A Quick Guide to Using Uniplex Word Processing

Quick Start Uniplex

Written by Centreline 2000 Consulting

Date: January 1994

Version: 2.00

Uniplex Business Software is the world’s most popular Office Automation suite for Unix computers. Uniplex provides a range of standard office programs. Word Processor, Mail Merge, Spreadsheet and Database are standard at all Uniplex installations.

Uniplex Advanced Office provides Electronic Mail, Time Manager, Database Report Writer and Form Fill facilities. Uniplex Advanced Office is an optional module.

Uniplex Advanced Graphics is a powerful tool for creating high resolution charts and drawings. These programs can be used on an ordinary character terminal or a graphics capable terminal. Advanced Graphics allows any user to include charts and drawings in Word Processing documents.

At its simplest level, Uniplex is very straightforward to use. Only a small number of special keystrokes need to be learnt to master the basics of Uniplex. Throughout the system Uniplex provides Softkeys, these use the function keys labelled on your keyboard for instant action.

Menus, popups and forms allow simple navigation around the Uniplex system. Single key presses select all the common menu options. Ring menu allows users to browse through all the options in many of the programs.

Because all the Uniplex programs work in the same way once you have mastered one Uniplex application you can use any of the other programs.

To access Uniplex, first you must login to your computer. When you first turn your terminal on you will usually see displayed on screen the "login prompt". It looks like this:

login:

Type in your login name that your system administrator has given you. You will then be asked for a password:

password:

Type in your secret password. Your administrator will show you your password initially. You may have to change your password from time to time.

On some systems you will then be automatically taken into Uniplex. At other times you will be presented with the Unix command prompt, this is often called the "hash" prompt, because it uses the "hash" or "gate" character:

#

At the hash prompt type:

uniplex

This should then present you with the main Uniplex menu. If it does not, firstly check you have spelt the name correctly and that the name is all in lower case letters. If it still does not work consult your system administrator.

Each Uniplex menu has the same basic format. There are one or more columns of choices that typically fill the whole screen. At the top of the screen, in a coloured bar, you will see the name of the current Uniplex module. To the right hand side you will see the current date and time.

On the left hand side of the menu you will see columns of options that are specific to your current Uniplex location. For example, when in the Word Processing menu, all the options are for Word Processing only.

To the right hand side of the screen are options that are common to nearly all Uniplex modules. These will include Printing, Listing Files, Help and Quit options.

To select a menu option, simply press and release the letter or number corresponding to the menu option. For example, to select Help press the letter <H>.

You will then be shown another menu listing all the topics currently available under Help. The help menu is context sensitive. This means that it changes its list of menu topics depending upon where you are in the Uniplex system. At the main menu you will see options for general help.

Press the <RETURN> or <ENTER> key to select the first menu option. N.B. Different keyboards use either the name RETURN or ENTER for the same key. Throughout this document we will use the word <RETURN> to signify the return/enter key.

You will see help text displayed. You do not need to read it now, but if you continue to press the <RETURN> key you will see each of the pages of that particular help topic. At the end of the help topic you will be returned to the help menu.

Press <Q> for Quit at the help menu. This will take you back to the main Uniplex menu.

You can also move around menu options by using the cursor keys. These are the keys marked with UP, DOWN, LEFT and RIGHT arrow symbols.

Throughout Uniplex these keys will move you one option at a time in the direction of the arrow. In nearly all circumstances you can press the cursor keys without affecting anything on the screen.

They are called cursor keys because they move the cursor on screen. The cursor is usually a single character flashing on and off. Sometimes it is a small underline symbol that flashes on and off.

Although you can select menu options with the cursor keys it is faster to select options by pressing the appropriate letter.

We will now use the Word Processor to see some of the special keys that Uniplex uses.

At the main menu press <1>. You will see the main menu change to the Word Processing menu. Press <1> again, this is the Create a Document option.

The screen now changes to the Uniplex Word Processor. At the top of the screen you can see the status line. This shows information such as the current document name (blank at the moment) the Page Length (PL 66), the Page Number (#1) and the line count (:1).

Just below this is the Ruler Line. This is a reversed bar across the whole width of the screen. On this bar you will see a line of dots, with occasional L, T and R letters. The L and R letters signify your current Left and Right margins. The T indicates a tab stop. Do not worry about these characters at the moment.

Most of the rest of the screen is blank. This is where you will type a document. At the very bottom of the screen is a Softkey line. You will have seen it at the bottom of all the menu screens as well. It looks like this:

F1=Save&Exit F2=Menu F3=Last Menu F4=Quit...

The softkey line changes all the time, tracking your actions and always providing instant access to common functions. There are two functions that you will use all the time:

F1=Save&Exit

<F1> refers to the function key 1 on your keyboard. <F1> always accepts your current screen. In Word Processing it means Save the File and Exit the Word Processor. In other places it means, Save my changes and Move on. In general, when Uniplex asks you to enter information you will be asked to press <F1> at the end.

