TECH/TYPE - Typefaces for Technology<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
          Using Video Terminal Screen with Windows Applications<br />
<br />
                    Copyright (c) 1991-1993 - E A BEHL<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Capturing DOS Screens in Windows<br />
<br />
--------------------------------<br />
<br />
DOS screen captures with the Windows Clipboard are a simple process. Start <br />
<br />
by running the DOS application from the Windows DOS Prompt icon or in a DOS <br />
<br />
Window. Press Alt-Spacebar to activate the DOS window control box. Select <br />
<br />
the Edit Mark menu option. Either hold the shift key down and use the <br />
<br />
keyboard arrow keys to highlight the portion of the screen to capture, or <br />
<br />
click and drag the mouse pointer from one corner of the screen to the other. <br />
<br />
When the desired portion is highlighted, press the Enter key.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Next, open the Windows Clipboard Viewer. Select the File Save As menu <br />
<br />
option. Enter a file name with .TXT as the file name extension in the File <br />
<br />
Name box and click the OK button.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Finally, open the Windows Notepad, select the File Open menu option. Select <br />
<br />
the file name saved with the Clipboard, adding path information if <br />
<br />
necessary, and click on the OK button.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The file saved by the Clipboard Viewer contains two text variations of the <br />
<br />
DOS screen. The first variation is untranslated text straight from DOS, and <br />
<br />
the second is text with high-order characters translated based on a table <br />
<br />
described in more detail below.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
In Notepad, binary header data appears at the top of the file, followed by <br />
<br />
two text sections, which at first glance may appear to be identical. The <br />
<br />
first text segment is the segment we are interested in however. The last <br />
<br />
step is to carefully delete the unnecessary data from the Clipboard file, <br />
<br />
then save the file in Notepad.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The text file can now be opened or imported into a Windows application.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Using VTS with Windows Write<br />
<br />
----------------------------<br />
<br />
To use the captured DOS screen in Write, simply open or import the file <br />
<br />
saved with Notepad, and select "No Conversion" when prompted by Write. <br />
<br />
Highlight the text and select the Format Character menu option. Select Video <br />
<br />
Terminal Screen from the typeface names and select a point size if desired.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Using VTS with Word for Windows<br />
<br />
-------------------------------<br />
<br />
Open Word for Windows and create a style using VTS as the base font. This <br />
<br />
makes it easy to recognize the DOS screen text when it is imported. Select <br />
<br />
the Insert File menu option. Select the file saved with Notepad. When Word <br />
<br />
prompts for a file type, select "Text Only."<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Using VTS with Ventura Publisher<br />
<br />
--------------------------------<br />
<br />
Ventura Publisher does not support the direct use of VTS high-order <br />
<br />
characters, whether you are using the GEM version or the Windows version. <br />
<br />
Ventura Publisher has traditionally prohibited use of the characters from <br />
<br />
ASCII 224 to 255. In addition, Ventura has used the ISO-LATIN character <br />
<br />
coding scheme and remaps characters to follow the ANSI definition under <br />
<br />
Windows. Thus, the order of nearly all high-order characters are rearranged.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Importing DOS screen captures into Ventura Publisher as text is not <br />
<br />
impossible, however, just a little more complicated. The Box characters file <br />
<br />
of VTS must be installed and included in the Ventura width table.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Open Ventura Publisher, select the File Load menu option, then select File <br />
<br />
Type: Text, in the Format box select WS 4.0/5.0, and select the file saved <br />
<br />
in the Clipboard Viewer. The WordStar (WS) filter strips the 8th bit off <br />
<br />
high-order characters, effectively dropping their ASCII value by 128. Once <br />
<br />
the file is loaded, high-order characters appear as low-order characters. <br />
<br />
Switch to Text Edit mode and carefully highlight the characters known to <br />
<br />
have been high-order graphic characters. The last step is to select the Text <br />
<br />
Bold menu item which changes the highlighted text to box characters. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Adjusting the Appearance of VTS<br />
