Lexa 

Corpus Processing Software 

 Vol.3 

 Utility Library 

Raymond Hickey 
English Linguistics 
Essen University 

 Contents 

0.	Command typology 
1.	Lexa Control 
	1.0.	Introduction 
	1.1.	How Lexa Control works 
 
2.	Lexa Desk 
 
3.	Lexa Shell 
	3.0.	Introduction 
	3.1.	Lexa Shell and DOS 
	3.2.	Setup for Lexa Shell 
		3.2.1.	Main shell options 
		3.2.2.	User-defined shell 
		3.2.3.	Initialization files 
		3.2.4.	Loading Lexa Shell in the batch mode 
 
4.	Lexa File 
	4.1.	Introduction 
		4.1.1.	Initial screen 
		4.1.2.	Left window options 
		4.1.3.	Right window options 
		4.1.4.	Command execution via picklists 
	4.2.	General information 
	4.3.	Description of commands 
		4.3.1.	Function key settings 
		4.3.2.	Combinations of <Alt> and a letter/digit 
		4.3.3.	Miscellaneous key settings 
		4.3.4.	The appointments diary in Lexa File 
	4.4.	Mouse support in Lexa File 
	4.5.	Using Lexa File with an initialization file 
	4.6.	Starting Lexa File in the batch mode 
		4.6.1.	Remaining command line options 
	4.7.	Using Lexa File with a CD-ROM drive 

5.	Lexa FileCat 
	5.0.	Introduction 
	5.1.	Database generation 
	5.2.	Field information 
	5.3.	Database statistics 
	5.4.	View drive information 
	5.5.	Miscellaneous 
	5.6.	Using Lexa FileCat in the batch mode 
 
6.	Lexa Backup 
	6.0.	Introduction 
	6.1.	Configuration 
	6.2.	Disk options 
	6.3.	File services 
	6.4.	Function key settings 
	6.5.	Using Lexa Backup in batch mode 
 
7.	Lexa Move 

8.	Lexa Dirs 
	8.0.	Introduction 
	8.1.	Interactive mode 
		8.1.1.	Directory management 
		8.1.2.	File viewing 
	8.2.	Command line mode 
 
9.	Lexa Find 
	9.0.	Introduction 
	9.1.	Processing user input 
	9.2.	Function key settings 
	9.3.	General key settings 

10.	Lexa Scan 

11.	Lexa Print 
	11.0.	Introduction 
	11.1.	The Lexa Print desktop 
	11.2.	Editing printer switches 
		11.2.1.	Header and footer files 
		11.2.2.	The use of initialization files 
	11.3.	Disk options 
	11.4.	File services 
	11.5.	Function key settings 
	11.6.	Using Lexa Print in the batch mode 
 
12.	Lexa Sort 

13.	Lexa Chain 

14.	Lexa UnChain 

15.	Lexa List 

16.	Lexa CrLf 

17.	Lexa LineNo 

18.	Lexa Adjust 

19.	Cocoa 

20.	Lexa Byte 
	20.0.	Introduction 
	20.1.	File management facilities 
	20.2.	Split screen and display issues 
	20.3.	Switching between and loading files 
	20.4.	Navigation, searching and comparison 
	20.5.	Hex printing a file 

21.	Lexa Kill 

22.	Lexa MkASC 

23.	Lexa Strip 

24.	Lexa Mem 

25.	Lexa Expanded Memory 

26.	Alter Path 

Font module files 

0.	Introduction 
	0.1.	Printer drivers 
	0.2.	Soft fonts for printers 

1.	Lexa Keyboard 

2.	Lexa SetKey 
	2.0.	Introduction 
	2.1.	Creating a new keyboard driver 
	2.2.	Managing keyboard drivers 
	2.3.	Loading a keyboard driver 
 
3.	Lexa Perm 

4.	Lexa Load Video 
	4.1.	Hercules mode 
	4.2.	EGA mode 
	4.3.	VGA mode 

5.	Make Symbols 

Appendix A 

Appendix B 

 

 Foreword 

The programmes in this third volume of the Lexa group are those which are not primarily involved in the processing of corpus data but in the management of the latter. The set of utilities has been gathered together to form a library which is intended to fulfill common functions which users will require on the personal computer. 
	The main programme is the Lexa file manager which provides a convenient environment for the DOS operations of copying, deleting and renaming files. Global operations through the use of a directory window are easily and swiftly executed. Directories can be created, erased and renamed. Two drives can be shown at once and 43-line VGA display is possible. Sorting can be according to name, size or date and a date filter can be set. On-line help and a diary is available and DOS can be loaded. The programme can manage any type of storage medium, not just floppy and hard disks but also CD-ROM and tape drives. 
	Apart from file management the Utility Library offers two programmes which can be used as launchers for any of the programmes of the Lexa group, i.e. Lexa Control and Lexa Desk. Users should start here as in each case an easy-to-grasp interface to the other programmes is put at one’s disposal thus minimizing the effort involved in getting acquainted with the group. 
	A third and major section of the Utility Library is represented by the programmes of the Font Module. This contains utilities for the display, entry and printing of special Old and Middle English characters which will be of value to those linguists using the Helsinki corpus of diachronic English. In addition a facility is provided with which users of the corpus on a VGA-based personal computer can change the place-holders for Old and Middle English symbols into actual characters, thus rendering the task of reading the corresponding texts of the Helsinki corpus much easier. 
	Other utilities fulfill specific functions for which there may be a need when processing a corpus. An example for this is the programme Cocoa which extracts information in the headers of a set of text files and stores this in a database which can later be accessed and employed in various information retrieval tasks. 

Raymond Hickey				Munich 
						September 1992 

 

 0.	Command typology 

In order to reduce the effort required to acquaint oneself with the Lexa utility library or indeed with the Lexa set as a whole, certain keystrokes are dedicated to certain types of command. This applies to those programmes which do not start and end automatically but enter a level from where the user can carry out data processing of one kind or another via internal programme commands. Here is a brief summary of these. 

F1	Help Text(s)		Shift-F1  DOS Command 	Ctrl-F1	 DOS Call 

F2	View File		Shift-F2  Edit File		Ctrl-F2 Hexedit File 

F3	Mark all Files		Shift-F3  Unmark all Files 

F4	Log in Drive		Shift-F4  File Template		Alt-F4	Exit Programme  

F5	Load File		Shift-F5  Re-read Directory 

F6	Delete Files		Shift-F6  Confirm Delete	Ctrl-F6  Rename File 

F7	Exit Programme	Shift-F7  Exit+Change Dir.	Ctrl-F7	 Switch Colours 

F8	Disk Tree/Create Dir.	Shift-F8  Delete Directory	Ctrl-F8 Rename Dir.

F9	Show Environment				Ctrl-F9	  Run Progr. + File 

F10	Copy Files/Save File	Shift-F10 Copy (confirm.)  Ctrl-F10 Copy and Unmark 
				Alt-F10    Duplicate File 

 If a programme has integrated file management (Lexa Dirs, Lexa Find, etc.) then most of these settings hold. The setting of F5 for file loading and of F10 for file saving applies to those programmes which process as opposed to manage data (e.g. Lexa Text, Lexa Byte, etc.). 
	The combination of Alt and a (function) key is used only occasionally as the 30 possibilities of plain function key, Shift and Control is normally enough. Note that in Lexa File certain combinations of Alt and a further key are to be found, e.g. Alt-S to determine sorting order. 
	The Return key is used to accept a window option, an input prompt, or mark a file (in a listing). Pressing Esc aborts an operation you have commenced and retreats back one step in the programme. The navigation keys have the following settings: 

UpArrow, DownArrow	Move vertically in window display 
	PageUp, PageDown		Move up or down a window at a time 
	Ctrl-PageUp, -PageDown	Beginning or end of relevant list 
	Shift-UpArrow, -DownArrow	Repeatedly mark/unmark files 

 The first three settings above apply to text display, directory listings and tree structures. The fourth holds for directory listings. 
	Furthermore pressing Ctrl-Return in a directory listing leads to the programme the highlight bar is resting on being executed, assuming that it is a startup file (with the extension .com, .exe or .bat). 
	In any listing, directory or tree structure (see Lexa File, for example), typing normal alphabet letters leads to the highlighting jumping to the next alphabetical find on a letter by letter basis (so-called letter search). 

 

 

 1.	Lexa Control 

 Syntax:  lc 

 1.0.	Introduction 

 As the Lexa package contains a large number of programmes it would seem sensible to facilitate the handling of such files by means of a control shell from which one can call any of the programmes. You simply move the highlight bar in the list on the left of the screen to the programme you want. A brief summary is echoed in the window on the right of the screen and the name of the programme appears on the command line at the bottom of the screen. You may now enter the switches which the particular programme can have; press Return to terminate the entry and execute the command line. The latter can be edited with the commands of the User Input Editor and can be used for any DOS command (not just for calling the programmes contained in the two picklists). 

 Online help is available as usual by pressing F1. 

 Ctrl-F1 leads to a DOS call which you can leave (to return to Lexa Control) by typing exit at the DOS prompt. 

 F9 provides information on the system environment in which you are operating. 

 F10  Here a window opens in the centre of the screen and you are offered general information on Lexa. For this option to work the file lexainfo.txt must be accessible to Lexa Control. 

 1.1.	How Lexa Control works 

 It is important for users to understand something of the manner in which Lexa Control operates to ensure that it runs correctly. 
	To begin with note that the programme is not called directly by the user. Instead you enter lc from the DOS level and the programme lcontrol.exe starts. This is possible as the file lc.bat is a batch file which in turn contains a call to lcontrol.exe. The advantage of this somewhat roundabout way of loading Lexa Control is that each time you call a programme from within Lexa Control the programme actually terminates releasing all system memory, leaving this at the disposal of the programme which is called. Once the latter is terminated, however, a return to Lexa Control is made and you can start another programme and so on until you exit Lexa Control with the F7 key. The net effect of this is that you remain in Lexa Control no matter what programmes you load from within it. 
	All that the user must bear in mind is that both lc.bat and lcontrol.exe be in directories which are continuously accessible via the DOS path variable. 
	The batch file lc.bat can itself be called from another batch file. For instance you could include it as the last line in the startup file AUTOEXEC.BAT which would mean that when you start your computer, Lexa Control is automatically loaded. 
	Note Shelling down to DOS via Ctrl-F1 does not lead to Lexa Control being unloaded. 

 

 2.	Lexa Desk 

 Syntax:  ldesk 

 The current utility has been designed to offer users a launching pad from which they can load any of the programmes of the Lexa set. At the beginning there will be an obvious need for Lexa Desk as one can use it without knowing how to call each of the programmes which are activated by it. Indeed there is no reason why one should not always use it as it occupies little memory and in no way hinders the operation of any programme loaded. 
	The level at which you enter Lexa Desk is itself known as a desktop and is similar to the screen offered by the main programme Lexa (see Vol.1). From here all the operations of the programme can be carried out. Once an operation is completed you are normally returned to this level and proceed with some other option or return to DOS by pressing Alt-F4 or F7. The key settings on the desktop conform largely to the IBM SAA specification (system application architecture): each set of options can be activated by moving the mouse cursor to the text of the option and clicking the left button or by pressing the Alt key and the highlighted letter of the option simultaneously. The same holds for the options within a set. The right mouse button and the Escape key both serve to cancel any initiated operation or to hide a window or menu just opened. The symbol ‘
’ in the top left-hand corner can be used to terminate Lexa via the mouse (clicking this is functionally equivalent to pressing Alt-F4). 

