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Ever since Issue 17 when I reviewed Superscript I
have been using that program to prepare every issue of PAGE 6. I
considered Superscript to be the finest word processor available for
the Atari so I was most interested to have the opportunity at last
of testing PaperClip, a word processor which has been hailed in the
States as the 'definitive' Atari word processor.
Let's start out by saying that PaperClip has
everything that Superscript has, well almost, and a lot more
besides. From the very start it is evident that this is a fine word
processor containing virtually everything you would need for any
task from writing a letter home to producing a fully indexed book
complete with a table of contents! As with any complex program it
will take you some time to learn all of the facilities available but
on-screen Help files are available at the push of a button or with a
couple of key strokes. If you just want to do something simple to
begin with, however, just type!
EDITING
The first thing that strikes your eye is that
PaperClip uses a re-defined character set. Each character is
slightly larger than the standard Atari characters and is in a sort
of 'old English' style. Quite pleasing on the eye and very easy to
read. All of the editing commands that you would expect of an
advanced word processor are available from deleting characters,
words or lines to defining and moving, copying or deleting blocks of
text. All fairly standard but PaperClip has many little extras such
as character or word toggle. If you make the classic typing mistake
of transposing two characters, you need only place the cursor on the
second character and, with one key press, flip the characters.
Likewise with any two adjacent words.
SEARCH and REPLACE
Any word or character can be found quickly and
changed if required for any other text. Global substitutions are
possible, but not just over one document. Multiple documents can be
chained together, in fact as many as your disk will hold, and a
global search and replace can be performed over every chained, or
batched, file on the disk! What's more several global substitutions
can be performed at the same time.
PRINT FORMATTING
Control over the printed output is one of
PaperClip's strongest points. The disk comes with dozens of printer
configuration files with a utility program to create your own.
Strangely one or two printer features seem to be missing, such as
enlarged text, but special user defined printer commands can be
included or a configuration file can be changed to suit. Obvious
settings such as margins, page length, line spacing etc. are all
standard but also included are unusual features such as
microspacing. If it works on your printer you can obtain superbly
justified text with each word evenly spread unlike in the
conventional way in which extra spaces are added between words. I
say 'if it works' for although my NEC supports microspacing,
Paperclip tended to split up words and throw odd lines out of the
margins. Not very useful!
Headers and footers are available as well as page
numbering and new page eject. One thing not supported is 'alternate
paging' where odd and even numbered pages can be
treated differently with margins and headings set to the left or
right as appropriate. Superscript scores heavily here as it can
print odd numbered pages first and allow you to reverse each page
and then print the even numbered pages on the other side. One thing
PaperClip does have though and which is very easy to implement is
double column printing which it achieves in one pass i.e. the two
columns are printed at the same time rather than reversing the paper
as some word processors do. This feature is easier to use than on
any other word processor I have tried and can produce some excellent
professional looking results, particularly if the Print Preview
option is used first.
MUCH MORE
There is even more to PaperClip such as the
ability to include graphics in a document, do mathematical
calculations on columns etc., use in 'Typewriter mode', produce
automatic tabling of contents, include comment lines and more. It
also allows you to work on two documents at once in different
windows. And you can do mail merge. And you can define keyboard
macros. And...
In fact there is too much to comment on everything
so check the feature summary to see just what is available.
CONCLUSIONS
Paperclip comes with two options, one for the
130XE and one for others. The only difference is in the size of the
text buffer. I could not try the 130XE option as this is supposed to
be on the reverse of the disk along with several new utilities but
the reverse of the review copy disk was blank! One of these
utilities was the automatic indexing which I longed to try!
The disk is not copy protected so can be backed up
with ease. Protection is achieved by means of a dongle which is
plugged into a joystick port. A much more sensible way to prevent
illegal use. Superscript is so heavily backed up that I cringe each
time I have to boot it up.
There have to be one or two criticisms but they
are limited. If you can type fast it is possible to 'get ahead' of
PaperClip which can cause problems. Superscript has a superb file
loading system where all the files on a disk are shown on screen and
you merely place the cursor over the file you want and hit Return
whereas PaperClip requires you to remember a filename. The packaging
produced by Ariolasoft is superb, in fact probably the best yet seen
for this type of software but the manual, which by the way is
excellent, is almost impossible to read
without using two hands. It should be spiral bound so as to lay flat
when you are typing. At present you would need to weight It down or
copy parts of it to use it whilst typing.
THE FINAL OPINION
I have to admit it. PaperClip is probably the finest word processor
yet produced for the Atari although it does lack a spelling checker
which many might consider tips the scales towards Superscript.
Nevertheless Superscript may have to bow down! Apart from its
features the price, now that it finally has U.K. distribution, makes
PaperClip one of your best ever buys if you need a word processor.
It costs £44.95. Still quite a lot of money, but worth every penny.
Ariolasoft should feel proud to have a product
such as this available at a reasonable cost and anyone needing a
powerful word processor should look to PaperClip as the definitive
Atari word processor.
__________________
PAPERCLIP FEATURES
Not copy protected • Excellent manual • On screen
status and command lines • Disk directory display and print • File
merge • Two text
windows • Text scrolling
OPTIONS
Cursor movement toggle • Screen scroll toggle • Left
margin • Line length • Alarm bell toggle • Window size • Auto save
of text • Attract mode toggle • Key click toggle • Screen
colour change • Printer configuration • Full DOS options
EDITING
Full cursor control • Delete character, word or
block • Paste buffer • Undo • Cut & Paste • String
search Text replace • Global substitution • Tags • Caps/ lowercase
toggle • Insert/Overwrite toggle • Letter swap toggle • Word swap
toggle
PRINT FORMATTING
Margins • Page length • Line spacing • Block
right • Centering • Mixed formats • Justification
• Microspacing • Headers • Footers • Page numbering • Force new
page • Bold • Italic • Character pitch • Underline
• Hard spaces • Auto indent • Hanging indent
• Tabs • Single sheet pause • Multiple copies • Double column
printing • Print preview • Print to disk
SPECIAL FUNCTIONS
Mathematics • Table of Contents • Indexing • User
defined print commands • Non printing comment lines
• Typewriter mode • Include files • Batch files
• Global substitution within batch files • Graphics inclusion • Mail
merge • Macros
EXTRAS
30 plus printer configurations • Epson character set
load • User defined configuration • Atariwriter converter
• Graphics dump for Koala, Atari Artist, B/Graph, Fun with Art, Paint
and more • Help files • Demo documents
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