Category : Science and Education
Archive   : TBRL253.ZIP
Filename : TBRLDEMO.HLP

Turbo Braille Screen 1

Using The Help File


You may move around and explore the help file by typing N

for the Next screen, by typing P for the previous screen, by

typing Q for Quit, or by typing S and a number to jump to a

specific screen. Both upper and lower case letters will work.

Enter your selection and press the return key. You will return

to the Turbo Braille pprompt "TB->" when you are finished. To

exit from Turbo Braille, at the TB-> prompt, press return and

follow directions.


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Turbo Braille Screen 2

What You May Enter

At the TB-> prompt you may enter: (1) an input file name,

possibly an ambiguous one with the DOS wild card characters "*"

or "?"; (2) a Turbo Braille command, beginning with a slash or a

dash to distinguish it from a file name, followed by one or more

letters and other information.



If you enter the name of a file, Turbo Braille will figure

out what kind of file it is from the contents of the file.



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Turbo Braille Screen 3

Types Of Input Files


You may enter the name of a WordStar document file, a

WordPerfect document file, an ASCII file formatted for printing,

or a "Braille Intermediate File" created automatically by Turbo

Braille, or directly with the help of an ASCII editor. A "BIF

file" contains the text of the original document in ASCII format

together with formatting commands used by Turbo Braille. You may

edit these formatting commands for precise control over the

resulting braille document.


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Turbo Braille Screen 4

Files Not Processed


When using wild card characters, it is easy to specify more

files than you intend. Therefore files with certain file name

extensions will not be processed by Turbo Braille. These are the

DOS file extensions .COM, .EXE, .LIB, .OBJ, and .SYS; the backup

file extensions .BAK and .BK!; the data compression file

extensions .ARC, .LZH, .ZIP, and .ZOO; and the KANSYS Inc. file

extensions .BRL, .CFG, and .PV3. Files with these extensions are

unlikely to contain text and must be renamed if they are to be


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Turbo Braille Screen 5

processed.


Types Of Outputs


You may want to create a BIF file automatically from

WordStar documents, WordPerfect documents, or ASCII printer

files; or you may want to produce a finished braille document

from BIF files, or directly from WordStar files, WordPerfect

files, or ASCII printer files. You may send the resulting

translation to a braille embosser attached to your computer, or

write it to a disk file for later printing or further processing.

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Turbo Braille Screen 6

Modes Of Operation


The program operates in a batch mode and in an interactive

mode. In the batch mode the file names and commands (or

"switches") follow the program name on the command line and are

processed from left to right. In the interactive mode they are

given one at a time at the prompt as needed. The batch mode

switches and interactive mode commands are identical with one

exception: there is a "/P" command but no "/P" switch. There is

a total of less than a dozen commands and switches.


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Turbo Braille Screen 7

To operate Turbo Braille in the batch mode, enter any

desired switches and file names on the command line, but do not

use the /H switch. If other switches and file names are included

as well as the /H switch, Turbo Braille first completes all

requested batch mode processing and then enters interactive mode.

To operate Turbo Braille in the interactive mode, enter the

program name with no switches or file names on the command line,

or include the /H switch on the command line.





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Turbo Braille Screen 8

Saving Program Setups


The program setup may be saved in your current directory

(local setup) or in the directory where the program files are

stored (global setup). A saved setup is recalled when Turbo

Braille starts execution. A local setup is used if present;

otherwise a global one is used. The /SL command saves a local

setup, while the /SG command saves a global one. The batch mode

switches /SL and /SG are also available.




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Turbo Braille Screen 9

Commands And Switches


The following commands and switches are available in batch

mode and in interactive mode. The leading slash shown with each

switch or command may be replaced by a leading dash.


/A -- Add a formatting command (dot command) to the stored

setup. Such commands are processed before the first line of each

input file, and permit changing the program's defaults. Usage:

/A.xx

where ".XX" is any legal dot command recognized by Turbo Braille.

