@2{EdWord Professional V4.1 by Martin Reddy
      @3
      }Reviewed by Andy Smith
      @4
      
      For  your  delight  this  month,  I  have  decided to review a text
      editor.   You may be thinking what the hell it has to do with AMOS?
      Hands up if you think AMOS's editor is any cop.  One, two err maybe
      three,  not many hands raised there methinks.  Well if you have the
      AMOS  Professional  Compiler  but the old version of AMOS then dump
      that  nasty old editor and take a good look at this gem!  As you're
      no doubt aware, the new compiler will accept ASCII versions of your
      AMOS  source code.  Is it worth writing your AMOS source code using
      a text editor?  Read on to find out.
      @1
      A  text  editor is mainly used to edit programming source code.  It
      has  all  the basic editing facilities as a word processor but does
      not allow you to incorporate different fonts and graphics into your
      documents.   You will have noticed that on your Workbench disks you
      are  supplied  with  a  few text editors. 
      @5
      These  editors  are  called  'Ed'  and  'MEMacs' and are orientated
      towards programmers.  Ed really is showing its age now and ought to
      be  put down, but MEMacs is quite a lot better than 'Ed'.
      @4Even  so, MEMacs doesn't look as it was programmed with Workbench 2
      or 3 in mind and this definitely shows when you use it a lot.  Here
      is where EdWord Professional steps in.
      @1
      EdWord  version 2.2 was included on an 'Amiga Shopper' coverdisk in
      issue  25  and  since  that  release,  EdWord  has  undergone major
      improvements.  It's immense list of features include:
      @5
      An  ARexx  port  of  which  EdWord  has  over  100 commands!  ARexx
      commands  and  scripts  can be run directly from the editor.  There
      are some example ARexx scripts included on the disk for you to have
      a mess around with.
      @3
      A  'user-command'  facility  which lets you execute any program you
      wish  from  the program's menus.  You could have DICE set up in the
      user-menus  to  compile  C  programs  for  example  or  the AMOSPro
      Compiler.
      @4
      'Text-Casing'.   If  you're an AMOS programmer then you'll no doubt
      know   that  when  you  type  in  a  program,  reserved  words  are
      capitalised  (The first letter of the word is in uppercase followed
      by lowercase letters), and variable names are displayed entirely in
      uppercase.   This  helps  for  readability.  EdWord excels at this.
      
      @4Included on the disk are some 'Keyword' files which contain all the
      keywords  in  a  language,  there  are 15 keyword files altogether.
      They include files for ARexx, Pascal, C, MC68000, Modula2 etc.  and
      one  I've never heard of before - Ada.  They are needed so keywords
      in  the  language you are using are 'text-cased'.  No doubt you can
      imagine  the power of this facility.  Martin helpfully explains how
      to write your own keyword files.
      @1
      Auto-Indent.   A  facility  to  make  code more readable.  When you
      indent  a  line  for example, the following lines are automatically
      indented to the same position across.
      @5
      Symbolic-Indent.   In  Pascal,  BEGIN and END are used to start and
      end  a  piece  of code.  After BEGIN commands, the lines afterwards
      are indented.  When an END is entered, the line unindents.  This is
      done  automatically  thanks to this facility.  The data for this is
      stored in the keyword files.
      @3
      A  programmer's  calculator  which  does everything Commodore's bog
      standard  calculator  does  and  then some.  Hex, Octal, Binary and
      decimal  numbers  can  be  converted with ease, extremely useful if
      you're writing programs which require some complex maths.
      @6Macros  are  also  supported, which simplify common and long-winded
      tasks.
      @4Multiple  documents.   The  screen  can be split into 2 windows and
      cutting and pasting is just a matter of clicking and dragging.  All
      the  standard  keyboard shortcuts are used - which is something all
      programmers  would do well to take note of.  Up to 15 documents can
      be stored in RAM at the same time - memory permitting of course.
      @1
      Function-key  assign.   Keep  frequently  used text in the Function
      keys.   Escape  codes can be entered so you can use bold, underline
      and  italics  and so forth.  Frequently used keywords could also be
      stored  here  which  could result in faster program creation.  Just
      imagine,  no  more  typing  of  long words such as 'procedure' 5000
      times!
      @5
      AmigaGuide  documentation.   This  is  Commodore's hypertext viewer
      which Martin helpfully includes on the disk.
      @3
      Direct  ASCII  entry.   Enter any ASCII code by simply holding down
      Left-Amiga  and then typing the value of the ASCII code you want to
      insert into your text.
      @6
      Search/Replace facility.
      
      Undeletion of lines.
      
      @6Match brackets.  Very useful for C programmers.
      