 The menus of Lexa Desk are arranged according to the main functional groups of the Lexa set. Some of the programmes referred to by a menu option can be called directly; in this case pressing Return when the light bar is resting on the option leads to the programme being executed immediately. For other programmes DOS command line parameters are required. Where this is the case a window opens in the lower half of the screen and the user is prompted to enter suitable information for the execution of the programme associated with the appropriate option as can be gleaned from the following screen print-out. 

 In addition to the options offered in the picklist system, the Lexa desktop has a number of function key settings which are listed in the bottom right-hand corner. 

 

 3.	Lexa Shell 

 Syntax:	1)	lshell /u 
		2)	lshell setup_file 

 3.0.	Introduction 

 The idea behind Lexa Shell is to offer an alternative DOS interface from which you can (i) run Lexa and its utilities, (ii) run any of a series of programmes which you have yourself specified in the set-up menu or (iii) execute any DOS command or programme. 
	After Lexa Shell starts and the screen has been presented, you may move the highlight bar to an option and press the Ctrl-Return key combination to activate it (alternatively you may click the left mouse button when the cursor is positioned on the option) or you may type anything and press Return and see what happens. 

 The way Lexa Shell works is as follows: it keeps a watch for either Ctrl-Return/LeftButton (mouse) or Return. With the former it attempts to execute the command associated with the option on which the highlight bar is presently resting. With the latter it passes any alphabetic input which might be pending processing on to the operating system; if there is none (in which case there would be nothing after the DOS command prompt at the bottom of the screen) then nothing is undertaken by the internal command dispatcher of Lexa Shell. Furthermore if the key you press is one of the function keys which are set in Lexa Shell then the associated function is activated, e.g. viewing the help screen. 
	Say you now you enter dir /p and press Return then you obtain a directory listing with a pause if it is too long. When completed you are prompted in the last line of the screen to press any key to return to Lexa Shell. If you had entered, say, abc and there was no such executable file in either the current directory or the directories specified in the DOS path variable of your environment, then the message bad file or command name would have appeared just as it does at the familiar DOS prompt. 
	If you choose a window option, then depending on the programme associated with this you may be prompted on the command line at the bottom of the screen to supply information necessary for the running of the programme, i.e. command line parameters. When editing the command line you can use the keystrokes of the User Input Editor (see Appendix B). The maximum length of a command entry is 60 letters; this consists of programme name, switches and file specification where necessary. You can check on environment information for Lexa Shell by pressing F9. 

 3.1.	Lexa Shell and DOS 

 Lexa Shell is a genuine shell, i.e. it replaces DOS when loaded and takes over the user interface of the operating system. If you wish you may re-load DOS by pressing Ctrl-F1 at any point; the screen changes to present you with the familiar DOS prompt. By typing exit you leave DOS and re-enter the shell. The amount of memory used by Lexa Shell (one 64K segment) is not a consideration on a machine running with 640 KB of system memory. If loaded in the batch mode then Lexa Shell uses no memory (see remarks below). 

 3.2.	Setup for Lexa Shell 

 In order to provide some flexibility in the options available to the user within Lexa Shell, a setup procedure has been included which allows the user to determine what prompt is to appear in the picklist windows and what command is to be associated with it. You can use the setup to determine (i) the first two options of the main shell screen, (ii) all the options for the user-defined shell. 

 3.2.1.	Main shell options 

 The first two options of the main screen can be activated by moving the highlight bar and pressing Ctrl-Return. The text which is displayed at the relevant positions in the window picklists and the programme names associated with them internally in Lexa Shell can be determined as follows by the user. 

 Edit Setup for Lexa Shell 

 After choosing this option move the highlight bar to either the first or second option and press Return. You are prompted to enter the text for the prompt of the main shell screen which you chose with the highlight bar. Conclude this entry by pressing Return. You are now asked for the name of the programme you wish to associate with this prompt. Be careful here: only enter the letters of a programme’s name which are before the dot, i.e. under no circumstances should you enter the extension. For instance to associate Lexa Sort with the second prompt you should enter lsort at the present input prompt and not lsort.exe! 
	Finally you are asked whether you wish to enter command line parameters before loading this programme. If you answer in the negative, the particular programme is loaded immediately on pressing Ctrl-Return. 

 DOS Services 

 The idea behind this particular option is to offer users a windowful of DOS functions which they are likely to need when in the shell (this function is identical to that available in Lexa File). On pressing Ctrl-Return a window opens with a series of options. Most of these lead to a further window from which one can specify a drive. At any stage in this series of options you can hide the window and cancel any initiated operation by pressing Escape. Bear in mind that none of the options can be executed if the user chooses the presently logged in drive. 
	Note The key combination Alt-F1 also activates the current set of services. 

 3.2.2.	User-defined shell 

 If you choose the third option in the Edit Setup Menu then the screen changes. A shell is displayed with two empty windows in which you can, however, move a small arrowhead. 

 Move the arrow to the position where you would like the text of the option you are now specifying to appear (use the UpArrow, DownArrow keys to move the arrowhead; press Del to remove a setting) and press Return. You are prompted to enter the text which is to be displayed at the position in the picklist you are presently located at. 
	Enter this and press Return; the cursor remains on the input line and you are prompted to enter the command which is to be associated with the text of the current option. The command should be entered just as a normal DOS command line. It may consist of the letters of a DOS command, programme name or batch file (all without the extension, of course!). 
	You are then asked whether you wish Lexa Shell to pause before executing the programme to allow you to enter a command line parameter (e.g. the name of a file which the programme is to process after loading itself). You toggle the prompt at this point with the SpaceBar and press Return to continue. 

 After pressing Return once more the screen text and the command line are stored and you are asked if you wish to enter more options. If you press ‘y’ then you go through the same procedure once more, any other key returns you to the desktop. The changes made to the user-defined shell are written to disk when you exit Lexa Shell. 

 File access directory 

 The fourth option of the Edit Setup Menu is of interest if you wish to use a different directory within Lexa Shell from that you are currently in. Say Lexa Shell resides in a directory my_progs, you load it from the root directory (via the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, for instance) and you wish to access files in yet another directory when working with Lexa Shell, say one called my_files. Choose this option and enter my_files as the file access directory. What this means is that whenever you are in Lexa Shell the current directory will be my_files. If you load DOS you land in this directory; if you carry out a command, this directory is searched first of all. If loading a file from within Lexa Shell then if this is present in the directory my_files you do not need to specify a path before a file name as my_files is the present current directory. You can check on the current file access directory and the original directory from which you started Lexa Shell by pressing F9 (Show Environment). The first two items of the environment window show the current access and the original file directories. You can change the current directory via the Edit Setup Menu during a working session with Lexa Shell as often as you like. 

 3.2.3.	Initialization files 

 The information which Lexa Shell requires to be able to fill both the first two options of the main menu and the user-defined shell are normally stored in a file called lshell.ini. Lexa Shell must be able to access the setup file or else it will leave the user-definable options empty. 
	You will have noticed that the call syntax for Lexa Shell allows for two variants. On the one hand one can call it with the switch /u. This will cause the user-defined shell to be entered immediately (from here you can return to the main shell if you wish via the last option of this level). 
	On the other hand you can enter the name of a setup file other than lshell .ini if you wish. This is then automatically loaded and the first two options of the main shell and the entire user-defined shell receive their information by reading the initialization file specified on the command line. 
	Via the fifth option in the Edit Setup Menu you can copy the current setup from its initial name (lshell.ini) to some other one which you specify. By these means you can create as many initialization files as you like. All you have to bear in mind is that if you want any other than lshell.ini then this must be entered on the command line when calling Lexa Shell. 
	If you specify an initialization file of your own then the user-defined shell is opened immediately on loading. 
	With the last option in the Edit Setup Menu you can check on where the currently used setup file is actually located. This does not have to be the current directory as Lexa Shell searches all directories in the DOS path for an appropriate initialization file. 
	Note On the Lexa distribution diskettes there is an initialization file for Lexa Shell, lshell.ini. It contains settings for the first two main shell options, i.e. load Lexa Browse and Lexa Control respectively. These will obviously only be executable if you have access to these Lexa utilities. The same applies to those options of the user-defined shell which have settings. 

 3.2.4.	Loading Lexa Shell in the batch mode 

 The Lexa distribution diskettes contain a small batch file called ls.bat. The purpose of this is to call Lexa Shell in the batch mode. By this is meant that each time you execute a window option (but not a DOS command from within Lexa Shell!) the entire system memory occupied by Lexa Shell is released and the programme associated with the window option is loaded. Thus you can start large programmes, such as word processors, from within Lexa Shell without having to worry about whether there is enough free memory for them to run or not. 
	Note The batch file ls.bat should be kept, for convenience purposes, in the same directory as Lexa Shell itself. 

 

 4.	Lexa File 

 Syntax:	1)	lf [drive_spec]		2)	lf [/i(-ini_file)] 
		3)	lf /s				4)	lf /t 
		5)	lf /b				6)	lf /e 

 4.1.	Introduction 

 It is apparent to any user of a PC that one needs a special programme for managing one’s files comfortably and efficiently. Such programmes run under the name of file managers and are available in various guises. The essence of a file manager is a sorted directory listing in which the user can mark files he/she wishes to copy, delete, rename, etc. Good file managers furthermore allow you to move in a graphical representation of your hard disk (as a tree structure) to enable you to change directories swiftly and easily. Additional features such as file viewing, text editing and loading DOS may also be present. 
	The present programme is intended as just such a file manager. Lexa File offers the user an environment for carrying out a large number of DOS commands in an easy-to-realize and visually evident manner. With this file manager you can forget about DOS commands like copy, del, ren as these are all executed by Lexa File for you with a minimum of effort on your part. Additionally it offers a host of features which are not present in DOS at all (such as renaming or grafting directories, placing date filters on directory listings, viewing two listings parallel to each other, comparing two directories for differences, etc.). 
	Lexa File is called simply or with an optional drive name if one wishes to log in another drive than the present one i.e. you either enter lf or lf a: (to log in drive A:). On so doing a screen like that below is displayed. 

 4.1.1.	Initial screen 

 There are two windows here, a tree structure and a directory listing window. One of these is always active. When the programme first starts it is the directory tree window. This is to be recognized by the inverse video display of the top line of the screen on the left (unfortunately not represented in the print-out above). To move over to the directory listing window, use the Tab key (or click the left mouse button with the cursor placed in the right window). The listing which is displayed to begin with is that of the current directory or that of the current directory of the drive which is logged in as a result of a drive specification on the command line. 

