More About Word Processors/Publishers (was Word 2000

[Rd Phillip <rdphillip -at- HOTMAIL -dot- COM>]

The deficiency in Word (and to a lesser degree in other modern writing
software) is actually threefold.  I fear that I wasn't as clear as I could
have been in my previous post.

First, none of the newer programs allow the user to adjust character spacing
on a font by font, character by character, fore and aft basis, with
character tables.  Such adjustments are absolutely essential to achieving a
typeset appearance in the finished document.  The techniques provided by
the newer programs for the purpose of adjusting character width are indeed
useful for achieving a rough semblance of typesetting, but thay are
incapable of consistently producing the same degree of visual integrity as
manual adjustment.

This brings me to the second point, that some of these programs aren't even
capable of automatically adjusting character width or kerning in a manner
that provides pleasant output.  Following are a few examples that should
help to clarify what I mean...

WordStar:  This old CP/M program would adjust character widths automatically
when it stretched a line to fill the margins (full justification).  It did
not, unfortunately, allow the user to set limits on the amount of adjustment
it would apply.  This could create words that were badly squeezed or widely
spread, particularly in narrow columns.  Nevertheless, in most documents,
this automatic charater/word spacing allowed creating a beautiful appearance
that was nearly the equal of manual typesetting, especially if the character
width tables were carefully adjusted to match the characteristics of the
printed font.

WordPerfect:  This program did away with the option of manually finessing
the character width tables.  However, it introduced the concept of automatic
character spacing in which the degree of adjustment was subject to
user-specified limits, and in which the degree of adjusment could be
limited both globally and line by line.  I continue to use it to this day,
because I am unable to locate another word prcessor with these features.

PageMaker:  The first and only version I've used is Version 4.0.  Like
WordPerfect, this program does a superlative job of automatically adjusting
character width throughout the document, and allows the user to set finely
detailed limits and to make adjustments line by line or globally.  Like all
modern word processors and publishers that I have encountered, it does not
allow adjustment of individual character widths.

FrameMaker:  Relative to Version 5.5.6, I am unable to locate any means by
which to set the limits of its automatic character spacing adjustments.  If
this preliminary determination is correct, I consider it a severe
shortcoming of the program.  Comments on this point are welcome.

Word:  I have not used Office 2000, but 97 could not even perform automatic
adjustment of character width.  When this program automatically expands or
compresses a line to provide full justification, it can only do so by
squeezing or expanding the space between words.  This can result in a very
odd-looking document.  The only available remedy requires that the user
visually identify each line that appears unacceptable, and that he or she
manually adjust the character spacing.  This must be done on a line by line
basis, an enormous task given that fact that editing even one word at a
later date can change the appearance of the entire document, undoing hours
of work.

In short, automatic character spacing, with or without user-specified
adjustment limits, is a feature that I now consider mandatory in any
professional word processor or desktop publisher.  This feature has been
available in relatively inexpensive applications since the early 1980's.
User-specified adjustment limits have also been available in home and office
PC applications for many years.  While it may be possible to produce
visually pleasing documents without the use of these adjustable limits, I
have no small difficulty accepting their absence in any application selling
for more than fifty dollars.

The point to my previous post was that Word has none of these features; it
lacks character width tables, automatic character spacing, and (therefore)
user-adjustable limits for same.  It is no more a professional word
processor than the family sedan is a race car.

Just my $.02.

Regards,
RD

>Judith McCrea <judith -at- ZETA -dot- ORG -dot- AU> wrote:
>Here! here!
>20 years ago I also adjusted WordStar character-width tables for Sanders
>printers and for Daisy wheels.
>When will Word catch up with WordStar?
>Judith
>
>RD wrote
>>In the early days, I used WordStar.  I had to manually adjust the
>>character-width tables to accurately match my daisy-wheel printer, but it
>>worked.  Full justification nearly always resulted in a pleasing,
>>proportionally-spaced appearance, regardless of column width.
>>
>>Finally, I tried Word.
>>
>>Each time I open this application, I am reminded that it cannot do what my
>>CP/M version of WordStar 3.3 did, nearly twenty years ago>
>>
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