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Turbo Braille Screen 10

/D -- Delete a formatting command (dot command) from the

stored setup. Usage:

/D.XX

/D*

where ".XX" is any legal dot command recognized by Turbo Braille,

and where "*" deletes all stored dot commands.


/F -- Format output for a specific printer. Printer #0 is

the default printer. Other printers may be defined with the /P

command and selected for formatting by the /F switch or command.


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Turbo Braille Screen 11

Usage:

/F#

where "#" is a digit indicating the desired printer, or may be

"?" (interactive mode only) to show the current setting.


/H -- Help file (this file) display. Using the /H switch in

the batch mode automatically changes the batch run into an

interactive run. Usage:

/H




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Turbo Braille Screen 12

/J -- Jump over pages at start of braille document before

producing output. The default value is 0; no pages are skipped.

Usage:

/J###

where "###" is the number of pages to jump over.


/M -- Make .BIF files, .BRL files, or both files, from the

original input documents. The default "2" creates a braille

document only, with the extension ".BRL", and sends it to the

printer or a disk file as directed by the /W switch or command.


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Turbo Braille Screen 13

Usage:

/M#

where "#" is in the range 0 through 3, or may be "?" (interactive

mode only) to show the current setting. "0" makes no output; "1"

makes a .BIF file; "2" makes a .BRL file; and "3" makes both.


/P -- Printer definition for up to ten printers. These

definitions may differ in maximum page sizes, line widths,

offsets, paper type, and page break method. This is a command

only; not available as a switch. Printer #0 is defined as 25


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Turbo Braille Screen 14

lines by 40 cells with no offset, continuous paper with form

feeds separating successive pages. Printers #1 through #9 are

user defined. Usage:

/P#

where "#" is in the range 0 through 9, or may be "?" to show the

currently defined printers.


/S -- Show or save the current setup. The three variations

/S?, /SL, and /SG are available to show the data in the current

setup, to save it locally in the current directory, or to save it


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Turbo Braille Screen 15

globally in the directory where Turbo Braille is stored. If the

current directory is the one where Turbo Braille is stored, then

/SL and /SG are identical. Usage:

/S#

where "#" may be "?" (interactive mode only) to show the setup,

"L" for local save, or "G" for global save.


/V -- Set the verbosity level of the program. The default

value "0" produces very few messages during program execution.

Usage:


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Turbo Braille Screen 16

/V#

where "#" is in the range 0 through 9, or may be "?" (interactive

mode only) to show the current setting.


/W -- Write braille document to the printer (the DOS PRN

device), to a disk file, or to both. The default "2" writes to a

disk file for later printing or further processing. Usage:

/W#

where "#" is in the range 0 through 3, or may be "?" (interactive

mode only) to show the current setting. "0" discards braille


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Turbo Braille Screen 17

output, even if requested by /M2 or /M3; "1" writes directly to

the attached printer; "2" writes to a file using the .BRL

extension; "3" writes both to the printer and to a file.


Formatting Commands


Formatting is controlled by dot commands and imbedded

commands. Turbo Braille automatically inserts some of each when

creating a BIF file or a finished braille document directly from

a source document; none are inserted when translating a BIF file

into braille. You may add other dot commands and imbedded

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Turbo Braille Screen 18

commands to those automatically inserted in a BIF file for more

precise control of the finished product.


Each dot command in a BIF file is complete on one line; it

does not share a line with the text of the document. Dot

commands are identified by a leading dot or period, which must

appear in position one of the line. Lines starting with two dots

or periods are treated as comments, and are ignored by Turbo

Braille. The dot commands automatically inserted are: ".CE"

center the next line; ".SP" insert a blank line; ".BR" start a


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Turbo Braille Screen 19

new line; ".PP" start a new paragraph; ".PN" new page number in

the source document; ".IT" italicize the text on the next line.


