns,
and easily copy and paste specific cells. The table tool is worth
learning.

Columns

Sometimes you will want to have a page formatted into two or more
vertical columns. This was quite tedious on a typewriter, but there
is usually some kind of tool to make column creation easier on a
modern word processor.

Lists

You will frequently find tools for making lists. Lists can have
automatic numbering (like an outline) or each list item might have a
small icon marking, called a bullet. Most modern word processing
programs have some kind of tool to make list management easier.

Graphics

Most high-end word processing programs enable you to incorporate
graphics into text documents with relative ease. Often they
incorporate small painting programs so you can generate your own
graphics as well. To make graphics and text easier to work with, many
word processing programs include frames, which are boxes on the screen
that can hold text and graphics. When you mix text and graphics on a
page, you may want to investigate frames in the on-line help so you can
have more control over how the text and graphics interact.

Composition Tools

Many word processors have other advanced features that help a writer
with the mechanics of writing properly. These tools can be
instrumental in avoiding common writing mistakes.

Spell Checking

A spell checker is a program that looks at a document and compares
each word in the document to an electronic dictionary. If it finds
the word in the dictionary, it moves on to the next word. If it does
not find the word, it stops and asks the user for guidance. Good
spell checkers try to guess what word the user was trying to type and
make suggestions. Even if you are a very good speller, you should get
in the habit of running your materials through a spell checker. It is
a quick and relatively painless way to keep typos from marring your
paper.

Keep in mind that spelling checkers are not perfect, and they cannot
catch every mistake. The following poem excerpt points out the
problem:

				Ode To The Spell Checker

                             I have a spelling checker. 
                              It came with my PC. 
                          It plane lee marks four my revue, 
                           Miss steaks aye can know sea. 
                            Eye ran this poem threw it, 
                            Your sure reel glad two no. 
                           Its vary polished in it's weigh, 
                            My checker tooled me sew. 

    

(This poem can be found in its entirety at:
http://selma.ucd.ie/~pdurkin/Jokes/spellcheck.html It is attributed
to Jerry Zar, the Dean of the Graduate School, NW Ill. U)

Grammar Checkers

There are also tools available on most high end word processors that
will check your grammar for common mistakes. Grammar checkers are
wonderful at catching mechanical problems like incomplete sentences
and subject-verb agreement. Grammar tends to be more subjective
than spelling, so the advice of a grammar checker might or might not
be useful to you. It is worth running to check your mistakes, but it
will never replace the lessons you learned from your English teachers
or a skilled editor. When grammar checkers first came on the market,
a reporter tried testing the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln.
The program gave the speech extremely poor marks. Many people
consider it to be one of the most beautiful passages of American
English ever. Use a grammar checker if you have one, but also use
your judgment.

Outline Editors

These features allow you to organize your thoughts in outline format.
The advantage is that you can choose to see only your main ideas or
headings, and have all the text hidden. This feature allows you to
move the main headings around and all the text associated with the
headings will automatically move appropriately. If you are going to
do term papers or other serious writing, you should investigate this
feature.

Vocabulary/Important Ideas

Word Processing

A type of software that specializes in handling text. Word processing
programs typically contain commands for handling and formatting text
documents.

Insert/Overwrite Modes

Most word processors allow you to choose one of these modes. When you
are in {bf insert} mode, any text you type is inserted into the
document at the cursor position. {it Overwrite} mode also types text
at the cursor position, but it writes over the top of existing text,
much like a typewriter with correcting tape. Most experienced word
processor users prefer insert mode for most of their work.

Text Editors

A classification of word processing software characterized by its low
cost, ready availability, tendency to work only in ASCII format, and
inability to do high-powered formatting.

ASCII

American Standard C}ode for Information
Interchange. A standard convention used to encode text, numbers, and
common punctuation in numeric format so they can be stored in a
computer’s memory. Nearly all computers and programs can work with
some form of ASCII. Text editors are designed especially to work with
ASCII-based documents.

Integrated Packages

Programs that contain all the major applications within one «super
application». These programs are useful, but often lack some of the
more advanced features of full-fledged application packages.

WYSIWYG

What You See is What You Get.
A capability often found on higher-level word processing
programs. The screen mimics the output of the printer, so the typist
can see pretty much what the final output of the document will be.

Proprietary

The term {it proprietary} is frequently used when discussing software to
denote a certain idea that is particular to a specific brand of
software. When a program uses a proprietary scheme to save word
processing documents, for example, other programs may not be able to
read these documents without some kind of translation.

