Sorcerer Software Users Newsletter Issue 0301 HAPPY NEW YEAR! Welcome to our monthly newsletter, covering the latest updates, tips and user questions about our software programs. If you have an issue or question you would like to see addressed in a future newsletter, either by me or by your fellow users, please email me and I'll include it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- January 31, 2003 CONTENTS: 1. The Abacus 2. Envelope Printer 3. For the literary minded... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Abacus http://www.TheAbacus.biz Abacus 3.0 (the MS Word add-in version): We made a few minor, mostly cosmetic, changes to Abacus over the last month. We also discovered a problem with counting headers and footers when counting gross lines in the build released in December, 2002 (build 021209). If you have this build and you count gross lines with headers or footers, you should upgrade to this new release. Otherwise upgrade is purely optional: if Abacus is working well for you and you're happy with it, there is no compelling reason to upgrade. Abacus SE (the standalone version): Different story. We have made some major changes over the last few months. Here is what we have done: 1. You can now update Abacus online with your internet connection. To do this, you first will need to download the latest release of Abacus SE from our web site. Then when you start it and click on "Help", one of the options is to do an "Internet update". Once an internet connection is established, Abacus will download the updated file from our web site. The file being downloaded is named "AutoDLL.dll", and it is stored in the Abacus folder ("c:\abacus"). 2. We have added a new counting method named "All lines". This is a gross line counting method that counts all of the lines in your document, including lines that are blank, just have a carriage return, have nothing but spaces or tabs and a carriage return, and so on. Users asked for it so we added it as an option. 3. The final big change is for users who count characters and then convert the character count to a line count. You can now report the line count to two decimal places. For example if your document contains 999 characters and you are counting 65 characters to the line, you have your choice of reporting the line count as 15 lines or as 15.37 lines. To elect this option, open the "Options" screen and check "Report two decimal places". The current version 3.0 Abacus build is 030131. If you have an earlier build of version 3.0, you may want to download and upgrade to this build. This is the Word "add-in" version. The current Abacus SE build is 030131. If you have an earlier build of Abacus SE/4.0, you may want to download and upgrade to this build. This is the freestanding version. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Envelope Printer http://www.sorcerersoftware.com/envelope.htm I received this email from an Envelope Program user who likes the program, BUT... "After reading your HELP file several times, I can't find anything about setting options (fonts, size) in the RETURN address file. Am I correct, or have I missed something? I would like to use 'italics' and a different font. Do I have any options?" First let me say this is my kind of guy. He read the HELP file. Several times! It's nice to know that the help files aren't being ignored. Unfortunately I obviously didn't include the information that this user needed. So here's the answer to his question: You can select a font face, font size, font color, and bold/italic/underline for your address. The same font characteristics will be used for the return address except the font size, which is fixed. It just never occurred to me that some users might want one font for the address and another for the return address. You can of course elect to use no return address by opening the return address screen and checking the "Don't print a return address" box. I have now heard this request several times, so maybe it's time we incorporate this suggestion into a future release. And I'll be sure and let you know when it's available. The current Envelope Printer build is 021209 of version 6.1. If you have an earlier build or version, you may want to download and upgrade to this build. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For the literary minded... After last's month's shopping tip, I thought maybe we should use this part of the newsletter to get back to IMPORTANT and SERIOUS issues. But instead, I decided to throw out there for consideration one of the small pleasures of reading: The Opening Line. I enjoy reading novels and books of non-fiction, but when I start a book I'm always anxious to see how the author starts the book. The last sentence of a book can be quite interesting, but the very first line is like unwrapping a birthday present: You know the giver wants it to be something special, and you have high hopes. Sometimes you're disappointed, but every now and then you find a real gem. And it's these little gems that I always look forward to. There is of course the standard doom-and-gloom intro, designed to appeal to your sense of adventure: "It was a dark and stormy night." And there is the generic grab-them-by-the-throat intro that many authors of paperback fiction like to use: "Detective Smith couldn't be certain, but it appeared that the victim had met with a violent death." But the true afficionado of the opening line looks for something with character, with poetry, with class. Which brings us to an example of what I consider a standard against which others should be measured: "Call me Ishmael". It's short, it's sweet, and it conveys a lot more than just 3 words. Why call him Ishmael? Is that really his name? If not, why does he need to use a pseudonym? Why start the book by telling us a character's name? So many questions... so few answers! Or this one: "I was born in the house my father built". It's nice patter. And what about the symbolism of a house? You'll never guess who authored that lilting line of prose. Or one of my all time favorites: "I learned about love from the women in my life." (OK, someone may have noticed... I cheated on that one.) So what's the point -- other than trying to sound like your 11th grade English teacher? Just for fun... when you start a new book, take a closer look at the first line. And if you think it's something special, send it to me. I collect them. And next month I'll tell you my favorite... and I'll get back to a trashier subject for this column. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That's all, folks. Look for our next newsletter in about 4 weeks... -- Bill bill@sorcerersoftware.com Sorcerer Software http://www.sorcerersoftware.com To read all the old newsletters, go to: http://www.sorcerersoftware.com/archives.htm To be removed from our mailing list, send me an email with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.