WordStar 7.0 High-Resolution Preview with Any Graphics Card

by Robert J. Sawyer


Back in January 2007, I worked out a system for getting WordStar
7.0 (and only 7.0 -- this won't work with earlier versions) to do
graphic previews of pages on any computer, and at high
resolution.  It works flawlessly for me, and I've found it so
indispensable that I now have a second monitor swiveled
permanently into portrait mode to facilitate the best-possible
preview experience.

Since figuring this out for myself, I've been trying to find the
time to convert the system from working specifically on my
particular computer setup (using JP Software's 4NT instead of the
Windows version of DOS), but I haven't found that time.

So, instead, I'm simply posting here what works for me, and leave
it as an exercise for knowledgeable users to get it working for
themselves.  I'm afraid I can't provide tech support for this,
but I do encourage others to come up with a more user-friendly
anyone-can-do-it set of instructions.

The instructions below are also available on my website:

http://sfwriter.com/wsprevu.txt

First, a sample of the quality of preview available:

http://sfwriter.com/wsprevu.pcx

Nice, eh?  Okay, here we go:

Problem:  WordStar's Advanced Page Preview only works with a
limited number of graphics cards; many modern cards don't support
it at all -- and those that do often only preview WordStar files
in VGA resolution or lower.

Solution:  Instead of using WordStar's Advanced Page Preview
function to preview pages, use WordStar's Fax function:  create
faxable .PCX files for each page in your document, and view them
in an external viewing program.

Advantages:

1. very high-resolution preview on any system

2. preview window can be kept open, even after returning to
editing (ideal for dual monitor systems, but still a great
advantage on single-monitor systems, too)

Disadvantages:

1. takes a little longer

2. previews are black and white; no font colors or color graphics

===

Setting it all up begins with these WSCHANGE settings:

Go to WSCHANGE menu C,D,A,2,G (Search Path for WordStar Files:
Search path 16) and set path to: C:\WS-PREVU

Then go to WSCHANGE menu C,D,4,I (WordStar Files Menu #4: FAX
description files), and set filename to: ????????.PCX
and set primary and secondary path to "P" ("Use path 16").

===

Setting up external graphics viewer:

For my external viewer, I use IrfanView 3.99, available for free
from:

http://www.irfanview.net/

On IrfanView's "Properties" | "Misc 1" menu, I have these options
checked:

* View all files in directory
* If the end/begin of the folder is reached, loop current folder
* Only 1 instance of IrfanView is active
* Start in full screen mode
* Warning on ESC program exit
* Fullscreen mode: Use right mouse button for scrolling

===

WordStar Macro:

To invoke Preview, I used this WordStar macro (I've left an older
system for making this work in the macro as REM comment lines,
since that system may work better for some people).  Note that
paths must be set to match what you use on your own system, and
that the target directory for the preview files -- in my case,
C:\WS-PREVU -- must be manually created by you the first time:

Sub Main
    AutoRestore(ON)
    SetHelpLevel(4)
    Insert(OFF)
    CmdTags(OFF)
    HideDots(OFF)
    ColMode(OFF)
    ColReplace(OFF)
    Key("^QI^K")
    Key("^K8")
    Key("^KF")
    Key("del C:\WS-PREVU\*.PCX^K")

    Key("^OPorSHEET{Enter}")
    Key("{Enter}")
    Key("999{Enter}")
    Key("rc")

REM    Key("^K\")            ' Old method using fax function on
REM    Key("PAGE-{Alt+3}")   ' WordStar's block and save menu
REM    Key("^K")             ' advantage: defaults to 300 dpi.
    Key("^Q8")
    Key("^K8")
    Key("^KF")
    Key("C:\F\BAT\4NTPREVU.BAT^K")
REM    Key("START C:\PROGRA~1\IRFANV~1\I_VIEW32.EXE
C:\WS-PREVU\SHEET001.PCX^K")
End Sub

===

Here's the batch file 4NTPREVU.BAT that the macro calls:

C:\G\4NT\4NT @C:\G\4NT\4NTIRFAN.INI C:\G\4NT\IRFAN\4NTEXIT.BTM
REM START C:\PROGRA~1\IRFANV~1\I_VIEW32.EXE
C:\WS-PREVU\SHEET001.PCX /C
EXIT

===

Here's the special 4NT initialization file 4NTIRFAN.INI called by
4NTPREVU.BAT:

4StartPath=C:\G\4NT\IRFAN

===

And here's 4NTEXIT.BTM, also called by the 4NTPREVU.BAT batch
file; it contains just one word and a hard carriage return:

exit

===

The results, I think, are spectacular.  I hope this is of help to
you!

All best wishes.

Rob


  ----------------
  ROBERT J. SAWYER, Science Fiction Writer

  Hugo Award winner for HOMINIDS
  Nebula Award winner for THE TERMINAL EXPERIMENT
  John W. Campbell Memorial Award winner for MINDSCAN

  http://www.sfwriter.com  *  sawyer@sfwriter.com
  ----------------