Desktop Publishing

A classification of word processing software that concentrates on
incorporation of graphics, powerful formatting, and development of
complex styles including newsletters, signs, and pamphlets.

Style Sheet

In desktop publishing, a template that specifies how a certain type of
document will be created. Style sheets are used to define a uniform
look and feel for documents of the same general type. For example, a
company might issue a standard style sheet for intra-corporation
memoranda. Many high-end word processors incorporate this feature.
Sometimes style sheets are referred to as templates.

Scroll Bars

Horizontal or vertical bars which indicate the cursor position in a
document. Usually scroll bars can be used with the mouse to
facilitate moving through the document.

Cursor

A small mark on the screen, usually a rectangle, underline, or
I-shaped design. The cursor indicates the exact position within the document
(and memory) where any commands and typing will be executed.

Save

The Save command saves a document without prompting for the file
name, unless the file has never been saved before. If this is the
case, it invokes a Save As command instead.

Save As

This command always prompts for a file name. It is used when
you want to save the changes to file without changing the file already
saved on the disk.

Load (or Open)

This command prompts the user for a file name, then loads the document
into the application.

Print

A print command is used to send a copy of the document to the
printer.

Print Preview

This command is especially useful in non-WYSIWYG environments. It
allows you to see a preview of the document exactly as it will be
printed. It is often a good idea to invoke this command before you
print a document, to be sure it will turn out exactly as you plan.

Block Manipulation

The process of defining a section of text so it can be copied, pasted,
or otherwise manipulated as one unit.

Copy

A copy command takes a block of text and copies it to a memory
buffer without removing the original text. Used to it
duplicate sections of a document.

Cut

This command copies a block of text to a memory buffer, and removes
the original text from the document. Used to {it move} sections of a
document.

Paste

This command takes the block of text last placed in the buffer by a
cut or copy command, and inserts it into the document at the current
cursor position.

Formatting

The process of defining how a document will look. Formatting can
occur at the character level, as well as at the paragraph and page
level.

Character Attributes

The special modifications to letters, such as {bf boldface} and {it
italic}

Font

The combination of character set and size that defines how an
individual character looks. Most word processing packages allow the
user to choose from many fonts.

Toggle

A command is referred to as a {it toggle} if repeated execution of
the command causes something to switch between two modes. Insert
and Overwrite modes are good examples of toggles. Often character
attributes are also considered toggles.

Point

A point is a type setter’s measurement of character size. Officially,
there are 72.25 points to an inch.

Justification

The way the lines of text are arranged on the page. The usual options
are left-justified, right-justified, centered, and both-justified.

Left-Justified

The text is lined up so that the left margin is even. The right
margin will not be even in left-justified text.

Right-Justified

The text is lined up so that the left margin is ragged, but the right
margin is even. Often used to line up dates and return addresses on
business letters.

Both-Justified

The text is lined up so that both the left and right margins are lined
up, as in a newspaper or magazine.

Centered

The text is lined up with an equal distance from the left and right
margins. Usually used in headlines.

Word Wrap

A behavior of word processing programs which automatically moves words
too large to fit the current line onto a new line. Eliminates the
need to press «return» at the end of each line.

Headers, Footers

Special areas at the top and bottom of word processing documents.
These sections are reserved for information that will appear on {it
each page} of the document. Usually page numbers, document name, or
document author will be in the header/footer area. The footer is
also useful for holding footnotes.

Landscape Mode

Documents in this mode print the long part of the page horizontally, as
in a landscape painting.

Portrait Mode

Documents in this mode print the long part of the page vertically,
as in a portrait painting.

Table

A section of a document organized into rows and columns. Higher-end
word processors often have a number of tools to help make tables
easier to create and manage.

Column

Vertical separation of text into two or more sections. Newspapers and
newsletters are often arranged in columns. High-end word processing
programs and desktop publishing programs usually include some tools to
make column manipulation easier.

Spell Checker

A feature of higher-end word processing programs that compares each
word in a document to a dictionary of proper spellings. Most spell
checkers «guess» which word the user was trying to type and give the
user some guesses to choose from.

Grammar Checker

A feature in word processing programs that checks a document for
common grammatical errors. Grammar checkers can also grade documents
for readability and complexity. Sometimes grammar checkers are
separate programs.