      Auto-Save.   Automatic  saving  of  your  work  every  1 minute for
      example.  This time can be changed.
      @4
      Installing EdWord Pro really is childs play.  When you recieve your
      Edword  Pro  disk,  the  program  itself will be archived using the
      Disk-Masher  program.   You  just need to have 2 blank disks at the
      ready  then click on the install icon, and everything is dearchived
      onto  floppy  disks  for  you.   You  are talked through the entire
      installation  process  so you should (in theory) not go wrong.  For
      those  users  with hard drives, a hard disk install program is also
      included which uses Commodore's Installer utility, which is also on
      the  supplied  disks.   This  makes  installation  to  hard  disk a
      complete  doddle.  In fact, this program must have been the easiest
      program I have ever installed.  Full marks for that.
      @1
      Printing  options  have been improved dramatically.  Page numbering
      can  be  used, left and right margins can be set, fanfeed or single
      sheet  printers  are  also  catered for and print pitch can also be
      changed.
      @5
      If you're any sort of ARexx codie, then you should be drooling over
      all  the  commands offered by EdWord's ARexx port.
      @4Although  EdWord is NOT a word processor, it can be made to do many
      of  the  functions  offered  in  any Word Processor worth its salt,
      except import graphics and use fancy fonts.  Of course, you'll need
      to  learn  ARexx  if  you  want  to do this Almost every command in
      EdWord's  menus  have an ARexx alternative, this shows how powerful
      its ARexx port is.
      @1
      In use the program is extremely rapid, even on a 68000 based Amiga.
      The  program has been extensively tested and this shows, my machine
      only crashed the once and I doubt whether it was EdWord's fault.
      @5
      This  version  of  EdWord  is  much  faster than the version on the
      coverdisk.  Most things have been recoded in machine code to result
      in an extremely fast program.  To give you an example of this, when
      the Word Count facility was used on this file in V2.2, it took over
      22  seconds  to  give a result, in this version, the figure is less
      than 1 second!  The only, and I repeat the ONLY bug I have found in
      EdWord is to do with the Word Wrap facility.  When I typed past the
      specified  maximum  column,  the  word  wrapped round onto the next
      line,  like it should, but the word then jumbled up which is rather
      irritating  if  you  are  trying  to  write  documentation.   This,
      however,  is a minor flaw and I doubt whether you will use the Word
      Wrap  facility  that  often.  It is more likely you will use EdWord
      for programming which does not require this facility.
      @4Unique  to  EdWord  is  an  'Anti-Boredom' facility which gives you
      silly   messages  when  you  press  a  certain  key  combination  -
      pointless,  but  amusing!   To  find out what the messages are, you
      will  just  have  to  register EdWord!  @2 If you use EdWord's file
      requester,  then  you have the ability to use its 'Auto-Suggestion'
      facility.   Say  you  wanted to load a file called amiga.txt.  Just
      suppose  you  make  a  spelling  mistake  and  type  aimga.txt.   A
      requester  will  then pop-up telling you the file doesn't exist and
      will  suggest  a  file  which  it thinks you meant, it is sometimes
      completely  wrong  though!   This  feature  has  got to be the most
      original  and useful thing ever incorporated into a file requester.
      Brilliant!
      @1
      Okay,  there's  bound  to be some disadvantage.  Well yes, but it's
      not the fault of EdWord.  You will not be able to save memory banks
      along  with  your  program  which is quite obvious really as a text
      editor  saves it's files out in ASCII format (which is the standard
      across most computers) but AMOS uses its own format.  But you won't
      usually save memory banks along with programs anyway, especially if
      there quite long.
      @5
      If you are any sort of programmer, then I really do urge you to get
      EdWord.   Programming  will  become less of a chore, but because of
      the bugs mentioned above, I have dropped the final mark by 1.
      @4I  still  do urge you to pay that shareware fee for one of the best
      text  editors  (if  not  THE  best)  around.   If the bugs were not
      present then the Program Rating would easily have been 10/10.  This
      program easily rivals commercial alternatives at more than 10 times
      the  price!  I must admit that I am very impressed, and EdWord is a
      prime example of just how good Amiga programs can really be.
      
      
      @3
      Features : 10/10
      @4
      If  you  can  imagine  all  the  best features in every text editor
      you've  ever used, you will probably find them all in this program!
      The  auto-suggestion  feature  is  very  original  and  can be very
      useful.
      
      
      @3
      Documentation : 8/10
      @4
      Although  no  printed  manual  is  supplied  when  you  receive the
      package,  the  AmigaGuide  documentation is just excellent, and you
      can print it out if you wish anyway.
      
      @3Ease of use : 9/10
      @4
      The  menus  are intelligently laid out and using EdWord's functions
      is  a  doddle!   The  highlighting  feature  of cutting and pasting
      should  be  more  like  AmigaDOS  2.   As  it  stands  you can only
      highlight  a  rectangle  of text, although this isn't too much of a
      problem.
      
      
      @3
      Speed : 9/10
      @4
      Well  what  can  I say, maybe VVVRRRRRRROOOOOMMMMMM!  You are never
      left  around  waiting  for any process to complete in EdWord.  This
      program is 'Mega-Fast'!
      
      
      @3
      Value for money : 10/10
      @4
      I challenge anyone to find a commercial text-editor as good as this
      one for £10.  Good value for money if EdWord were £50.
      
      
      @3Overall rating : 9/10
      @4
      Any  new  text editor that is released for the Amiga will be judged
      by  this  excellent standard.  4 years in the making, and it shows.
      Polished until it shines.
      @3
      Price - £10
      @4
      Cheques payable to : Martin Reddy
      Lossiemouth House,
      33 Clifton Road,
      Lossiemouth,
      Moray,
      Scotland,
      IV31 6DP.
      @1
      Hardware requirements :  Any Amiga with at least 1 megabyte of RAM.
      Works  under  most  versions of Workbench.  Can be used from either
      floppy or hard disks.
      @3
      *  I  agree 100% with Andrew.  I have used Edword V2.2 for ages and
         have  just  got  hold of the demo version of Edword Pro and I am
         well impressed, I  have registered!  and am waiting for my copy.
         Steve.