 At this stage you either use the arrows keys to move in the tree structure to reach a different directory (the display scrolls beyond the end of the screen if the entire disk structure takes up more than one screen) or you press Tab to switch to the directory listing window and begin marking files for some operation. There will be a highlight bar on the first file in the directory window which can then be moved by pressing either the DownArrow, PageDown or Ctrl-PageDown key. 
	Should there be no files in the current directory, the message No file(s) match template! will appear instead. If by accident you have logged in the wrong drive, you can change the active drive by pressing F4. Bear in mind than the range and type of commands at your disposal in Lexa File depends on what window is active, for example you cannot specify new file attributes from the tree structure window so press Tab to move to the directory listing window on the right to do so. If you suspect that a command is not working, check the display of the top line of the screen! In the following description all commands are specified as applying to the tree structure window or the directory listing window or to both (global command). 
	The options available for the left and right windows are different. The basic situation and that which obtains at the outset is one where the left window shows the tree structure of the current drive (or the logged in drive if you specified a drive as start parameter for Lexa File) and the right window shows a listing of the files in the current directory. To begin with the left window is active. This means that you can scroll vertically in the left window (and carry out the commands which apply to this window) or by pressing the Tab move over to the directory listing window. Here you can also move vertically. You can move to another directory in one of two ways in Lexa File: 

	1)	Move the highlighting to a directory in the tree structure window 
		and press Return 
	2)	Move the highlight bar to an item containing Parent Directory 
		or Subdir.:... and press Return 

 These are the two simplest means of moving from directory to directory in Lexa File. Consider now the set of options available for each window. This can be found out by pressing Alt-L in the left window (or Alt-R in the right window) which leads to the following picklist appearing in the top left-hand corner: 

 4.1.2.	Left window options 

 The first option Tree structure is the default one. The second option will display a directory listing on the left as on the right. When you choose this you are first requested to enter a drive which Lexa File is to log in. The reason for this is that you may want to look at a set of directories on a different drive from that used for the right window. Of course you may enter the same drive whose directories are shown on the right: you simply have the chance to determine this yourself when you choose Dir. Listing. 
	For each directory listing there is a sorting order which holds. By default files are sorted by their name (this is what the layman understands by a sorted listing to start with). In Lexa File you have three other options, namely (i) by file extension, i.e. going on the letters (up to three) after the dot in the whole file name, (ii) by file size and (iii) by file date. With the latter option the files are sorted and displayed in chronologically ascending order. 

 The order which you choose can be different for the left and the right windows. Specifying a certain sorting order on the left hand side is only effective if you are viewing a directory listing. Note that a sorting order remains at the value you give it until you change it again. Say you change the sorting order to file size, continue to view a tree structure on the left but at some later stage change to a directory listing then the latter will be according to size. 
	Once you have chosen a directory listing for the left you can move around it as you wish. The same navigation keys hold as for the right and you can change directories by moving to a line with either Parent Directory or Subdir.:... on it and pressing Return. 
	Notes You can hide this option menu (i.e. cancel it) by pressing Escape. There is a corresponding window option menu for the right-hand side of the screen which can be activated by pressing Alt-R. Note of course that the right window must be active (check the bordering and the inverse video display of the top line of the screen!). On pressing Alt-R a window opens which can be seen from the next screen print-out. 

 4.1.3.	Right window options 

 You recognize immediately here that you have the basic choice between a directory listing (the default option on this side) and a tree structure with the four sorting orders and the direction of sorting, which you already know from the left window options menu, also listed. 

 When you first choose the right window options menu the option you will be looking for is probably Tree structure as a directory window will be shown anyway. The purpose of a tree structure on the right is somewhat different from that on the left. It is used for the purpose of viewing a tree only. You are prompted to enter the letter of a drive whose tree you wish to view. The left half of the screen changes and the structure of the drive just entered is displayed. 
	You may move up and down in this tree with the usual navigation keys and use letter search for quick location. When you have finished viewing the tree you should press Escape (as prompted in the bottom line of the right window). You are now returned to the directory listing from which you started by pressing Alt-R. It is not possible to use the right tree structure to generate directory listings from as it is with the tree on the left. Should you wish to log in a new drive to then view directories on then simply do so from the left window. 

 A tree structure on the right is also used for the purpose of Copying via tree as discussed below. You can hide the window options menu (and cancel it) by pressing Escape. 

 4.1.4.	Command execution via picklists 

 There are two basic means of activating commands within Lexa File. The first is that which has been discussed so far: the user presses a function key or combination of keys to start a command. The advantage of this method is one of speed, the disadvantage should be equally obvious: it is necessary to learn a large number of key combinations by heart. What the beginner needs is a means of activating commands without knowing what keys are required. The solution to this dilemma is provided by a set of inbuilt picklists which are activated by a single keystroke. The user does not even have to remember what this is as it is continually prompted on the bottom of the screen in the currently active window. Indeed any of a series of keystrokes will do here. Picklist activation keystrokes: Shift-Tab, Alt-Return, Delete. 
	Any of these keystrokes will do. Once pressed a menu will appear on the top of the screen; this is one of eleven which can be selected by using the LeftArrow and RightArrow keys. To move within a window use the UpArrow or Down Arrow keys (or Page Up, Page Down for the beginning or end of a list. 
	Each window contains the text of a command and before this the key combination which has the same effect. With time, you will not need the picklists any more as you will remember the necessary key strokes for a command offhand. 

 

 4.2.	General information 

 You will have noticed from the main screen in Lexa File that a number of items of information are offered in the bottom and top rows of each window. 

 Tree structure window The first of these is the name of the currently logged in drive and the total number of directories on the drive (top row of a tree structure display). 
	The second is the full path for the directory the highlight bar is resting on in the tree structure (bottom row of a tree structure display). When you use the arrow keys to move in the directory tree only the rightmost directory is highlighted. However, this can very well be a sub- (or sub-sub-) directory, check on the bottom row of the window for the full name of a directory. Before the directory from which you started an asterisk will blink when the former is shown on the full path line at the bottom of the tree structure window. 

 Directory listing window The first item of information is the full path of the current directory and is shown in bright lettering on the top of the window. Take note of this; it can be different from the currently highlighted directory in the tree structure window on the left if you have shifted to another directory on the current drive by moving the highlight bar to an entry Parent Directory or Subdir.:... and pressing Return. 
	The second item of information here concerns the size and number of files in the current directory listing. Here you can check on how many files you have and their size (if you want to copy them to a disk, for example) and also the number of the file the highlight bar is presently resting on vis à vis the total number of files in the current directory. 
	The third and fourth items of information are related to the second: they display the number of files presently marked and their total size (initially both values will of course be 0). Again useful if you wish to check on whether the files you intend to copy will fit onto a diskette. Note that marked files are displayed in bright lettering and have an asterisk placed after them to the right. 
	The directory listing is sorted (according to name or to a sorting order which you have chosen via a window options menu) and shows all items of information which are also supplied by DOS when using the directory command (file name, size, date and time). 
	The array for a directory listing and that for a tree structure can hold up to 360 entries. Memory for this purpose is allocated dynamically so that for smaller listings less system memory is used. 

 

 4.3.	Description of commands 

 4.3.1.	Function key settings 

F1  On-line help.  The help system for Lexa File consists of a data file and an index file which belongs to this, lf.hlp and lf.ind respectively. Both files must be accessible to Lexa File (it expects to find them in its home directory). If this is not the case then an appropriate error message is issued. 
	A set of 30 texts are available as help. To begin with you must choose which of these you wish to view; a window with a picklist appears and you can move a highlight bar to the item you want and then press Return. 

 After reading a text you press a key and you are returned to the picklist from where you may choose a further text or exit the help system via Escape. 
	Shift-F1, Ins  DOS Command  Here you are presented with an input line within a popup window and can enter anything you like. Lexa File then tries to load your entry externally by passing it on to DOS so that for the successful execution of this command you must have entered (i) a DOS command or the name of an external startup file which is either in the current directory or accessible via the DOS path variable. 
	Note This DOS command option attains special significance when Lexa File is started in the batch mode, see below. 

 Ctrl-F1  DOS Call.  With this command DOS is loaded temporarily and you can carry out any commands as if you were in DOS normally with the restriction that some of your system memory is now taken up by Lexa File which is in the background. If you load a further programme when you enter DOS avoid making another DOS call from within this programme as this may lead to difficulties. When finished working in DOS, type exit to return to Lexa File. The screen is restored just as you left it. Importantly any marking of files which you undertook before loading DOS is still there. 

 Alt-F1  DOS Services The idea here is to offer users a windowful of DOS functions which they are likely to need during a session with any file manager. 

 On pressing Alt-F1 a window opens with a series of options. Most of these lead to a further window from which one can specify a drive. At any stage in this series of options you can hide the window and cancel any commenced operation by pressing Escape. None of the options can be executed if the user chooses the presently logged in drive (by mistake presumably). Note These options call DOS to carry out their respective functions. Before each starts you see the normal prompt associated with the particular DOS command. By pressing Ctrl-C you can abort any command even at this late stage and, by pressing any further key, return to Lexa File. 

 F2  View file.  Before copying or deleting a file it is frequently expedient to view the file to confirm that the contents match the name. You can do this by moving the highlight bar to the file in question and pressing F2. Be sure that the utility Lexa View is accessible or else nothing will happen. F7 exits Lexa View and the screen of Lexa File is restored as it was. Note You may also use the internal file viewer in Lexa File by simply pressing the SpaceBar (or alternatively Alt-V). 

 Shift-F2  Edit file This allows you to edit the file the highlight bar is resting on. By default Lexa File calls Lexa Text for this purpose. An automatic return to Lexa File is made. 

 Ctrl-F2  Hexedit file.  Here you can hexedit the file the highlight bar is resting on; Lexa File calls Lexa Hex with the name of the current file. This will work with any type of file; an automatic return to Lexa File is made. 

 Alt-F2  Appointments diary This activates the internal appointments diary in Lexa File, for a detailed description of this, see below. 

 F3  Mark all files in directory listing.  To avoid the chore of marking each file separately in a window when one wishes to mark all, you can simply press F3 and all are marked. The marking is achieved optically by high video (bright lettering) on monochrome systems and a different colour to the base on colour systems. An asterisk is placed after each file which is marked. 

 Shift-F3  Unmark all files.  Removes any marking of files which may have previously been made. Useful when clearing marking before another copy or delete operation. Note that if you leave a directory and change to another (by pressing Tab and moving in the tree structure or by pressing Return when the highlight bar is resting on a directory entry in the directory listing) and then return to the original directory, the marking will not present any more. Bear this in mind if you have gone to the trouble of marking several files from a large set and wish to use the marking a second time. 
	For further means of marking files see comments on the use of Alt-M below. 

 Ctrl-F3  Set date filter A date filter is very simply a device for only showing the files in a directory which were archived (i) before, (ii) after a certain date or (iii) on the system date (i.e. today). When you activate this option you must first convey to Lexa File what type of filter you wish by choosing from the options in the relevant picklist. 

 Then you must enter a date which is to act as a pivot for the filter. The input prompt indicates the manner in which the date is to be entered. Lexa File parses your input to check that it is a valid date. European users of Lexa File should bear in mind that the date filter requires that you enter the month before the day; note also that you enter the year as a two-digit figure, e.g. 06/01/88 for June 1 1988, 01/20/90 for January 20 1990, etc. 
	The directory listing display is refreshed to take account of the filter just set. It is sensible for a date filter to be combined with a date sorting order (use one of the window option menus for this, activated via Alt-L or Alt-R). 

 Alt-F3  Remove date filter  Simply removes the currently active filter and refreshes the directory listing display to show all files once more, file template permitting. 

 F4  Log in new drive.  This is the standard means of accessing a new drive. 

 The first time this particular function in Lexa File is called the (logical) drives of the system are read (after this Lexa File knows what drives are present). You are prompted to choose one of the drives now listed (via the arrow keys). If you are working on a network then the drives of this are listed as well. 
	Note You can log either diskette drive A: or B: into the left window with a single keystroke, i.e. Ctrl-A, -B. To re-display the tree on the left (for the drive on the right) simply press BackSpace. 