Outline Editors

A feature or program that easily enables the user to create and
manipulate outlines. Most of these programs allow you to hide the
body text so you can see and modify the subject headings. The
associated body text is automatically moved with the appropriate heading.

Summary

Word processing programs are a type of software that make
it easier to create and modify text documents. Word Processing
applications are organized into a number of categories according to
their complexity: Simple programs that manipulate ASCII are called
Text Editors. More complex programs that feature formatting commands
are called Word Processors. Some word processors are included in
integrated application packages, which also feature other application
programs. Such packages are convenient, but may not have all the
features of larger programs. Full-featured word processing programs
contain many options for formatting text and documents. They also
might contain special utilities for more complex formatting and
composition. Desktop publishing programs are designed for more
complex formatting, especially the integration of text and graphics.

Most word processing programs contain the same types of commands,
although the exact ways to access these commands may vary. You will
almost always see file handling commands, including commands to Load,
Save, Save As, and Print. Frequently, you will also see commands for block
manipulation, including Copy, Cut, and Paste. More advanced programs
may contain special commands for formatting characters and paragraphs,
as well as other commands to deal with tables, columns, and lists.
The fanciest word processing programs may also contain commands to
assist with composition, such as spelling and grammar checkers and
outline editors.

Word processing generally means the task of creating printed materials like letters, reports, thesis, books and so on. It involves the tasks such as entering text, editing, formatting, proofing, and printing.

Word processing nowadays is the use of computer to produce documents consisting primarily of text or words (as distinguished from numbers). Word processor is a general application software used for producing such text documents.

In the initial days of development, the computer was primarily used for performing mathematical calculations. The documents produced on computers consisted of recording the results of the calculation with a very little textual material. With the development, special computers and computer software were developed to produce documents such as letters and reports. Such computers were used in the printing industry for composing the material for printing.

These days, it is common that the computers are used extensively for word processing, and has almost replaced conventional typewriters across the world.

Of all computer applications, word processing is probably the most common. To perform word processing, you need a computer, a special program called a word processor, and a printer. A word processor enables you to create a document, store it electronically on a disk, display it on a screen, modify it by entering commands and characters from the keyboard, and print it on a printer.

The great advantage of word processing over using a typewriter is that you can make changes without retyping the entire document. If you make a typing mistake, you simply back up the cursor and correct your mistake. If you want to delete a paragraph, you simply remove it, without leaving a trace. It is equally easy to insert a word, sentence, or paragraph in the middle of a document. Word processors also make it easy to move sections of text from one place to another within a document, or between documents. When you have made all the changes you want, you can send the file to a printer to get a hard-copy or disk to store for future purpose.

Basic Features of Word Processors

There are various Word processors, but all word processors support the following basic features:

• Insert text: Lets you to insert text anywhere in the document.
• Delete text: You can remove characters, words, lines, or pages from document easily and without leaving any trace.
• Cut and paste : It has facilities to move the selected text by removing (cut) it from one place of document and inserting (paste) it somewhere else.
• Copy : Supports creating duplicate of a selection of text without any trouble.
• Page size and margins : It has options to define and change among various page sizes and margins, and the word processor will automatically readjust the text so that it fits in new layout.
• Search and replace : Allows you to search for a particular word or phrase in document. You can also replace one text with another and optionally everywhere that the match occurs.
• Word wrap : Word processor has this feature to automatically moves to the next line after you complete a line. This is also known as soft line break or auto line break. Word wrap also readjust text if you change the margins, paper orientation or page size.
• Print: Word processor supports various printers to send a document for printout.

Word processors that support only these features (and maybe a few others) are called text editors. Most word processors, however, support additional features that enable you to manipulate and format documents in more sophisticated ways. These more advanced word processors are sometimes called full-featured word processors.