Imbedded commands may appear on the same line as the text of

your document. They may occur between words or even within a

word. Imbedded commands are identified by a leading backslash

character "\" followed by a single character to specify a

particular command. Two successive backslash characters are

treated as an ordinary backslash within the document. The

imbedded commands automatically inserted are: "\_" begin or end


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Turbo Braille Screen 20

underlining text; "\!" begin or end boldface text; and the three

"spring characters" which expand when translated to push

surrounding text toward the margins. These are "\:" to spread

spaces, "\." to spread the standard braille guide dot, and "\-"

to spread a solid line, such as that used for the page

separator. Turbo Braille uses italics for both underlining and

boldface as well as true italics in the source document.







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Turbo Braille Screen 21

Dot Commands


Below is an alphabetic list of valid dot commands with a

brief discussion of each one. Each dot command occupies a

complete line of the BIF file, and consists of a dot or period in

position one, two letters in positions two and three specifying

the command, and in many cases one or more optional arguments

providing additional information.






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Turbo Braille Screen 22

(1) .BL


Bottom Line: The bottom line of each braille page may be

used for text or may contain a running title. If used for text

it may contain no page number, a roman or arabic braille page

number, or a print page number at the right margin. The running

title may also specify page numbers. Usage:

.BL x,y

where "x" is 0 or 1 for text or title, and "y" is 0, 1, 2, or 3

for no number, roman braille page number, arabic braille page


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Turbo Braille Screen 23

number, or print page number. The default is ".BL 0,0" to use

the bottom line for text with no page numbers. See also ".TL"

and ".RH".


(2) .BP


Begin Page: This command starts a new braille page. It

works when not already at top of page. You may also change the

page number of the page to be started by including the desired

page number with the command. The page number may be relative to

the present braille page or an arbitrary new page number. If no

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Turbo Braille Screen 24

new page number is requested, the present page number plus one is

used. If already positioned at the top of a page, or at the

start of the file, this command will not skip a page, which would

leave a blank page in the document. Usage:

.BP

.BP n

.BP +n

.BP -n

where "n" is the number of the new braille page, and "+n" or "-n"

are relative to the present page number. See also ".PN".

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Turbo Braille Screen 25

(3) .BR


Break: Normally, Turbo Braille ignores line breaks in the

BIF file and produces filled lines of text in the braille output.

This command lets you arbitrarily start a new braille line, even

if more text would fit on the current line. It is the Turbo

Braille equivalent of the "hard carriage return" used in word

processors. Usage:

.BR

where there are no arguments. See also ".FI" and ".NF".


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Turbo Braille Screen 26

(4) .CC


Command Character: (reserved).


(5) .CE


Center: The next line or lines of text in the BIF file are

centered in the braille output. A line too long for the width

of the braille page is divided in two at a convenient place, and

each half is centered. Usage:

.CE


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Turbo Braille Screen 27

.CE n

where "n" specifies how many lines that follow should be

centered. If no argument is used, one is assumed.


(6) .DV


Divide: This command places a line of braille dots two and

five across the braille page so that the page may later be

folded. You may specify one or two lines to fold the page in

halves or in thirds. Usage:

.DV

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Turbo Braille Screen 28

.DV n

.DV n,n

where "n" is the number of the line or lines to fill with

braille dots two and five. If no arguments are used, any

previous request is canceled.











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Turbo Braille Screen 29

(7) .EW


End Writing: Usage:

.EW

where there are no arguments. See also ".WF" and ".RF".












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Turbo Braille Screen 30

(8) .FI


Fill: Normally, Turbo Braille ignores line breaks in the

BIF file and produces filled lines of text in the braille output.

This command restores that condition (called "filling") after it

has been suspended. Usage:

.FI

where there are no arguments. See also ".BR" and ".NF".






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Turbo Braille Screen 31

(9) .GR


Grade: The grade of braille translation is selected with

this command. Grade 1 uses the same composition rules as Grade

2, but is not contracted. Grade 0 uses the same filling of lines

and formation of pages as grades 1 and 2, but passes all text

directly to the output. Usage:

.GR n

where "n" is 0, 1, or 2, for the grade of braille translation

desired. The default is grade 2. See also the imbedded commands


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Turbo Braille Screen 32

"\0", "\1", and "\2".