 Shift-F4  Specify file template.  There are times when one does not want to view all files from a directory but only those which match a certain file template. You can specify this with the present command which carries a default entry of *.* which you then edit to produce the directory mask you desire. The directory is displayed afresh. 

 Ctrl-F4  File attributes On first pressing Ctrl-F4 you will have noticed that the items of information shown for each file are those one would expect from Lexa File but with the attribute also indicated (in the rightmost four columns of the directory listing). 

 Every file has an attribute which is an additional specification of whether the file is (i) a system file, (ii) a read-only file, (iii) a hidden file, and (iv) an archive file. For all intents and purposes, the fourth aspect of a file is irrelevant. The first aspect, system or non-system file, is important to DOS, however, it is a feature which should never be altered by a user. There remain two attributes which are of interest to the normal user, (i) hidden or non-hidden file, and (ii) read-only or non-read-only file. Normally when one creates a file, e.g. a text file with a word processor, then this file is non-hidden, i.e. it appears in a normal directory listing with the DOS dir command. Furthermore the file is not a read-only file, i.e. one can load the file, change it and write the changes back to disk. 
	In the directory listing you will have noticed that there are four places in the rightmost column which can be variously filled. The maximum is four and the minimum zero, a dot indicates that the particular attribute does not apply to the file in question. The key to the file attribute specification is as follows. 

	r    =    read-only	h   =   hidden 
	s    =    system		a   =   archive 

 Practically the only files which exhibit a positive value for all four features are the hidden files of the operating system. For the normal user, the first two features are of interest. By choosing the relevant option in the attribute window above one can declare a file as read-only, to avoid its contents being inadvertently altered, and / or hidden to suppress its display on the DOS level. One could also remove either or both of these features. Note that a hidden file is really only hidden for DOS. File managers display all files in directory listings irrespective of whether the hidden attribute is set or not so that if you set hidden to ‘on’ to prevent a file from being seen by another user, then this is not going to succeed if the latter is using some system utilities like those of the present set. Note The attribute setting which you choose applies to all the files marked in the current directory listing. 

 F5  Compare directories  Assuming that you have a directory listing in the left window of the screen you can now compare the two directories. Lexa File now marks all the files in the right window which are not in the left window. 
	A practical application of this would be the following: You want to backup the contents of a particular directory on a hard disk to diskette but already have several files from this directory on the diskette. Move to the left window, choose Dir. Listing in the window options menu (press Alt-L to open!) and log in drive A: You now have a directory listing of your diskette in the left window and one of the directory on the hard disk you wish to backup on the right. Press F5 and those files which are in the hard disk directory (right window) but not on the diskette (left window) are marked. All you have to do is to press F10 for Copy files and the additional files on the hard disk are copied to the diskette in A: (assuming of course that there is enough space for them on the diskette). Note. Lexa File compares the entire entry for a file so that if the size, date or time of an entry is different (even though the names are the same) in the target directory from that in the source directory then the file will be marked in the latter. 
	When you have two directory listings on screen and press F10 to copy then the full path of the opposite listing is automatically offered as target in the user input line. 

 Shift-F5, Escape  Re-read directory. This simply forces Lexa File to re-read the current directory. This might be useful if, for instance, you rename a file or files in the directory listing and would like to have them alphabetically sorted after the rename operation. Any marking of files is lost on re-reading a directory. 

 Ctrl-F5  Disk statistics The present option offers one an overview of the files on the current disk. It counts the number of files and totals their size. Note that if a particular file template is currently active (other than the default *.*) then only the files matching this are reported on. 

 Alt-F5  Save directory listing to disk. Assuming that you are in a window containing a directory listing, you can save this listing to a disk file by pressing Alt-F5. You are prompted to enter a name for the file to be generated (as a default name, Lexa File suggests dir.lst). Edit the input line as usual and terminate with Return. If a file with the name you specify already exists in the current directory you are prompted to confirm overwriting it; pressing any other key than y causes the  procedure to be aborted. This feature is dependent on the sorting order currently chosen and so can be used to save less usually arranged listings, such as those sorted by date. 

 F6  Delete files. There are a variety of commands which apply to marked files. Deleting is one of them. A single file or a group may be erased at once. 

 You must confirm the deletion operation explicitly by pressing the y key. Any other key cancels the command. Furthermore hitting any key will cause the immediate cancellation of the delete operation. You simply cannot be too cautious when deleting files. 

 Shift-F6  Confirm file deletion There are occasions when the global confirmation of the intention to delete (as with F6) is just not enough). You want to confirm deleting each file as you go through the list of marked files. This is possible with the present key combination. If you do not press the y key then Lexa File will skip this file in the list of marked files and precede to the next until the list is exhausted. 

 Ctrl-F6  Rename file. For this you move the highlight bar to the file in the directory listing window you wish to rename. You are prompted to enter a new name. Assuming that the rename operation is permitted (e.g. you are not trying to rename a system file) the file is renamed on disk and the entry in the directory is changed. Note that the directory is not automatically re-read. To have the renamed file relocated at its alphabetical position in the present listing you must force a directory re-read via Shift-F5 or Escape. 

 F7  Exit Lexa File. Returns you to DOS after confirmation of exit. To remain in Lexa File press Escape or move the highlighting to "No". 

 Shift-F7  Exit with directory change. Between starting Lexa File and your present position you may have changed directory (via a move in the directory tree window or a directory entry in a directory listing) and may now wish to change to this and unload Lexa File. Pressing Shift-F7 will leave you in the directory last highlighted in the directory tree window on the left of the screen. If the drive has been changed then you remain on the current drive. 

 Ctrl-F7  Print current file When a directory listing is active, pressing this key combination (or alternatively F8 when in a listing) will lead you to the file printer level. Here you can specify what printer parameters are to hold when printing the currently highlighted file (echoed in the first line of the new screen). The options are self-explanatory. They all refer to choice of printer and then to the layout of the printed page. 
	Users should be careful to only print ASCII text files. If you attempt to print a word-processor formatted text, the results are garbage as the formatting information of the particular text will confuse the printer entirely. 

 F8  Create a new directory. When copying files one of the most frequent wishes users have is to be able to create a new directory (into which they then copy some files). This can be achieved quite easily within Lexa File by pressing F8. Pay attention to what happens now. The current directory as determined by the position of the highlighting in the directory tree window on the left is displayed in a prompt window. Note also that the full path is displayed. The reason for this is that Lexa File assumes by default that you wish to create a new directory under the current one. If you wish to have a new directory on the first directory level (i.e. not as a subdirectory to some further directory) then move to the root directory with the Ctrl-PageUp key combination and press F8. 

 The input which Lexa File prompts (i.e. the current DOS directory) must be supplemented by the name of the new directory you wish to create. Notes When you create a new directory (or rename an existing one for that matter) it is not sorted into the tree structure alphabetically but placed at the top of the level on which is was created. To have a new directory appear at the alphabetically correct position, re-read the current drive via Alt-F8. When in a file listing, the F8 key activates the file printer (see above). 

 Shift-F8  Remove (an empty) directory.  Using this key combination leads to the current directory being displayed in a prompt window in its full form, i.e. that which is to be seen as the full path in the bottom row of the tree structure window. No user confirmation is required. If the directory is not empty or if it is not the last node on a layer then it cannot be removed and an error message appears. Note To remove a directory and its contents, press Shift-F9 (see remarks below). 

 Ctrl-F8  Rename directory  Here you can rename a directory which already exists on your hard disk. When you press this key combination the full path of the presently highlighted directory in the tree structure window is echoed to an input line and you are prompted to enter a new name. What you do now is to remove the letters of the directory’s name up to the last backslash (or just as much of it as you wish to change) with the Backspace key and enter the new name. The directory’s name is changed on the disk and in the tree structure. The new name is entered at the alphabetically correct position in the tree. 

 Alt-F8  Re-read disk. This command forces Lexa File to re-read the directories of the current disk. This step is recommended if (i) you have created, deleted or renamed directories with any programme other than one of the Lexa programme group, (ii) you wish to sort the directory tree after creating or renaming a directory from within Lexa File (recall that this is not done automatically by the programme). The very first time you install Lexa File on your system this step is taken automatically by the programme. 
	Note On starting Lexa File the programme checks to see whether the current directory is present in the disk structure file adirs.fil. If this is not the case then the directories of the current drive are re-read and the structure stored to disk. 

 F9  Environment.  Additional information on the environment you are operating in is offered on striking F9. You can check on how much diskspace you have left, what your starting and present directories are, present date and time, etc. 

 Shift-F9  Graft directory.  This is a command group so that on pressing the current key combination a window appears from which you may choose a further option. The idea behind the group is to offer users the possibility of carrying out commands which have entire directories or groups of directories as their scope. The simplest command here is the last one which informs you of the size of the current directory and all the subdirectories which may be positioned below it (i.e. a branch of the directory tree). If a particular file template (apart from the default *.*) is active then the size will be determined by the number of files which match this template. The remaining commands are all versions of other commands which in this case range over entire directories and not just the individually marked files of a single directory. The commands are divided into two groups according to scope: (i) commands affecting only a single directory, (ii) commands affecting the current directory and all other directories which lie below it. The three types of command are copy, move, delete. These are the equivalents, on the level of individual files, of the F10/Alt-T, Ctrl-T and F6 commands. 

 When you initiate either the directory copy or the directory move command you are prompted to choose a drive to graft the directory or directories onto. Then you are presented with the tree of this drive in the right window. Move the highlighting in the usual way until you have reached the point under which you wish to have the directory/directories grafted and press Return. You may of course press Escape at any point to abort the current operation. 

 Copying and moving subdirectories requires that the user convey certain items of information to the system. First of all you specify, by choosing the appropriate option, whether you wish only to copy the subdirectories under the current directory or whether you wish the latter to be copied/moved as well. 
	If you choose to copy just the subdirectories you may still force Lexa File to create the parent directory, but not copy the files contained in it. This is done by selecting the first of the two options in the menu which appears on the left of the above screen. 
	Note You may copy an entire disk to another or copy a tree branch to the root of a further disk (e.g. from hard disk to diskette) by choosing the root directory as either source or target for the grafting procedure. 

 Ctrl-F9  Call programme with highlighted file.  Obviously the supplementary programmes of the Lexa set which can be called directly from within Lexa File will not cover all the needs of users so the present option has been added. 
	Here the user determines what programme is to be loaded with the file the highlight bar in a directory listing is currently resting on passed to it. The file name is echoed below an input line in a popup window and you are prompted to enter the name of the programme you wish to have loaded. Assuming that the programme can be found it is loaded with the current file passed as command line parameter to it (the programme called must of course allow for this). When you exit the particular programme afterwards an automatic return to Lexa File is made. 

 F10  Copy files.  Having marked one or more files in the directory listing window, one can now proceed to copy them. You are prompted to enter a target (the default entry is A:\, edit this accordingly and press Return to terminate the input line. A popup window appears and the source and target of each file is echoed and a running count of the bytes copied is shown so that the user can follow the copy operation if he/she wishes. After completion the number of files marked and the number copied are listed. If there is a discrepancy between the two then this can be due to a variety of factors such as insufficient disk space on target, etc. 