Additional Features of Full-featured Word Processors

• File management : Many word processors contain file management capabilities that allow you to create, delete, move, and search for files. File menu is MS Word has commands for this task.
• Font specifications: Allows you to change typeface (fonts) within a document. You can specify font, font size, font styles such as bold, italics, and underlining and different effects like superscript, subscript, outline, strike-through etc.
• Footnotes and cross-references: Automates the numbering and placement of footnotes and enables you to easily cross-reference other sections of the document.
• Graphics: Allows you to embed illustrations (images) and graphs into a document. Some word processors let you create the illustrations within the word processor (using autoshapes and drawing tools); others let you insert an illustration produced by a different program.
• Headers , footers , and page numbering: Allows you to specify customized headers and footers that the word processor will place at the top and bottom of every page. It can keeps track of page numbers so that the correct number appears on each page.
• Layout : Supports different page size, margins and page orientation within a single document. It also has facility to apply various indentation to paragraphs.
• Macros : A macro is a character or word that represents a series of keystrokes. The keystrokes can represent text or commands. The ability to define macros allows you to save yourself a lot of time by replacing common combinations of keystrokes.
• Merges: Allows you to merge text from one file into another file. This is particularly useful for generating many files that have the same format and structure but different data. Generating mailing labels is the classic example of using merges.
• Spell checker : A utility that allows you to check the spelling of words. It will mark any word having spelling mistake or that it does not recognize. Spell checkers have ability to produce a list of suggested word to make you easier to correct mistakes.
• Table of contents and indexes: Word processors have features to automatically create a table of contents and index based on special codes that you insert in the document.
• Thesaurus: Word processors have a built-in thesaurus that allows you to search for synonyms without leaving the document.
• Windows : Lets you to edit two or more documents at the same time. Each document appears in a separate window. This is particularly valuable when working on a large project that consists of several different files.
• WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get): With WYSIWYG, a document appears on the display screen exactly as it will look when printed.

Word Processors And Desktop Publishing Systems

Desktop publishing is as good as having a mini-printing press within a personal computer. Publishing software helps design the page layout for each document. Tools in desktop publishing applications can help the user to configure the layout, where things are printed in the final design and how things are printed.

The line dividing word processors from desktop publishing (DTP) systems is constantly shifting. In general, though, desktop publishing applications support finer control over layout, and more support for full-color documents.

Both word processing and desktop publishing are similar in many ways but different in areas that cover the publication of documents.

Similarities between Word Processors and Desktop Publishing Systems

• Both the word processor and DTP systems deal with text that can be formatted.
• Word processors and desktop publishing systems work with tables and pictures.
• Both tools have many similar features like WordArt, Clip Art, and text styles.

The differences between Word Processors and DTP Systems

Word processing involves creation, editing, and printing of text while desktop publishing involves production of documents that combine text with graphics.

• Word processing is difficult to layout and design as compared to desktop publishing. Thus, desktop publishing is used to work on things like newsletters, magazines, adverts, and brochures where layout is important. Word processing documents are common for simple memos, letters, manuscripts, and resumes.
• When creating a desktop publisher, the first page is blank and a text frame must be added to add text. This is unlike the word processing in which text can be directly entered into the blank page.
• With desktop publishing, users can easily manipulate text and graphics and try new ideas. In contrast to this, word processing tools are adding more page layout features. Thus, the line that draws the difference between the two hardly exists now.
• Though there are many differences between the two, more word processing applications are coming out with enhanced features that mimic many of the desktop publishing tools on the market today. So, whether you choose to use word processing or desktop publishing software all depends on your document publishing needs and what application your are most comfortable using

Types of Word Processing

Word Processing applications are organized into a number of categories according to their complexity: Simple programs that manipulate ASCII are called Text Editors. More complex programs that feature formatting commands are called Word Processors. Some word processors are included in integrated application packages, which also feature other application programs. Such packages are convenient, but may not have all the features of larger programs. Full – featured word processing programs contain many options for formatting text and documents. They also might contain special utilities for more complex formatting and composition. Desktop publishing programs are designed for more complex formatting, especially the integration of text and graphics.

Text Editors

The simplest programs that do word processing are known as text editors. These programs are designed to be small, simple, and cheap. Almost every operating system comes with at least one text editor built in. Most text editors save files in a special format called ASCII. The biggest advantage of this scheme is that almost any program can read and write ASCII text.

The biggest advantage of text editors is the price. There is probably already one or more installed on your computer. You can find a number of text editors for free on the Internet. The ability to write ASCII text is the biggest benefit of text editors. It is a very good way of storing text information, but it has no way of handling more involved formatting. Text editors generally do not allow you to do things like change font sizes or styles, spell checking, or columns.

Windows: Notepad, DOS: Edit, Macintosh: SimpleText etc are some common text editor programs:

Integrated Packages

An integrated package is a huge program that contains a word processor, a spreadsheet, a database tool, and other software applications in the same program. The advantages of an integrated package derive from the fact that all the applications are part of the same program, and were written by the same company. Since they were presumably written together, they should all have the same general menu structure, and similar commands. The word processor built into an integrated package is probably more powerful than a typical text editor.