(10) .HL


Horizontal Line: This command is used to insert twelve

cells of dots two and five in the center of a braille line. It

produces the standard "termination line" used to separate

successive articles, as in magazine format. Usage:

.HL

where there are no arguments.



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Turbo Braille Screen 33

(11) .IN


Indent: This command indents all lines of text that follow,

until another indentation level is specified. A value must be

specified, which may be given relative to the current indentation

or as the number of positions to indent from any page offset.

Usage:

.IN n

.IN +n

.IN -n


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Turbo Braille Screen 34

where "n" is the number of positions to indent, and "+n" or "-n"

are relative to the current indentation. See also ".PO", ".PP",

".RM", and ".TI".


(12) .IP


Interpoint: This command causes the commands ".TL" and

".BL" to be used in formatting odd pages only. On even pages,

the values ".TL 0,0" and ".BL 0,0" are used instead of specified

values. This command is useful in preparing documents for an

interpoint braille embosser, which embosses on both sides of the

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Turbo Braille Screen 35

paper. Usage:

.IP

where there are no arguments. See also ".NI", ".TL", and ".BL".


(13) .IT


Italics: The line or lines of text that follow in the BIF

file are italicized in the braille output. The italicized text

is not prevented from being filled with earlier or later text.

Lines of text may be both italicized and centered. This command

may immediately precede or follow the command for centering. A

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Turbo Braille Screen 36

centered line that is only partially italicized may not use this

command; the imbedded commands for underscore and boldface are

used instead. Usage:

.IT

.IT n

where "n" specifies how many lines that follow should be

italicized. See also the imbedded commands "\_" and "\!".







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Turbo Braille Screen 37

(14) .NE


Need: There are times when braille should not appear on a

page with too few remaining unused lines. This command specifies


a "need" to have a minimum number of unused lines remaining on

the current page before proceeding with the output. If fewer

than the specified number of lines remain, a new page is started.

This is the Turbo Braille equivalent of the "conditional page

break" used in word processors. Usage:

.NE n


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Turbo Braille Screen 38

where "n" is the number of lines that must remain to permit

output of the text that follows.


(15) .NF


No Fill: Normally, Turbo Braille ignores line breaks in the

BIF file and produces filled lines of text in the braille output.

This command suspends the filling process so that every new line

in the BIF file starts a new line of braille. Usage:

.NF

where there are no arguments. See also ".BR" and ".FI".

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Turbo Braille Screen 39

(16) .NI


No Interpoint: This command causes the commands ".TL" and

".BL" to be applied to both odd and even pages, reversing the

effect of the ".IP" command. Usage:

.NI

where there are no arguments. See also ".IP", ".TL", and ".BL".








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Turbo Braille Screen 40

(17) .PL


Page Length: Usage:

.PL n

.PL +n

.PL -n

where "n" is the number of lines per braille page, and "+n" or "-

n" are relative to the current page length.






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Turbo Braille Screen 41

(18) .PN


Page Number: This command lets you keep track in the

braille document of print page numbers in the original material.

It is used after print page number display has been selected with

either the ".TL" or the ".BL" command. If the current position

is neither the top line nor the bottom line of the current

braille page, a solid horizontal line is inserted across the

braille page, followed by the new print page number. If print

page numbers advance normally, no argument need be given with


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Turbo Braille Screen 42

this command. You may specify a new print page number if

desired. The page number may be relative to the present print

page or an arbitrary page number. Usage:

.PN

.PN n

.PN +n

.PN -n

where "n" is the number of the new print page, and "+n" or "-n"

are relative to the present page number. See also ".BL", ".BP",

and ".TL".

