Editing WordStar (section)

== Interface ==
Prior to WordStar, word processors split text entry and formatting into separate functions; the latter was often not done until a document was about to be printed.  WordStar was one of the first "[[WYSIWYG|what you see is what you get]]" word processors, showing accurate line breaks and page breaks on the computer screen. It was a major breakthrough to be able to see and modify where line breaks and page breaks would fall—even though, being a text-based program, WordStar couldn't accurately display different typefaces such as bold and italic until version 5.0.

In a default installation on a 25-line screen, the top third of the screen contained a menu of commands and a status line; the lower two-thirds of the screen displayed the text of the user's document.  A user-configurable option to set the help level released this space for user text.  The help system could be configured to display help a short time after the first key of a command sequence was entered. As users became more familiar with the command sequences, the help system could be set to provide less and less assistance until finally all on-screen menus and status information would be turned off.

The original [[computer terminal]]s and microcomputers for which WordStar was developed, many running the [[CP/M operating system]], did not have function keys or cursor control keys (arrow keys, Page Up/Page Down). WordStar used sequences of alphabetic keys combined with the "Control" key, which on keyboards of the time was conveniently next to the letter A in the position now usually occupied by the [[Caps Lock]] key. For touch typists, in addition, reaching the function and cursor keys generally requires them to take their fingers off the "home keys" with consequent loss of typing rhythm.

For example, the "diamond" of Ctrl-S/E/D/X (s=left, e=up, d=right, x=down) moved the cursors one character or line to the left, up, right, or down. Ctrl-A/F (to the outside of the "diamond") moved the cursor a full word left/right, and Ctrl-R/C (just "past" the Ctrl keys for up and down) scrolled a full page up/down. Prefacing these keystrokes with Ctrl-Q generally expanded their action, moving the cursor to the end/beginning of the line, end/beginning of the document, etc. Ctrl-G would delete the character under the cursor. [[Backspace|Ctrl-H]] would backspace and delete. Commands to enable bold or italics, printing, blocking text to copy or delete, saving or retrieving files from disk, etc. were typically a short sequence of keystrokes, such as Ctrl-P-B for bold, or Ctrl-K-S to save a file. Formatting codes would appear on screen, such as ''^B'' for bold, ''^Y'' for italics, and ''^S'' for underscoring.

Although many of these keystroke sequences were far from self-evident, they tended to lend themselves to [[mnemonic]] devices (e.g., Ctrl-'''P'''rint-'''B'''old, Ctrl-bloc'''K'''-'''S'''ave), and regular users quickly learned them through [[muscle memory]], enabling them to rapidly navigate documents by touch, rather than memorizing "Ctrl-S = cursor left."

Early versions of WordStar lacked features found in other word processors, such as the ability to automatically reformat paragraphs to fit the current margins as text was added or deleted; a command had to be issued to force reformatting. The subsequent WordStar 2000 (and later versions of WordStar for DOS) added automatic paragraph reformatting (and all versions of WordStar had commands to manually reformat a paragraph (^B) or the rest of the document (^QQ^B and, as a later synonym, ^QU)).

WordStar was rare among word processing programs in that it permitted the user to mark (highlight) a block of text (with ^KB and ^KK commands) and leave it marked in place, and then go to a different position in the document and later (even after considerable work on other things) copy the block (with ^KC) or move it to a new location (with ^KV). Many users found it much easier to manipulate blocks this way than with the Microsoft Word system of highlighting with a mouse and then being forced by Word's select-then-do approach to immediately deal with the marked block, lest any typing replace it.  The subsequent WordStar 2000 retained WordStar's distinctive functionality for block manipulation. As part of the ^K sequence of shortcuts, it offered true bookmarks (^K1 to ^K9) allowing the editor to move about in large documents with ease.

Column Mode editing was probably unique to WordStar. As a basic text editor, the interface showed all characters to be the same width - hence 80 characters across an 80 column screen resolution. By switching on column mode editing a rectangle of text spanning several characters and several lines could be selected and manipulated. This was very handy for manipulating columns of numbers and non-standard files. Once selected, the feature could also be used to calculate the total of a column of numbers and place the result at the insertion point.

Formatting with WordStar was carried out before the text to be formatted—unlike many other word processors where the formatting of a paragraph is 'buried' within the usually hidden paragraph marker at the end of the paragraph. This latter method leaves the user unclear where formatting starts. In normal editing, WordStar hides formatting markers but these are easily displayed with ^OD command. Formatting information is then displayed in the normal text area displacing the actual text. It nonetheless made it absolutely clear where formatting started and finished. Page and section formatting was handled differently by the addition of formatting lines. A formatting line was indicated by the line starting with a full stop. Some third-party WordStar books called formatting lines "dot commands". A few examples: .lh (line height) .lm (left margin) .rm (right margin) - each of which was followed by a number. The number was assumed to be points (pt) but could be easily modified to inches or mm by the addition of " or mm after the number. .lm and .rm were never equal as both values were from the left hand edge of the page. Setting .rm to 0 made text lines infinitely long. Margins could also be set either absolutely or relatively (by preceding the value with either - or +) when setting the value.

If any invalid formatting commands are encountered, when printing WordStar (version 3.3 at least) will ignore the line (all text until the next carriage return terminating the line). This could confuse novice users who unintentionally began a line with a decimal point (same as period or dot character) and WordStar would not print the line. For instance, a line reading: ".05 percent text text text..." would not appear in the printout though the document would continue on the printout without any error reported.

WordStar 2000 added few new commands, but completely rewrote the user interface, using simple English-language mnemonics (so the command to remove a word, which had been ^T in WordStar, became ^RW in WordStar 2000; the command to remove the text from the rest of the line to the right of the cursor changed from ^QY to ^RR).  However, many in WordStar's large installed user based were happy with the original WordStar interface, and did not consider the changes to be improvements.  Although WordStar 2000 was meant as the successor to WordStar, it never gained substantial market share.

The original WordStar interface left a large legacy, and many of its control-key command are still available (optionally or as the default) in other programs, such as the modern cross-platform word processing software [[TextMaker]] and many [[text editor]]s running under MS-DOS, [[Linux]], and other [[Unix|UNIX]] variants. Some [[Borland]] products, including the popular [[Turbo Pascal]] compiler, and [[Borland Sidekick]], used a subset of WordStar keyboard commands, the former  in its [[integrated development environment|IDE]] and the latter in the "Notepad" editors. The TEXT editor built into the firmware of the [[TRS-80 Model 100]] portable computer supported a subset of the WordStar cursor movement commands (in addition to its own). Home word processing software like [[Write&Set]] not only use the WordStar interface, but have been based on WordStar DOS file formats, allowing WordStar users who no longer have a copy of the application to easily open and edit their files. There are WordStar keyboard command emulators and keymappings, both freeware and shareware, for current versions of [[Microsoft Office Word|Microsoft Word]]. Popular modern word processing software WordPerfect can open or save to WordStar documents, enabling users to move back and forth.
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