F4=Quit

<F4> always cancels your current changes. So if you do not wish to continue, or you do not want to save changes, or if you want to Quit from an option press <F4>.

Both <F1> and <F4> have keystrokes you can enter instead of pressing the Fkeys. Uniplex uses many keystroke combinations, that is a series of keys together, to perform all the actions of Uniplex.

These keystrokes give you access to all the functions of Uniplex. The function keys only offer you a limited choice at any one time.

Uniplex keystrokes will nearly always start with the <ESCAPE> key or a <CONTROL> key. The <ESCAPE> key may also be labelled <ESC> or <DO> on your keyboard. The <CONTROL> key may be labelled <CTRL>.

You use these two keys in quite different ways. With the <ESCAPE> key you press the key, then release it, then you will type other command letters. With the <CONTROL> key you will press it and hold it down, then you will type one other letter, before letting them both go.

The <F1> key can be replaced with <ESCAPE> <E>. Press and release the <ESCAPE> key, then press and release the <E> key. If you do that now, you will be asked to enter a filename. We are not ready to enter a filename yet. The F4 key can be replaced by <ESCAPE> <Q>. Press and release the two keys separately now. The filename message disappears at the cursor goes back to the blank area of screen.

To satisfy yourself that these key sequences are the same, try pressing the <F1> key now. You are asked for a filename. Press the <F4> key and the message disappears.

From now on this document will use the keystroke sequences of <ESCAPE> and <CONTROL>. These are faster and always available and so worth while learning right from the beginning.

Typing text could not be simpler. Just start typing. As you type across the screen the cursor moves across with your text. Do not worry about corrections at this stage.

Keep typing until you get near to the right hand edge of the screen. Now type slowly. Notice as you the word fills up the line and is about to overflow the word is automatically moved to the next line for you.

A common mistake for typewriter users is to press the <RETURN> key when reaching the end of the line. In a Word Processor you do not need to do this.

Keep on typing until you have several lines of text. We will then edit the words.

Firstly, use the cursor keys to move up, down, left and right in the document. Their use should be fairly obvious.

Use the cursor keys to move to the middle of the top line of text. Now we will delete a character from the text. Press the <DELETE> or <DEL> key. Notice the character to the left is blanked out, and the cursor moves to the left. If you hold the key down everything to the left hand edge will be blanked out.

You can also delete to the right, and at the same time bring the text inwards. Press and hold the <CONTROL> key, then press and release the <C> key, then release the <CONTROL> key. (This sounds harder than it really is!) Notice that the current character is deleted and everything to the right is move inwards one character. You can hold these keys down for a repeated action.

If you type plain letters again, you will see that the letters overtype the existing text. This is called overtype mode. You can create blank spaces to put new text in by pressing <CONTROL> and <E> together. You will see blank spaces appearing and all the text moves to the right. Again, you can hold these keys down together to make lots of blank space.

Your text probably looks a bit of a mess now. If you press and release the <CONTROL> and <F> keys together you will see a new prompt at the top of the screen:

FORMAT: Para Doc Right Centre

This is a ring menu. The Para (for paragraph) option is selected. If you press the cursor keys you can see that you can move around the list of options. You could highlight the option you want and press <RETURN> - just like the full screen main menu. You can also press the letter of the option you want. In this case press <P> for Para. This command formats your current paragraph. (Note: this option is a Word Processing option and so is not available in other programs.)

Notice that the prompt disappears and your paragraph has all the spare spaces removed and the words are brought in close together.

This particular command is like many Uniplex commands when several keys must be pressed in sequence. In the future we will describe this in a short-hand form:

<CONTROL> <F> <P>.

When you see this, press and <CONTROL> and <F> keys together, release them both, then press the <P> key on its own.

But remember, if you see:

<ESCAPE> <F> <P>

You would press and release the <ESCAPE> key before pressing the <F> and <P> keys.

Note: that <CONTROL> <F> and <ESCAPE> <F> are actually two completely different Uniplex commands. Just as you saw earlier: <ESCAPE><E> is Save and Exit, <CONTROL> <E> inserts a blank space.

<ESCAPE> <E> Save & Exit

<ESCAPE> <Q> Quit

<CONTROL> <E> Enter a space

<CONTROL> <C> Character Delete

<DELETE> Character Delete

<CONTROL> <F><P> Format Paragraph

There are just a few additional keystroke commands which you can use anywhere in Uniplex for editing lines of text. Move your cursor to the middle of a line of text and type:

<ESCAPE> <D>

You get a delete prompt, like this:

DELETE: Right Left Word Blanklines

If you now press <R> you see all the text to the right disappear. The <ESCAPE> <D> <R> command works all over Uniplex, but you do not normally see the delete prompt, except in Word Processing.

Try the commands <ESCAPE> <D> <L> and <ESCAPE> <D> <W>. This of course deletes everything to the left, and deletes the current word.

