            Changing the Default Tab Rack in WordStar

                               by

                       Edward W Greenberg

The accomplished WordStar patcher may modify the Tab Rack (Ruler 
Line) that is presented when WordStar comes up.  This procedure 
is restricted to those who are familiar with the debuggers for 
their particular system.  NO ATTEMPT IS MADE HERE TO EXPLAIN HOW 
TO OPERATE THOSE DEBUGGERS.

This procedure is described in UnderGround WordStar by "Ward 
Starr and Mel Murch" published by Hard/Soft Press, Address and 
date of publication unknown.

All numbers are in hex unless otherwise specified.  

1.   Locate the tab rack.  The tab rack is located close to the 
     top of WordStar.  In an unmodified WordStar, it is 
     recognized by the bit pattern 38, 00, 00, 01.  In WordStar 
     3.30 for CP/M-80 the base address is 3434 (Based on my own 
     observation.) In IBM-PC WordStar 3.30 and 3.31, the base 
     address is 43b9 (Per UnderGround WordStar.)

2.   Add one (1) to the base address.  This is the address of 
     column 1.  The tab rack is defined in nibbles.  Thus, the 
     byte located at BASE_ADDRESS + 1 contains tab info for 
     columns 1 and 2 (or 0 and 1 if you prefer, though we will 
     use notation based at 1) and the byte at BASE_ADDRESS + 2 
     contains info for columns 3 and 4.  

3.   Having determined which nibbles affect which columns,  
     simply patch the bytes so that the appropriate nibbles 
     contain 0 for no tab, 1 for a hard tab or 2 for a decimal 
     tab.

4.   Once this patch is complete, save WS.COM (or CMD) by 
     whatever means your debugger allows.  You may test by 
     executing the program from DEBUG, but DO NOT save the 
     executed code as it has been modified.  If you test, load a 
     fresh copy and repatch before saving.

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