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Turbo Braille Screen 43

(19) .PO


Page Offset: This command specifies the number of leading

spaces to add to each line of braille before printing it or

writing it to a file. Page offset affects both left and right

margins equally, and comprises an area "to the left of position

one" which is not available for processing. The argument may

specify a change from the current setting, or may specify an

arbitrary number of leading spaces. The default is no offset.

Usage:


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Turbo Braille Screen 44

.PO n

.PO +n

.PO -n

where "n" is the number of positions to offset the page, and "+n"

or "-n" are relative to the current page offset. See also ".IN",

".PP", ".RM", and ".ti".









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Turbo Braille Screen 45

(20) .PP


Paragraph: This command causes a break in the text filling

process, and indents the next line two positions beyond the

current indentation. Usage:

.PP

where there are no arguments. See also ".IN", ".PO", ".RM", and

".TI".






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Turbo Braille Screen 46

(21) .RF


Read File: This command inserts the contents of one file

into another during braille translation. The inserted file is

assumed to be another BIF file, and may contain text, dot

commands, and imbedded commands. It may not contain another

".RF" command. Any number of ".RF" commands may appear in the

file, permitting large documents to be created from several

smaller files, or the automatic inclusion of standard "boiler

plate" passages. Usage:


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Turbo Braille Screen 47

.RF filename

where "filename" may specify a file in the current directory, or

may specify another device or directory as well as a file. The

DOS wild card characters are not supported. See also ".SB",

".WF", and ".EW".











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Turbo Braille Screen 48

(22) .RH


Running Header: This command allows a running title to be

used in the braille document. Only one title may be in effect at

a time. The title may appear at the top of each page, at the

bottom of each page, or both, as desired. The first argument of

the ".TL" or the ".BL" command determines the appearance of the

running title as a header or footer, respectively. Usage:

.RH text of title

where "text of title" may be any ordinary English text


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Turbo Braille Screen 49

phrase. Spring characters and print enhancements must not be

used. Capitalization and punctuation are recognized, and

imbedded grade change commands are supported. If no argument is

used, any previous title is canceled. See also ".BL" and ".TL".


(23) .RM


Right Margin: This command specifies the last cell position

on a braille line. The argument may give a change from the

current setting, or may be an arbitrary cell position. The right

margin plus the page offset may not exceed the maximum width of

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Turbo Braille Screen 50

the line the printer can print. The number of cells actually

embossed on a line is the right margin less the indentation.

Usage:

.RM n

.RM +n

.RM -n

where "n" is the rightmost cell position to be embossed on a

line, and "+n" or "-n" are relative to the current right margin.

See also ".IN", ".PP", ".PO", and ".TI".



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Turbo Braille Screen 51

(24) .SB


Substitute: A string of text may be substituted for one of

the letters of the alphabet, which may then be used as an

imbedded command. The .SB command defines the substitution so

that later references to the letter in an imbedded command will

retrieve and insert the string at the point of reference.

Substitutions may be defined and saved in the Turbo Braille setup

for use when processing a BIF file. They may also be defined in

one file and invoked in another. Usage:


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Turbo Braille Screen 52

.SB x string of text

where "x" is any letter and "string of text" is any desired

information. Upper and lower case letters are not distinguished,

but case is respected in the string of text. A space must

separate the command name from the letter and the letter from the

string. No special punctuation marks the start or end of the

string. Substitutions may not be nested. See also ".RF" and the

section on imbedded commands.





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Turbo Braille Screen 53

(25) .SK


Skip: This command inserts one or more blank lines into the

braille document. It works even if at top of page. With no

argument, one blank line is inserted. Usage:

.SK

.SK n

where "n" is the number of blank lines to insert. See also

".SP".




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Turbo Braille Screen 54

(26) .SP


Space: This command inserts one or more blank lines into

the braille document. It works only if not at top of page. With

no argument, one blank line is inserted. Usage:

.SP

.SP n

where "n" is the number of blank lines to insert. See also

".SK".




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Turbo Braille Screen 55

(27) .TC


Table Of Contents: (reserved).