Again move your cursor to the middle of a line of text. There are quicker ways of using some of these commands, type:

<CONTROL> <W>

This deletes the current word. Unlike the <ESCAPE> <D> <W> sequence you can hold these keys down to delete all the words. Try this now. This is a useful point to remember. <CONTROL> sequences can usually be held down and they will automatically repeat. <ESCAPE> sequences cannot.

Again move to a line of text and try <CONTROL> <X>. This lets you delete a whole line at a time. Again this command repeats if held down.

You can add a new blank line of text by pressing <CONTROL> <O>.

With these few commands, you now have nearly all the functions you need to get around Uniplex. Before we leave the Word Processor though we will stop and look at ring menus in more detail.

Ring menus are lists of options that only appear at the top of the screen. Just like other menu options pressing the capital letter is sufficient to select the menu option. You can also use the cursor keys to move around the menus.

Press <F2> now and you will see the Word Processing menu. There seem to be two lines of options. If you press the <RIGHT> cursor key to select other options you will notice that the second line of options keeps changing. This second line shows sub-options that are available. That is, when you select an option on the top row, you will be given the second row of options to select from. Again, it sounds worse than it really is!

Move the cursor to Options, notice the list below:

Modes, Windows, Numbering, etc

Now press <RETURN>. The same list of options is now available on the top row for you to select from. Now if you move the cursor along the row of options you will that only sometimes there are further sub-options. At other times there is a single line explanation of the option. This tells you whether the command selects a menu (when there are sub options) or when it will have an immediate affect (when there is only a description).

Move the cursor to the Modes option and press <RETURN> or press <M>. You will see the screen fill with a Dialog Box. Do not worry about all the options at this stage. We just want to learn how to move around the dialog box and select options.

A dialog box and a form both work in the same way. They are the same thing except that a form fills the whole screen. This is the Modes, or Working Options screen for the Word Processor. We will make changes on this screen, but the changes will have no permanent affect so feel free to experiment.

[Off] [__________]

You can move between fields with the cursor keys, <UP> and <DOWN> take you up and down! The <TAB> key will also move you to the next field.

There are two basic kinds of field in Uniplex, Scrolling fields and Freetype fields.

Don’t do this now, but to accept any changes in a dialog box or form you enter <ESCAPE> <E> (for Enter). To cancel any changes you enter <ESCAPE> <Q> (for Quit).

A popup menu is like any other Uniplex menu, you select an option by moving with the cursor keys. You can then press <RETURN> to select the option.

Alternatively, you can press a letter and you will be taken to the first item starting with the letter. You can type further letters and Uniplex will continue searching through the list.

The Column Count popup is a simple popup menu with only 3 options. Some popup menus contain many options. The process is the same, use the cursor keys or letters to move through the list.

We will now quit from this dialog box, so no changes will be saved, by entering <ESCAPE> <Q>.

Before we leave the Word Processor, we have just one more thing to try, and possibly the most useful, the Help system. You have already seen the help system from the main menu. You can also access Help from any program by typing <ESCAPE> <H> or <ESCAPE> <?>. These commands work in any Uniplex program. Try it now.

When you tried this option at the main menu, you got another full screen menu displayed. When you use <ESCAPE> <H> you get a popup menu. It works in the same way.

Notice though that this time you have options that are for Word Processing. When you are in other Uniplex programs you will only get help for that particular program. This is called context sensitive help. Uniplex knows which option you are using and gives very specific help for your particular location, or "context".

To exit from the Uniplex Word Processor, enter <ESCAPE> <Q>. You are asked to confirm by selecting "Yes" or "No". This technique is often used when you are about to lose work you have done. Often you will be asked to enter "*" to confirm an action. Press "*" now and you will exit the Word Processor without saving the text you have been working on. This returns you to the main menu. Press <Q> to leave Uniplex altogether.

<ESCAPE> <E> Save & Exit

<ESCAPE> <Q> Quit

<CONTROL> <E> Enter a space

<CONTROL> <O> Open a blank line

<CONTROL> <F><P> Format Paragraph

<ESCAPE> <D><R> Delete Right

<ESCAPE> <D><L> Delete Left

<ESCAPE> <D><W> Delete Word

<CONTROL> <W> Delete Word

<CONTROL> <X> Delete Line

<CONTROL> <C> Character Delete

<DELETE> Character Delete

<ESCAPE><H> Help Menu

<ESCAPE><?> Help Menu

Cursor Keys Move to fields

<SPACEBAR> Select scrolling options

Letter View scrolling list popup

<ESCAPE> <E> Enter changes

<ESCAPE> <Q> Quit without change

Letter Select option

Cursor Keys Move through options

<ESCAPE> <Q> Quit from menu

<RETURN> Do selected menu option

<RETURN> Next help page

<ESCAPE> <Q> Quit current help topic