<br />
-------------------------------<br />
<br />
Once the text has been imported, paying attention to line and character<br />
<br />
spacing will make VTS look just like a screen capture. Word for Windows is<br />
<br />
discussed specifically, but other word processors probably have similar<br />
<br />
controls.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Normally, typesetting adds space above lines of text, called "leading" in<br />
<br />
typesetting terms, to keep descender strokes of characters such as the lower<br />
<br />
case g, j, p, and q from crashing into capital letters, numerals, and lower<br />
<br />
case characters with ascender strokes such as the b, d, h, k, and l.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
This extra spacing can defeat the ability to make continuous vertical lines<br />
<br />
with the 179 or 186 characters. To make the graphic characters from adjacent<br />
<br />
lines connect, set the Line Spacing in Paragraph Format to the same point<br />
<br />
value as the size of the text. In effect, VTS text at 10 point should have a<br />
<br />
paragraph line spacing of "Exactly - 10pt". Generally, horizontal spacing<br />
<br />
does not have to be adjusted, however if horizontal lines look dashed<br />
<br />
instead of continuous, verify that the alignment of the text is flush left<br />
<br />
and not justified. Justification may stretch the space between characters,<br />
<br />
defeating the fixed-pitch nature of VTS. If justification is not a problem,<br />
<br />
you may want to adjust Character Spacing in the Character Format dialog box.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Avoiding Trouble Importing DOS Screens in Windows Applications<br />
<br />
--------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
The most common trouble using VTS in Windows applications is importing text <br />
<br />
containing high-order characters (those with values above 127) from DOS.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Beginning with Windows version 3.0, Microsoft heartily endorsed the ANSI<br />
<br />
typeface character set. The introduction of TrueType technology in<br />
<br />
version 3.1 married Windows to this standard all the more. In the typeface<br />
<br />
industry, characters equivalent to the DOS' PC-8 single and double box<br />
<br />
characters just don't exist -- most likely because they come from the<br />
<br />
typesetting world where lines are usually created in some other fashion.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Microsoft recommends that Windows applications handle the transition from<br />
<br />
PC-8 to ANSI, by using a translation table to change PC-8 box characters to<br />
<br />
ordinary characters in the ANSI character set, such as hyphens and plus<br />
<br />
signs. The ANSI assignments for foreign language characters also differ from<br />
<br />
the PC-8 set, so Microsoft also recommends translating these characters from<br />
<br />
PC-8 to ANSI as well.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Thus, as text is imported, Windows applications typically change the value<br />
<br />
of incoming high-order characters to counterparts in the ANSI character set.<br />
<br />
For instance, the horizontal line character in the PC-8 character set has a<br />
<br />
value of 196. This value is routinely changed to 45 (a hyphen) which is the<br />
<br />
closest thing an ANSI typeface has to offer. Similarly, an incoming<br />
<br />
character with a value of 160 -- the accented `a' in the PC-8 set, is<br />
<br />
changed to 225 -- the corresponding `a acute' character in the ANSI<br />
<br />
character set.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
VTS on the other hand, is a typeface which bucks the ANSI assignments and<br />
<br />
follows the PC-8 assignment, eliminating the need to change the value of<br />
<br />
high-order characters from a DOS application. The trick in using VTS with<br />
<br />
imported text containing high-order characters then, is to make sure the<br />
<br />
Windows application doesn't translate the values in the process of importing<br />
<br />
the DOS text.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Many Windows word processors and other applications have an option for <br />
<br />
importing text without translation. Write, for instance, asks you directly, <br />
<br />
whether you want to convert a file that is not in the Write format as you <br />
<br />
import it. Other applications are not always so explicit. Word for Windows, <br />
<br />
for instance, has several filters for importing text files, however the <br />
<br />
correct choice -- "Text Only" is not an obvious choice. In general, you may <br />
<br />
have to import the text file several times before determining the method <br />
<br />
in each application that does not translate high-order characters.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
End