Word processors: Can one fit all? Is your word-processing software well suited to your business tasks? This guide will help you find the right tool for the write job

Home Office Computing, Dec, 1990 by Steve Morgenstern

For example, I recently had to create a checklist chart for readers to compare features offered in a variety of insurance plans. With seven columns across and 24 rows down, I figure preparing the chart with text in position and ruling lines between entries would have taken several hours without the tables feature in Word for Windows. Instead, I set up the table structure in about a minute by entering the dimensions and borders I wanted in a simple dialog box. From that point on I just clicked the mouse in each cell and typed in the relevant information. Ah, what a feeling of power!

Macros. As mentioned in the section on basic correspondence, macros speed up writing by automating frequently performed procedures. Essentially, a macro is a set of keystrokes that are recorded and played back at your command. These sets can include word-processing commands as well as text, whereas a glossary only inserts a piece of text. Simple keystroke macros are standard equipment in most word processors at all levels.

Streamlining text formatting is one major use of macros, particularly in programs without style sheets. For example, italicizing a word might require several steps to select the word, then choose the italics format. You could record a macro that performs the complete series of keystrokes whenever you type the key combination that runs the macro.

Some word processors include macro facilities that extend beyond simply recording your keystroke entries to incorporate full-fledged programming languages capable of stopping to ask the user for input and performing different functions based on that input. If you are ambitious enough, you can create complex, programmed macros that further automate the writing process with Ami Professional, Microsoft Word, MultiMate, Nisus, Nota Bene, Word for Windows, WordPerfect, and XyWrite.

Graphic preview. If you're going to create heavily formatted documents, you need to be able to see what you're doing. As mentioned above, some word processors offer a graphics preview mode. For example, WordStar shines in its ability to display multiple pages on-screen simultaneously, providing a useful at-a-glance overview of large sections of your manuscript and the ability to jump immediately to trouble spots.

However, working directly in an on-screen replica of your page is much more efficient, and is now readily available both to Macintosh users (who pretty much take this kind of thing for granted at this point) and to MS-DOS system owners. If you have at least an AT-compatible computer, you can run Microsoft Windows-based word processors (both versions of Ami and Word) that provide an accurate, completely editable representation of your document on-screen. You pay a price in operating speed if you choose to go this route--however, if you're working on complex documents, that's probably a reasonable trade-off.

On the Mac side, Word and MacWrite II provide page previews that function as well as they look. You can change margins and page breaks and insert page numbers directly onto the miniature page displays, in either single-page or facing-page mode. Word will also display a full-size page including all page elements, such as page breaks, headers and footers, footnotes, and columns on a fully editable page. The same feature is available in WriteNow, which does not compete feature-for-feature with Word but does provide exceptional speed and all the basic editing power you can ask for in a program that takes up very little memory (an important consideration for MultiFinder users).