 Copying/moving via tree The idea here is that instead of writing out the name of the target drive and directory on the input line you can press one of two alternative keys both of which begin with the letter "T" (for "tree"): 

	Alt-T	Copy files via tree 
	Ctrl-T 	Move files via tree 

 The first thing to happen here is that you are prompted to choose a drive as target. This can be the same as the current drive or different. Then the structure of this drive is displayed in the right window. By moving the highlighting in the normal way (Up/Down Arrow keys, [Ctrl-]PageUp/Down) you can navigate to the target directory. Now just press Return and Lexa File starts copying. 
	Virtually the only restriction on copying/moving via tree is that the source and target directories not be identical. Pressing the Escape key at any point during the copy operation causes it to be cancelled. 

 Shift-F10  Copy files with user confirmation.  Obviously there are instances where one wants to control copying tightly by requesting confirmation before overwriting files. With this option, the user must press the y key before Lexa File will overwrite a file which already exists on the target disk/directory. Any other key causes the programme to skip this file and proceed to the next. 

 Ctrl-F10  Copy files and unmark in directory listing With this variant of the copy command, the marking in the directory listing is removed if a file is successfully copied to target. The advantage of this with diskettes is obvious: you can mark as many files as you wish, when the target diskette is full, Lexa File stops copying and you can place an empty diskette in the relevant drive and continue copying the remainder of the marked files from the directory listing. 

 Alt-U  Update files on target This is another variant of the copy command. In this case only those marked files are actually copied to the target which are at least 1 minute more recent (going on the file stamp) than corresponding target files (assuming that these exist). The advantage of such an option is obvious: You can update your diskette backup of the files in a hard disk directory by marking the latter and pressing Alt-U. Here there is no danger that more recent files (on the diskette) are accidentally overwritten by older ones (from the hard disk). 

 Alt-F10  Duplicate file Frequently one wants to duplicate a particular file in the present directory rather than copying it to another directory. The present command carries out this function. Move the highlight bar to the file you wish to duplicate and press Alt-F10. You are prompted to enter a name for the duplicate. Assuming that the name you entered is not that of an already existing file in the current directory the command is executed (for safety reasons, no overwriting of files is allowed). 

 4.3.2.	Combinations of <Alt> and a letter/digit 

 Alt-2  Copy to A: and B:  An enhancement to Lexa File has been to add an option for copying the files one has marked in the directory window to two drives without the necessity of executing the copy command twice. 
	The function is simplicity itself. As usual you press F10 (or Shift-F10, but not Ctrl-F10 as this removes the marking from the files in the directory window) and edit the target for the copy operation in the normal manner. When you have done this you terminate the current use of the input editor with Alt-2 (for 2 drives) instead of with Return. The copy operation is carried out as usual but, when it is finished, instead of pressing a key to continue, Lexa File continues itself by copying the marked files onto the second disk drive. When it has done this the copy operation is concluded and you can carry on working with Lexa File as normal. 
	Note For this option to work, the target for the copy operation must always be drive A: (you can, however, specify a subdirectory on this drive, if you like). What Lexa File does is to replace the drive letter by the letter B, but only if this was A in the first place, and loop through the copy operation a second time. 

 Alt-B  File browse mode.  Normally when you move from directory to directory in the disk tree in the left window nothing happens. If you press Alt-B you turn on a switch which causes the directory display to be refreshed each time you move directory in the tree. This obviates the necessity of pressing Return each time to check on the contents of a particular directory. This switch is a toggle, pressing the key combination again turns off the browse mode. 
	Notes When the browse mode is active you see the letters "Br." enclosed in square brackets ([Br.]) at the bottom righthand corner of the tree window. Deactivating this mode removes this indication of the browse mode. 
	You can use the browse mode to find files quickly. Enter the name of the file you wish to search for via Shift-F4, then go to the top of the directory tree. Now simply press the DownArrow key and browse through each directory of the current disk. If the file you are looking for is present then it will appear on the right-hand side of the screen (Alternatively you could use Lexa Scan to search through the entire disk). 

 Alt-C  Show character set Just displays the currently active text mode character set. If a special set has been loaded then this is visible from here. 

 Alt-H  Display hardware information This key setting offers you an overview of the essential items of hardware in the system you are working on. The information is displayed in a window which opens up. None of the items are alterable. Pressing any key hides the window again. 

 Alt-L/R  Left/right options.  These keys open a small window on either the left- or righthand side of the screen and allow you to determine what is displayed and in what manner (see details in relevant sections above). 

 Alt-P  Alter programme settings If you setup Lexa File by loading it with the switch /s then you will have noticed that it is possible to specify what programmes are to be associated with the following keys: F2, Shift-F2, Ctrl-F2. In fact two programmes are connected with the F2 key, one when the currently highlighted file has the extension .dbf (in which case the file is a dBASE compatible database) and one when it has any other extension (or none). 
	With the current key combination it is possible to alter the programme settings during a work session with Lexa File. After editing a setting you may simply return to Lexa File by pressing Escape or, via F10, save the new settings to an initialization file. If none is present (i.e. you did not load Lexa File in the initialization mode via the /i[-ini_file] switch) then nothing happens and you return to the main programme level. 

 Alt-S  Sorting order Users should be careful to distinguish between what element of a file’s information (Name, Extension, Size, Date) is taken as decisive in a sort and the order in which the files are then arranged. There are two possibilities here: either (i) ascending (the default value) or (ii) descending. 
	When files are sorted by name or extension then a descending sorting order is hardly called for. However, if you sort by size and then choose the second order type, the largest files appear at the top of the directory list and the smallest at the bottom. This is the opposite of the usual situation with ascending sorting order. Should a directory listing be sorted by date then least recent files appear at the top of the list and the most recent at the bottom. To reverse this, i.e. to see the newest files at the top, you must choose a descending order. Sorting by date is imperative if you have a date filter operative at the same time. 

 Alt-D  Drive info A not infrequent wish of users is to gain an overview of the disks they have in their system. 

 To accodomate this the present option has been included. All you have to do is press Alt-D and wait for Lexa File to retrieve the necessary information (you notice this as the hard disk(s) is(are) accessed). On completion a screen something like the above should appear. Bear in mind that Lexa File counts the logical drives, i.e. partitions of hard disks, RAM disks, network drives, etc. 
	Note Under Novell a single drive for all the logical partitions in the network may be reported. The divisions should however appear as individual drives when you choose an operation which logs in drives for user choice (e.g. when you press F4). 

 Alt-F  File info With this key combination you can see in a pop-up window what file template is currently active, if a date filter is set and other useful items of information pertaining to file display. 
 
Note Users are advised to check on the above parameters via Alt-F if the directory display is not showing the files you would expect (e.g. is there a wrong sorting order or a date filter which suppresses the files you would like to see?) 

 Alt-M  Mark files A further method of marking files has been included in Lexa File. Via Alt-M you open a window which offers you the choice of marking files which either match or do not match a file template which you then specify. This method has the advantage vis à vis Shift-F4 that those files which do not match (or do match) the template you enter remain in the directory listing. 

 Alt-V, SpaceBar  View file (internal)  To view a file in Lexa File you have a number of options at your disposal. 

 You can press F2 and Lexa View is loaded with the file the highlight bar is currently positioned on. Or you could press Ctrl-F9 to load the highlighted file with a programme of your specification. However, the easiest way of all is to press the SpaceBar (or Alt-V). The screen changes and the beginning of the file is shown. Lexa File automatically recognizes WordPerfect and Microsoft Word files (and of course ASCII files) and presents them in a readable manner. You can page in the file in both directions or jump to the beginning or end of the file in question. The Tab key toggles line wrap on and off; lines longer than the screen are automatically wrapped on first entering the internal file viewer. By pressing Tab you turn off wrapping which in many cases makes for more readable text. 
	Note If you are viewing a WordPerfect file then it may take a little time to display the file (or alter the display when you are paging) as this type of file contains a lot of formatting information which Lexa File must filter out in order to offer you the text in legible form. 

 4.3.3.	Miscellaneous key settings 

 Ctrl-Enter  Execute highlighted file This command executes the programme the highlight bar is resting on. It assumes that the programme has the extension .com, .exe or .bat. 

 UpArrow, DownArrow  Moves the highlighting up and down in a tree structure or directory listing window an item at a time. 

 PageUp, PageDown  Moves the highlighting up and down in a tree structure or directory listing window a windowful at a time. 

 Ctrl-PageUp, Ctrl-PageDown  Moves the highlighting in a tree structure or directory listing window to the beginning or end respectively. Only applies if the listing is longer than a single screen, i.e. extends beyond the bottom line of the screen. 

 Shift-UpArrow, Shift-DownArrow  Repeatedly mark / unmark files. Continuously marks files in a directory listing window. If a file is already marked then the marking is removed. 

 Letter Search  Makes the highlighting in either a tree structure or a directory listing window jump to the next find for the letter just typed. 

 Notes See Appendix B User Input Editor for the commands one has at one’s disposal when responding to an input prompt from Lexa File. 
	For the full operation of Lexa File the programmes Lexa Text, Lexa View, Lexa Hex, Lexa Scan from the Lexa set must be accessible via the path variable. 

 4.3.4.	The appointments diary in Lexa File 

 The idea behind the present option is to offer users a diary for noting appointments and storing the data in a text file without the necessity of exiting from Lexa File. A data file which you create when working with the appointments diary is automatically retrieved when you choose the month and year to which it applies (more on this below). In addition the online diary offers you a perpetual calendar. 
	When the appointments diary starts it assumes that you wish to view / edit the data for the current day in the current month according to the system clock of your computer (i.e. today). The above screen appears and you can view/enter text for today (or alter it if some is already present). 
	At the beginning the date on the left and the right of the first screen line will be identical. If today is not the first day of the month then you can use PageUp to move backwards and if it is not the last of the month you may use PageDown to move forwards; Ctrl-PgUp and Ctrl-PgDn jump to the beginning and end of the current month respectively. 

 Switching month It is natural that one will wish to note appointments for a future month. To do this one must change the current month via F3. Pressing the latter key leads to a popup window from which you may choose a month. 

 The highlight automatically rests on the current month; move it as desired and press Return. The month changes, the screen is now aligned to the first day of this month. If a text belonging to this month was found by Lexa File then it is loaded and the section for the first day displayed. Otherwise you are presented with an empty screen. 

 Switching year The current year can be changed as easily as the current month. Press F4 and in the penultimate line of the screen the current year is to be seen. Using the UpArrow and DownArrow keys you may set the new year. 

 This option becomes more necessary the further on one is in any given year (i.e. in November/December you will want to note appointments for January of the following year). Any year can be chosen from 1990 to 2010. Once you have set the year, you will probably have to set the month as well as the appointments diary simply changes the year without the month. Use F3 for this purpose. 