Integrated packages have some disadvantages. With the advent of GUI and modern operating systems, programs have become more and more standard even if they were written by completely different companies. The programmers had to make some compromises in order to make all the applications fit in one program. Word processing programs that are part of integrated packages generally have their own special code for storing text information, although they can usually read and write ASCII as well. However, if you choose to save in ASCII, you cannot save all the special formatting commands.

Microsoft Works, Microsoft Office Suite, Lotus Works, Claris Works are some examples of integrated packages.

High-end Word Processors

Word processing programs have evolved a great deal from the early days of computing. A modern word processing program can do many things besides simply handling text.

Since the early ’90s, most word processors feature a WYSIWYG interface. This feature is important because the real strength of word processors is in the formatting they allow. Formatting is the manipulation of characters, paragraphs, pages, and documents.

Modern word processors also are designed to have numerous features for advanced users. Some of the additional features that one can expect to find on a modern word processor are spelling and grammar checkers, ability to handle graphics, tables, and mathematical formulas, and outline editors.

These full-featured word processors sound wonderful, and they are. You might wonder if they have any drawbacks.

• Word processing programs as I have described often cost hundreds of dollars.
• Many of the features of full – fledged word processors are not needed by casual users.
• High-end word processing programs almost always save documents in special proprietary codes rather than as ASCII code. This makes the document incompatible with other applications. If you write a document in WordPerfect, you may not be able to read it in Word.

WordPerfect, Microsoft Word are some examples of commercial Word Processing packages

Desktop Publishing

Another classification of word processing you should know about has an uncertain future. These programs are called desktop publishing applications. Desktop publishing is taking the text that already been created, and applying powerful formatting features to that text. Traditionally, applications that allowed the integration of text and graphics, and allowed the development of style sheets were thought of as desktop publishing. Such a program makes it easy to create other kinds of documents than plain pages. With a desktop publisher, there are already style sheets developed to help you create pamphlets, cards, signs, and other types of documents that you wouldn’t be able to create on a typewriter.

The higher end word processing programs give you most of the features you could want in a desktop publishing program. It is possible to do many of the same things. Desktop Publishers are still very popular in certain specialty fields (graphic arts, printing, and publishing,) but the effects can be duplicated with skillful use of a word processing program.

Adobe Pagemaker, Adobe Illustrator, Microsoft Publisher are the example of some common Desktop Publishing programs.

Sign / Banner Programs

Another level of desktop publishing that has become very popular is the advent of specialty printing programs such as ‘The Print Shop’ or ‘Print Master +.’ These programs are designed specifically to help the user create signs, banners, and greeting cards. They are very easy to use, and much less expensive than full-feature desktop publishing applications, but again the effects can be duplicated with a higher end word processor.

Points to Remember

• Word processing did not develop out of computer technology. It evolved from the needs of writers rather than those of mathematicians, only later merging with the computer field
• The term word processing was invented by IBM in the late 1960s.
• A word processor is a computer application used for the production (including composition, editing, formatting, and possibly printing) of any sort of printable material.
• Word processor may also refer to a type of stand-alone office machine, popular in the 1970s and 1980s, combining the keyboard text-entry and printing functions of an electric typewriter with a dedicated processor (like a computer processor) for the editing of text.
• Microsoft Word is the most widely used word processing software. Many other word processing applications exist, including WordPerfect (which dominated the market from the mid-1980s to early-1990s on computers running MS-DOS operating system) and open source applications OpenOffice.org Writer, LibreOffice Writer, AbiWord, KWord, and LyX. Web-based word processors, such as Office Web Apps or Google Docs, are a relatively new category.
• Desktop publishing applications support finer control over layout and more support for full-color documents where as the word processing systems focus on editing and formatting of text.
• Text Editors, Integrated Packages, High-end Word Processors, Desktop Publishing, Sign / Banner Programs are the different types of word processors.

References:

1. Webopedia – http://www.webopedia.com
2. Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org
3. Bright Hub – http://www.brighthub.com
4. IUPUI, Department of Computer and Information Science – http://cs.iupui.edu/

Recommended Reading:

1. A brief history of WordProcessing
2. WordProcessors: Stupid and Inefficient by Allin Cottrell
3. Desktop Publishing: by Szu-chia Wang