(28) .TI


Temporary Indent: The next line is indented to the

position, or by the number of positions, given in the argument.

No lasting effect on indentation occurs. This command permits

"hanging indents" or "undents" to be made, by first establishing

a permanent indentation of several positions, and then


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Turbo Braille Screen 56

temporarily indenting the next line fewer positions. Usage:

.TI n

.TI +n

.TI -n

where "n" is the number of positions to indent the next line

only, and "+n" or "-n" are relative to the current indentation

and are used to indent the next line only. See also ".IN",

".PO", and ".PP".





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Turbo Braille Screen 57

(29) .TL


Top Line: The top line of each braille page may be used for

text or may contain a running title. If used for text it may

contain no page number, a roman or arabic braille page number, or

a print page number at the right margin. The running title may

also specify page numbers. Usage:

.TL x,y

where "x" is 0 or 1 for text or title, and "y" is 0, 1, 2, or 3

for no number, roman braille page number, arabic braille page


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Turbo Braille Screen 58

number, or print page number. The default is ".TL 0,2" to use

the top line for text with arabic braille page numbers. See also

".BL" and ".RH".


(30) .WF


Write File: (reserved).









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Turbo Braille Screen 59

Imbedded Commands


Imbedded commands may occur on the same line as text in the

BIF file, sandwiched between words, or even imbedded within a

single word to achieve some immediate effect. Each imbedded

command begins with the backslash character "\" and includes

exactly one additional character: either a letter, a digit, or a

punctuation mark. If the additional character is also a

backslash character, then an ordinary backslash is recognized.




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Turbo Braille Screen 60

"\x", where "x" is a letter: This command inserts a string

of text which must previously have been defined in a ".SB" dot

command. The resulting string may contain still other imbedded

commands, but may not contain other substitutions.


"\0", "\1", "\2", the grade change commands: These commands

change the grade of braille in the middle of translation. If you

know that Turbo Braille incorrectly translates something, you can

fix it temporarily with these grade change commands. To prevent

"name" from appearing in "ornament" you may use one of several


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Turbo Braille Screen 61

methods. One is to surround the "n" or the "a" of "name" with

"\1" and "\2" to change to grade 1 uncontracted braille just for

that letter. Another method is to insert "\2" between "n" and

"a", or between "a" and "m". This is a request to change from

grade 2 to grade 2, which at first glance does not make sense.

It does break up the word "name" quite safely, so that Turbo

Braille cannot find it in its table of contractions.


"\:", "\.", "\-", the spring characters: These expand when

processed, inserting as many spaces, guide dots, or solid lines


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Turbo Braille Screen 62

as are required to fill a line. Guide dots use dot #5; solid

lines use dots #3 and #6. Springs may be repeated in a line as

often as needed and in any order, to achieve special formatting

effects. Do not use them in lines being centered, since

centering uses a separate and incompatible mechanism.


"\@", "\#", "\%", page number characters: These commands

let you refer to the current braille page in roman numerals (\@),

to the current braille page in arabic numerals (\#), or to the

current print page in standard textbook page number format (\%).


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Turbo Braille Screen 63

Page numbers are placed on the top line or the bottom line with

the dot commands ".TL" and ".BL", and not with these imbedded

commands. If you need to refer to the current braille or print

page anywhere else in a document, you may use these commands.

They may also be used in the strings of text of the ".SB"

command, so that when the letter substitution is made, the

correct current page number in the desired format is used.


"\!", "\_", print enhancement characters: These commands

are toggles and each must be used twice, once to turn its action


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Turbo Braille Screen 64

on, and once again to turn it off. The "\!" controls boldface,

and the "\_" controls underscore. Both boldface and underscore

are converted to italics in braille. These commands act

independently from one another, and independently from the dot

command ".IT". You may not, for example, start italics with one

command and expect to terminate it with another. The variety of

methods for italicizing reflects the fact that there are more

methods for enhancing printed text than there are for enhancing

braille text.



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