 Appointments Diary Texts The text files generated are normal ASCII texts stored in the Lexa File home directory. Apart from the contents entered by the user, each text contains markers to indicate the division of the file contents into days. 
	Lexa File makes use of a particular template for naming files as follows: LF_ + MMM + .YY,  e.g. LF_MAR.90, LF_DEC.92, LF_SEP.01 
	When first activated the programme searches its home directory for a file name which corresponds to the current month encoded in the above form. If found this is loaded. Equally if you change month and/or year a file search is made and if successful the text is loaded. The name of the file for the current month is echoed in the penultimate line of the screen. 
	To edit the text for any particular day, press Return. You have 21 lines which you can fill with text. These are not pre-filled with times of the day, as users differ greatly in the times they use for appointments and the intervals between them. Note that there is no word wrap available here. You fill a line with as much information as you wish and then precede to the next by using the DownArrow; use the UpArrow to go back to a previous line. Otherwise the editing commands are exactly as for the User Input Editor, see Appendix B. You terminate an entry as usual with Return and abandon any changes made to the current text by pressing Escape. You are returned to the paging mode and can move to another record; press Return to edit it. One enhancement in the appointments diary which users might find handy is Line Copy which is realised with the F3 key. This functions exactly like the Line Copy command in Lexa Text (see Vol.1 for details). 
	When you change the current month/year after editing one or more days or when you wish to leave the appointments diary you are prompted to save the current text. Assuming that you answer "yes", Lexa File creates a file according to the template outlined above. This file is retrieved automatically once you use the appointments diary again with this month as current. 

 Perpetual calendar On pressing F5 the screen changes and you are presented with a calendar in the following form. The arrangement refers to the current year (to be seen in the top right of the screen). Change the current year if you wish to check on what dates are on what days in some future year. 

 Return to file management To exit from the appointments diary and return to file management press Alt-F7. If you have changed the current text you are prompted to save it. If you do not all changes will be lost! This is because Lexa File discards any diary text when you leave the appointments diary and not when you exit Lexa File itself. 

 Saving diary text to disk Apart from saving a diary text when changing month/year or when returning to the file management level, you can simply save the text at any point by pressing F10. 
	Note You have no choice of name when saving a text. The name is constructed according the template Lexa File uses and the current month and year. 

 Printing current diary text To print the text of the current day, all you need do is press F8. You move to the printer level and can print the text from here, specifying any information relevant to your printer beforehand if you wish. 

 

 4.4.	Mouse support in Lexa File 

 A Microsoft mouse (or a compatible one) can now be used with all the programmes of the Lexa group (with the exception of those which are started from the command line and end automatically). The principle behind mouse support is very simple. A cursor appears in the centre of the screen when the programme is loaded. Moving the mouse causes this block cursor to move around the screen. To activate a command with the mouse, move the block cursor to the text of a command (e.g. to [ Sh-Tab=Menus ] in the bottom line of the screen which activates the menu system) and press a button. 
	In a menu of options or in a directory listing you can move the highlight bar to a particular item by moving the cursor and clicking a button. Note in this connection that a mouse click moves the highlight bar and also carries out the option concerned. What this in practice means is that the use of the mouse has the effect of both moving the bar with an arrow key and then pressing Return. 
	In many situations the mouse buttons are differentiated. If this is the case then the following settings hold: 

 	Left Button	=	Return 
	Right Button	=	Escape 

 When a window with options is opened and you click a button when the mouse cursor is located outside of this window then the latter disappears (this is functionally equivalent to pressing the Escape key. 

 On slide bars In any window listing, be it online help, a directory list or a disk tree structure, a slide bar can be recognized on one edge of the window. At the top of the bar is an arrow pointing upwards and on the bottom another arrow pointing downwards. If you move the mouse cursor to one of these arrows and click a button the highlight bar moves in the expected direction. Furthermore holding a mouse button depressed causes the action to repeat (until you release the button again). 
	When a list scrolls in the window the dark block in the slide bar moves either upwards or downwards. This block gives a visually effective indication of where the currently highlighted item is in the list (towards the beginning or end). 
	When the left window (normally the directory display window) is active pressing the mouse causes the directory on that line to be displayed in the file window on the right. When copying by means of a tree you can choose a target directory by pressing a mouse button when the mouse cursor is on the line with the name of the desired directory. The cursor does not have to be on the text of the directory’s name. 
	In a file display the mouse buttons are differentiated: The right button marks the file the mouse cursor is on. If you are on the last file in the window (or one line beyond it) and you keep the right button pressed then any files beyond the last one are also marked and the display scrolls downwards. The opposite holds when you keep the right button pressed and you are positioned on the topmost file in the file display window (or one line above it): the file display scrolls upwards (if this is possible) and files which enter the visible display are marked. If such files are already marked then of course they are unmarked as marking in Lexa File is done on a toggle basis. 
	The left button in a file display window just moves the highlight bar to the file in the same row as the mouse cursor without marking (or unmarking) it. This is useful if you want, say, to look at a file but not mark it. Click the left button and press F2. 
	Note The command picklists can be opened by moving the mouse block to the text suggesting this at the end of the active window and pressing the left button. A command is then chosen by moving the mouse cursor to the text line of this command in the relevant picklist and pressing the left button. 

 Answering to prompts with a mouse Users should furthermore note how to respond with the mouse when requested to press a key: at any time when you are offered a choice which is to be decided upon by pressing a key you may use the mouse to achieve this. In each case a prompt line appears and after or below it the following text: [ y | n | Esc ]. Here you can move the mouse block to within the delimiters of the option you want and click the left button. Say you wish to accept an option then you do not necessarily have to position the mouse block on the letter y. It suffices to locate it between the square bracket and the broken vertical bar in which the y is enclosed. The same applies to the n and Esc responses to the prompt. 

 

 4.5.	Using Lexa File with an initialization file 

 Inkeeping with the remainder of the major Lexa programmes, Lexa File offers you the possibility of specifying information and storing this in an initialization file which can be used by Lexa File at a later stage and thus saves you the effort of setting values for certain common parameters manually. 

 To accodomate the setup option, the command line syntax of Lexa File has been expanded as follows. 

(i)	lf /s	
(ii)	lf /i 

 The first option allows you to edit the setup for Lexa File. After starting the programme in this manner you are presented with a screen like the above one. 
	It is immediately obvious that you can specify (i) what directory Lexa File is to start from, (ii) the file template to be used for the right window, (iii) the sorting order, (iv) whether a date filter is to be set (here four values are available which can be toggled with the space bar), (v) whether the browse mode is to be activated. Furthermore you can say whether (vi) Lexa File is to enter the file window on the right automatically, (vii) to mark all files which match the template and the date filter which may be active, (viii) specify whether the copy operation is only to apply to more recent files on the target drive/directory (updating) and (ix) to open the copy command automatically. If all these are set to "yes" then Lexa File will immediately start copying files to a target, e.g. a diskette in drive A:. The last option specifies whether Lexa File is to terminate itself (and return to DOS) automatically. With this possibility you can now embed a call to Lexa File in a batch file and continue with the batch after Lexa File has carried out the copying requested. 
	With such a setup it is possible to, say, archive all your text files from your word processing directory onto diskette which have been changed on a particular day (date filter set to "today"). You could also use this initialization file in a call to Lexa File from within Lexa Shell and use a text description in a user-defined menu such as "Archive today’s files" (see description of Lexa Shell for details of such operations). 
	In addition to the above you can determine what programmes are called when you press the F2 key or an F2 key combination. These are normally Lexa View, DbLook, Lexa Text and Lexa Hex for F2, F2 (if the extension of the currently highlighted file is .dbf, i.e. a dBASE compatible database), Shift-F2 or Ctrl-F2 respectively. 
	The option Release memory refers to whether, on calling a programme with a file from a directory listing within Lexa File, all the available system memory is to be released, thus allowing very large programmes to be loaded. This option will only work if Lexa File is called in the batch mode (see below). 
	Finally the name of the initialization file can be entered. The default is lfile.ini. Change the name if you wish to have more than one initialization file at your disposal. 
	A non-standard initialization file is entered on the command line immediately after the switch (with a dash between the two!) as in the following examples: 

	1)	lf /s-my_file2.ini 
	2)	lf /i-my_file2.ini 

 Note The /s switch causes Lexa File to enter the setup edit mode (that which is described above). Once you have determined the setup, however, you will not want to edit it but simply activate it. 
	Use the /i switch instead of /s and Lexa File will be initialized with the values of the setup file (either the default lfile.ini, or another if the name is entered from the command line as in the example quoted in (ii) above). Note In order for automatic copying to start a target directory must be specified. Contrariwise, erasing the entry at this point on the initialization level (i.e. setting the target directory to zero) will prevent automatic copying irrespective of how any other switches are set. 

 

 4.6.	Starting Lexa File in the batch mode 

 The normal manner to start Lexa File is to enter lf from the DOS command line. It can equally be started by entering the three letters lfb. These call a small batch file which in its turn loads Lexa File from another batch file named _lftemp.bat. The advantage of this at first sight roundabout way of getting Lexa File started is that once you are in the programme you can then load any other programme via Ins, Shift-F1 (= DOS Command) or F2, Shift-F2, Ctrl-F2 and have the entire system memory at your disposal. 
	To illustrate what type of situation this might be useful in consider the following case: you have loaded Lexa File and wish to edit a file in a directory listing. Any respectable word processor nowadays will require at least 400K of system memory to run. With Lexa File loaded that much system memory will in all probability not be available. The solution is to call your programme via Shift-F1 or one of the F2 keys. 
	The programme you want is started with all the system memory which Lexa File had used up to then being released and put at the disposal of DOS once more. Once you have done your work and exit your word processor an automatic return to Lexa File is made. 
	Of course what has just occurred is that Lexa File was unloaded, the word processor started, the file manager being automatically re-loaded without the user having to go to the trouble of specifying this. Remember here that Lexa File is indeed unloaded from system memory (although you are not informed of this) so that any marking of files is lost. 
	The technical details of how this manoeuvre works are irrelevant to its functioning; inquisitive users can look at the batch files supplied with Lexa File and figure it out for themselves. 
	Remember that you may specify at any point just what programmes are to be associated with the F2 keys via the Alt-P command (= Programme Settings). 
	There is no limit on the number of times you can call a programme and re-enter Lexa File. In fact this loop continues until you interrupt it by exiting from Lexa File with (Shift)-F7. 

 4.6.1.	Remaining command line options 

Read disk and terminate:   lf /t 
This option serves the sole purpose of starting Lexa File, having it read the structure of the current disk and then terminating automatically. It is thus a means of updating the disk tree structure file adirs.fil which is deposited in the root directory of the currently logged-in drive. This might be useful if you have created a directory (or deleted one) with another programme other than with one from the Lexa programme group and would like to update the adirs.fil to reflect this. A call to Lexa File in this form can be embedded into a DOS batch file as it terminates itself without any user input being required. 

Start Lexa File in 43-line mode:   lf /e 
If you wish to have more lines displayed on the screen you can call Lexa File with the "/e" switch which, assuming that you have an EGA/VGA video adapter in your system, will change to a 43-horizontal-line mode and so show more files and directories on the screen at any one time. When Lexa File is unloaded the original video mode is automatically restored. 

 

 4.7.	Using Lexa File with a CD-ROM drive 

 Lexa File can manage a CD-ROM drive just as any other drive. Nonetheless one or two points should be borne in mind when dealing with such drives. The first is that CD-ROM disks cannot be written to. They are so-called read-only devices. This fact is obvious but must be remembered when working on a personal computer as many items of software write information to disk during their operation even though they may not be directly involved in data processing. Any attempt to write to a CD-ROM disk will lead to an error message. 
	For the linguist working with a corpus the primary use of a CD-ROM disk is as a storage place for large quantities of data. Take as an example the ICAME Collection of English Language Corpora produced by the Norwegian Computing Centre for the Humanities. This contains all standard corpora such as the Brown Corpus, the Lancaster-Oslo-Bergen Corpus, the London-Lund Corpus, etc. They are available in different formats (for the IBM-PC, for the Apple Macintosh, for the operating system UNIX, etc.) and in both indexed and plain text file form. To access the data on such a CD-ROM you first log in the drive. Note in this connection that Lexa File only finds the CD-ROM drive if the letter by which it is addressed is placed in a continuous alphabetically ascending scale of drives, usually occupying the last letter, e.g. G: on a system with logical drives (i.e. hard disk partitions) from C: to F: If you press F4 (for drive selection) you can see that the drive has been registered by Lexa File. If you now log in the CD-ROM drive Lexa File will read its directory structure and display it on the left of the screen as with any other drive. 
	It may take some time for the structure to be read (up to half a minute, depending on your system) as many CD-ROM drives have relatively slow disk access. 
	To process any data contained on a CD-ROM drive you must first copy it to the hard disk of your computer. Ensure that there is enough free space on the latter to begin with. CD-ROM disks have a storage capacity well in access of 500 MB so that copying only a section (e.g. the text files of a corpus in the format in which you wish to process them) can easily require tens of megabytes of free space on your hard disk. Bear in mind though that you have no alternative to copying data to the hard disk of your computer. As the CD-ROM drive is a read-only device you cannot process data on it and given its relatively slow access it would not be suitable even if you could write to it. 
	Copying a section of a CD-ROM disk is most comfortably achieved by using the directory prune and graft function in Lexa File activated by pressing Shift-F9. You may then choose to copy one or more directories. Incidentally the move option will not work, or rather just function as a copy, as the directory on the CD-ROM disk cannot be deleted. It is advisable to check on the size of a directory branch (a directory and the sub-directories underneath it) before you begin copying the files. By ascertaining this value and checking on the free space of the disk for the copy operation you can ensure that the files will fit onto the target. 
	Not all of the remaining programmes of the Lexa group work with CD-ROM drives or with read-only devices in general. Those which do are basically programmes which do not involve the processing of data, in fact they carry out (virtually) no write operations on disk. These programmes can be grouped into two branches to be gleaned for the following list. 

	Disk surveyors 

	1)	Lexa File		2)	Lexa Find 
	3)	Lexa List		4)	Lexa Dirs 

	File viewers 

	1)	Lexa Browse		2)	Lexa View 
	3)	DbLook  

 

 5.	Lexa FileCat 

 Syntax:  lfilecat (ini_file) 

 5.0.	Introduction 

 The programme Lexa FileCat is a database generator with which one can create a dBASE database from disk file information. This functions as follows: after choosing the appropriate option (the first in the picklist on the desktop) the programme reads the operating system information about the files on the disk and transfers this into a database which it generates. There are five items of information which Lexa FileCat notes about each file: 

	(1)	File Name	(2)	File Size 
	(3)	File Date	(4)	File Time	(5)	Home Directory 

 The database which Lexa FileCat creates consists of six fields. For each file on the hard disk one record is used with the following structure. 

	Field Name		Field Size	Field Type 
	FILE_NAME		12 Bytes	Character 
	FILE_SIZE		9 Bytes		Numerical 
	FILE_DATE		8 Bytes		Date 
	FILE_TIME		5 Bytes		Character 
	HOME_DIR		50 Bytes	Character 
	COMMENT		10 Bytes	Memo 

 The last field is a special field for adding a textual comment which is associated with the record for a particular file. The contents of COMMENT fields are stored in a separate file with the same name as the database but with the extension .dbt (as opposed to .dbf for the actual database). 

 5.1.	Database generation 

 Before starting database generation Lexa FileCat offers the user the opportunity of specifying four items of information relevant to this procedure. 

	(1)	Default database name 
	(2)	Drive to be examined 
	(3)	Directories to be searched 
	(4)	Template for files to be recorded 

 The first item listed above is determined via the second option in the desktop menu. The default name for the database generated is diskinfo.dbf. This is what is prompted to the user on activating the Enter default name option. Change this to a name of your choice. Remember that Lexa FileCat stores the disk file database in the directory from which you start the programme. Note furthermore that the directory tree graph which Lexa FileCat also generates will have the same name as the database but with the extension .txt. The latter is a normal ASCII file which can be processed with any text editor or word processor. It will normally contain a graph of the entire disk but if you specify that the search is to be restricted to a subset of all directories then only these will appear in the tree graph file. 
	The remaining three items are specified when you choose the first option in the desktop menu. A different drive from the current one requires the entry of the drive letter by the user. The directory range can cover (i) the entire disk, (ii) those directories which lie below the current one in the directory tree (you can check on the latter with Lexa Dirs) and (iii) the current directory. If not otherwise specified all files will be recorded; should you not want this you must enter a file template as the last item of information with the present option. Before database generation begins you are asked if Lexa FileCat should proceed. Pressing any key other than the Y/y-key will cancel the entire operation. 

 Note. The values of any of the above options are retained after database generation has been completed and do not need to be re-entered by the user should a second run be desired. 
	For database generation the screen changes and you are presented with two windows. In the first the names of the directories being scanned are displayed and in the second the files found are listed briefly. Do not worry if the display is too fast for you to recognize what directories and files are recorded; it is really only intended to show you that something is happening. Everything recorded can be examined at your leisure with DbStat with which you process the output database. When database generation is completed Lexa FileCat displays some statistical information and the names of the two files it has just created. (The third file, the text file for the contents of the comment field of each database record, with the extension .dbt, is not listed here.) 

 5.2.	Field information 

 This is an option on the desktop which operates as follows: after choosing a database from a directory window in the usual manner you are presented with a window on the left of the screen with the fields of the chosen database listed. If there are more fields than fit on the screen pressing a key shows you another windowful until all fields have been displayed. 

 5.3.	Database statistics 

 With the current desktop option a screen opens on the left showing you the file size in bytes and the number of records in the database as well as the size of an individual record and the number of fields. 

 5.4.	View drive information 

 To gain a quick overview of the drives in your computer you should choose the present option. It starts by checking how many floppy drives there are and then continues by examining how many logical drives there are in the present system. Each logical drive found is reported back. Its total size and the amount of space still remaining on it is shown. Note that a logical drive does not necessarily correspond to the number of hard disks in your system. 

 Values returned on a network On a network (at least on the Novell network) the values which are achieved by the present option need to be interpreted in the light of the manner in which a network treats drives. The drives which are listed will contain a single drive from the network, the system drive, usually drive F:. Nothing above that will be listed. The total size of F: will correspond to the size of the network file server. However, the number of logical drives will be correct, i.e. include the number of logical subdivisions on the network drive. 

 5.5.	Miscellaneous 

 The remaining options of the desktop are self-explanatory. They concern the management of your hard disk and the processing of files other than databases. Note that for their operation various programmes from the Lexa group are necessary, the file processing programmes Lexa Text, Lexa Hex, and the utilities Lexa View, Lexa Scan and Lexa Dirs. 
	The last option of the initial window on the right of the screen is important if you want to access database files in a directory other than the current one. Select the option and specify the new directory. The current drive can be changed as well by specifying it at the beginning of the full path of the new directory. 

 The penultimate option in the desktop menu allows you to view a directory. This can be frequently useful if you wish to find out where a file is or if you wish to survey the files of a directory or directories. Note that here the general keystrokes are valid which apply to all Lexa programmes which have a directory window. 

 Legal keystrokes in directory window 

	F4		Log in new drive 
	Shift-F4	Enter file template 
	Return		Change directory to entry under highlight bar 
	Letter Search	Locate a file by typing first few letters 

 5.6.	Using Lexa FileCat in the batch mode 

 The first step to using Lexa FileCat in the batch mode is to save a particular configuration from the desktop. To do this enter the data necessary to generate a database. Then instead of starting (or afterwards if you like) press F10 (= Save configuration). You are prompted to enter a name for the initialization file which is now stored in the current disk directory. 
	Once an initialization file is available you may call Lexa FileCat with the name of an initialization file passed as a command line parameter. The programme then starts generating a database automatically and terminates by itself once this has been completed. The advantage of this mode is that you can include a call to Lexa FileCat in a DOS batch file. Here is a typical case: you edit various text files in a special directory and would like to keep an exact track of what you alter on what day. Write a DOS batch file which calls Lexa FileCat to generate a database of the files which you alter when you are closing down your system for the day. By later checking on the database you can see what you altered the day before. 
	Five items of information are stored in the initialization file by Lexa FileCat: (i) the name for the database to be generated, (ii) the drive to be logged in (if not the current one), (iii) the directory scope which is to apply, (iv) the file template to be used and (v) the directory from which the operation is to start (if not the current one). 

 

 

 6.	Lexa Backup 

 Syntax: lbackup [ini_file] [/b] 

 6.0.	Introduction 

 The two most basic file management functions, copying and deleting, are normally restricted in scope (within a file manager) to a single directory on a single drive. There are good reasons for this, most of all the requirement that a user explicitly mark those files in each directory which are going to be affected by such permanent operations as deletion. 
	Nonetheless the desire arises continuously to have a programme with which one can execute commands which potentially cover all directories and all drives in a system. In essence this is what Lexa Backup does. It should be of particular interest to those users who work on a computer with a removable hard disk. On such a system one can do automatic daily backups of vital data onto the removable disk and store this is a safe place thus minimizing the likelihood of inadvertent data loss. 

 The programme offers flexibility in that you may add a date and/or numeric filter to any operation and you can make the latter dependent on user confirmation (applies to deletion) as well as copying with update only (a time saver as only more recent files are then copied to target). In addition you can specify the manner in which copying is to take place (with creation of target directories as required). The drives affected by a backup operation can be marked in a picklist window and you can specify the directory scope for any operation. Most importantly you can enter up to 12 file templates to determine what files will be affected by a backup; file templates can be labelled as exclusive, i.e. any files matching them will be excluded from a backup operation. 
	The screen you are offered on loading Lexa Backup should be familiar to users of the Lexa set: a desktop with picklist windows. The leftmost window is opened automatically. From here one can specify the information necessary for a backup and then carry this out. The second window Disk Options needs to be opened if you wish to have a directory scope different from the default value, just the current directory (see below for details). 

 6.1.	Configuration 

 Enter file templates Twelve possible templates can be entered at this point. A window opens on the right of the screen and you fill each line with a template as required. At least one template must be entered; if it is not then Lexa Backup assumes *.* as the default which means that a backup operation will affect all files. 

 File exclusion is a technique whereby you may exclude files which match a template from a backup operation. A template is designated as excluded by pressing the # key (the same symbol now appears on the right of the template). An example for file exclusion might be the following: you are backing up all your text files to a disk along with any other document files you might need. This might lead to the first two templates being filled with *.txt (your text files) and *.doc (for document files) respectively. The third template could be *.exe which would stop any executable files (i.e. programmes) from being backed up, after all this is not necessary as you will always have original diskettes of these. 
	Note Templates should be filled in an order from top to bottom. Empty templates are ignored by Lexa Backup. 

 Specify date filter 

 From Lexa File users should be acquainted with a date filter. The option here operates in just the same manner. You have three possible date filter types and an obvious fourth option, i.e. no filter. 
	Note Make sure to enter the date for a filter in the form MM/DD/YY, i.e. first the month, then the day and then the year as a two-digit figure. Leading zeros are required for values under 10, e.g. type "04" and not "4" for four. 

 Set size limitation A backup operation can be made subject to a size limitation. This can be positive or negative, i.e. you can backup files which are below or above (and equal to) to a certain value or just equal to this; you may also specify that files must be of a given size. As with the date filter you can ignore this option by choosing the option No size limit. 

 In the above example the option Equal to has been chosen (with the Delete backup type) to erase any files of zero length on a disk. 
	Note Date filters and size limitations are cumulative, i.e. you may have a date filter and a limit on file size if you wish. 

 Determine drive scope Any backup operation must have a particular drive scope otherwise it cannot be executed. When you choose the present option a window opens on the right and you are offered a list of the logical drives of your system. Move the highlight bar (or the mouse cursor) to the drives you wish to mark for backup and press Return (or click the left button). This is a toggle so that pressing Return again will unmark a drive. Strike F10 to conclude drive scope specification. 
	When you first choose a drive you will note that a tree representation of the directories on this drive appears (this is similar to the tree offered by many of the programmes of the Lexa group). What is required of the user here is that he/she mark those directories for the currently chosen drive which are to be affected by the ensuing backup (copy, delete, etc.). The method of marking is very simple: you move the highlighting to a desired directory and press Return. This is then displayed in high video and an asterisk appears after it. Marking is a toggle: you may unmark a directory by pressing Return again. To speed up directory marking you can press Shift-UpArrow, Shift-DownArrow; to (un)mark a directory and move up, down a step respectively (in exactly the same way as you (un)mark files in Lexa File). 

 F6  This key removes the entire marking for all directories of the current drive (after user confirmation). 

 F10  With this keystroke you conclude directory marking and return to the desktop. 

 Escape  As you can imagine, this key aborts the marking operation and does not retain the markings just made. 
	Note A maximum of 360 directories can be marked for all the drives to be affected by a backup operation. 
	To view the directories marked for a particular drive just press the SpaceBar after moving the highlight bar to the drive letter in the appropriate menu on the desktop. 

 Show logical drives This simply shows you the logical drives on your system. Network users should note that the drives of the network system will probably be displayed as well. Whether you can execute a backup operation on a network system depends of course on your rights as a user. 

 View configuration Before carrying out any operation it is strongly advisable to check on the current configuration. The screen changes and you are presented with the settings for the relevant parameters for a backup. Note the bottom line of the screen which shows the current DOS directory and the name of the setup file which has either been read or would be stored to disk if you choose to save it. 

 The directory scope for a backup operation is to be seen by choosing the Determine drive scope option in the first menu on the desktop. Move the highlight bar to a selected drive and press the SpaceBar, the marked directories are then shown on a separate screen. 

 Save configuration The current configuration can be saved from the desktop to a file of your choice. The extension of this file must be .ini. Furthermore if you wish to activate the settings in an initialization file automatically, i.e. without specifying the name of this on the command line then the file must be named lbackup.ini. The initialization file is saved to the home directory of Lexa Backup if you do not specify otherwise. 

 Determine backup type There are three backup types: (i) Log file creation, (ii) File copying, (iii) File deletion. The first is the default value; with the current option you can change this to a different value. 

 Pause between drives during backup Depending on what backup type you choose certain further items of information will be required by Lexa Backup. The item which is common to all types is the present one which determines whether the programme pauses between drives. 

 Create target directories as required If you choose to copy files then you are first asked by Lexa Backup whether the necessary directories should be created on the target during copying (if not already present). Should you not mark the current option then files will be deposited in one directory with the consequence that files with the same name will be overwritten, an effect which you certainly do not wish, so think carefully at this point. 

 Only copy more recent files to target The second item which needs to be specified for copying is whether only those files should be copied to target which are more recent than the files already on target with the same names. By means of updating you can accelerate the backup process as unnecessary copying is avoided. If no file exists on target for one on source then the file is copied automatically. 

 Confirm deletion of each file When the backup type is deletion then you are asked if you wish to confirm the deletion of each file. This is recommendable as otherwise you may very well erase some files which you in fact wish to keep. 
	In addition, when you are deleting files you must confirm the execution of the backup operation. 

 Erase diskettes This option is included to allow you to specify whether any diskette used for a copy operation is to be erased before use or not. Does not apply to hard disks for obvious reasons. 

 User confirm copy It is conceivable that you do not want every file which matches a set of templates to be copied to target. If you turn this switch to "on" then before each file is copied Lexa Backup asks for user confirmation. If this is not forthcoming then the current file is ignored and the programme continues with the next. 

 Carry out backup When the operation actually begins the screen changes and you are shown the directories (with drive) which are being scanned by Lexa Backup. A window below this shows the files which match the templates entered from the desktop. On conclusion a further window shows results. The information provided depends on the nature of the operation. 

 After copying or deleting, the number of files affected is given along with their total size and the directories searched through. Note that during either copying or deletion a running account of what is happening is displayed in the last two lines of the screen. 

 Note At any stage a backup operation can be interrupted by pressing Escape. You are returned to the desktop after pressing a further key. 
	When deletion is the mode of operation and you have (sensibly) chosen to confirm the deletion of each file then a prompt appears at the bottom of the screen. Here you can press y for "yes", n for "no" or Escape to abort the operation. 

 6.2.	Disk options 

 The set of disk options are simple compared to the Configuration menu and just put a few likely commands concerning disk structure and surveying at your disposal which you may need when using Lexa Backup. 

 Delete files on disk Calls Lexa Kill with which you can delete files from a disk in the quickest manner. By default, Lexa Kill requires user confirmation of file deletion. 

 Scan disk for files Calls Lexa Scan with which you can locate files on any disk. The results of a search can be displayed on screen or written to file. 

 Determine directory scope 

 By default each backup operation has a scope confined to the current directory. You may expand this to include (i) all directories which lie below the current one (in the directory tree) or (ii) all directories below the root, i.e. all directories on a disk. 

 Display disk structure Calls Lexa Dirs to allow you to survey the structure of a disk; this might be necessary before determining the directory scope for a backup operation, for instance. 

 Set current directory Here an input window appears in which the current directory is echoed. Change this to the new value you want. Assuming that the directory change was successful, the new directory is echoed on the left of the penultimate line of the screen otherwise no change occurs. 

 6.3.	File services 

 Run directory lister Loads Lexa List with which you can examine the contents of any directory. To begin with the contents of the current directory are displayed. 

 Load file manager Calls Lexa File directly (without going to DOS first). Once in the programme you can carry out any operation you like. On exiting Lexa File an automatic return to Lexa Backup is made. 

 Specify name for log If you want any other name for the log file Lexa Backup generates than lbackup.log then you must enter it at this point. Only change the section of the file name which is necessary. 

 Examine disk log file Calls the user editor with the log file (assuming that one exists in the current directory) passed to it as a command line parameter. 

 Dir. structure file Similar to the above command only that the directory structure file (with the extension .str), which is generated when making a log file of a disk, is passed to the user editor. 

 Specify your editor Permits the specification of an editor which you want to use when examining the log file or the directory structure file. The default name is ltext (= Lexa Text) the editor of the Lexa group. 

6.4.	Function key settings 

 F1  Online help Provides a windowful of help. For details of the operation of Lexa Backup one must consult the previous pages of this manual. 

 Shift-F1  DOS command Allows you to enter any valid command in an input window which is then passed on to DOS for execution. 

 Ctrl-F1  DOS call Loads command.com temporarily. The effect is that you shell down to DOS for a period, in effect until you enter exit (as prompted). F3 Directory listing. Calls Lexa List to show directory contents. 

 F7  Exit Lexa Backup Unloads Lexa Backup and exits to DOS. Note that the configuration is not automatically saved to file. This must be done via the appropriate option in the first menu, Configuration. 

 F9  Environment Offers you a windowful of data on the environment you are working in (disk size and free space, available memory, date and time, etc.). 

 6.5.	Using Lexa Backup in batch mode 

 Like so many other programmes of the Lexa group, Lexa Backup can be started in a batch mode, by which is meant that it starts, carries out a backup operation and then unloads itself automatically. The obvious advantage of this mode is that the programme can be included in a DOS batch file, i.e. it can be nested in a series of DOS commands or programme calls without the necessity of the user pressing any keys during its operation. 
	The batch mode is activated simply by entering the switch /b on the command line. If you do not also enter the name of an initialization file then Lexa Backup assumes that you wish to use the information in lbackup.ini (if found in the Lexa Backup home directory). 

 

 

 7.	Lexa Move 

 Syntax: lmove [source target (/d) (/c)] 

 The idea behind Lexa Move has been to provide users with a simple but informative utility for copying files either interactively or from the command line according to personal taste. 
	You either call the programme directly or enter all the necessary information on the command line. Assuming you use the first method the following screen if offered: 

 Use the UpArrow, DownArrow keys to move the arrowhead to the point you wish; enter the necessary information. For Source you can enter any valid DOS file template (with wild cards and an optional drive and/or directory). Specify Target exactly as if you were using the DOS copy command (Lexa Move parses the information in exactly the same manner as DOS). 
	Two further options of interest are (i) File delete and (ii) Confirm overwrite. With the former each file which is successfully copied to target is also deleted at source while with the latter Lexa Move requests confirmation from the user for each file to be copied which is also present on the target. These two options can be realized on the command line by using the /d and /c switches respectively. 

 Note When working from the command line Lexa Move terminates automatically thus enabling it to be used in DOS batch files, for instance. If used interactively, the programme remains loaded after each copy operation and prompts the user to either press Return for DOS or any other key to continue. 
	If you load Lexa Move from the command line then you do not need to enter a source drive/directory if the files you wish to copy are in the current directory, e.g. you could enter 

	lmove *.doc a: 

 to copy all files ending in .doc in the current directory to (the current directory on) drive A:. Lexa Move can be used, again like the DOS copy command to create a copy of a file under a different name in the same directory. In this case you specify the present name of the file as source and a new file name as target, e.g. 

	lmove shuffle.txt tumble.txt 

 You may not, however, use wildcards when copying internally in the current directory. 

 

 8.	Lexa Dirs 

 Syntax: d [/e] [drive:][path_fragment] 

 8.0.	Introduction 

 The present programme serves the basic function of displaying the structure of a disk in tree form so that the user can easily recognize what directories it contains on what levels. Furthermore the programme can be used to change directory on the DOS level by just typing a fragment of the path for the new directory (see 6.2. Command line mode below). To enable Lexa Dirs to be used efficiently for the latter purpose, the name has been reduced to a single letter, d. The fuller form ldirs can also be entered in which case the small batch file ldirs.bat is called, activating in its turn Lexa Dirs by passing on the single-letter name to DOS. On starting, the screen should look something like the following. 

 Optionally one can specify the drive to be displayed, e.g. d d:. If no drive is specified the current drive is examined. 
	You may navigate in the tree structure offered by Lexa Dirs in the usual manner: UpArrow, DownArrow move the highlight bar item by item; PageUp, PageDown move it by a screenful and Ctrl-PageUp and Ctrl-PageDown jump to the beginning or end of the current listing. 

 8.1.	Interactive mode 

 There are two basic modes in which Lexa Dirs works. The first is the command line mode where Lexa Dirs acts as a swift directory changer (more on this below) while the second is the interactive mode which is automatically entered when you type the single letter d from the DOS command line. When the programme starts in the latter mode you are presented with a screenful of information about the directory of the current disk assuming that the directory structure file adirs.fil, which is used by Lexa File as well, is located in the root directory (otherwise the structure of the drive is read by Lexa Dirs and stored as adirs.fil). 
	Within the interactive mode there are two submodes, so to speak, Directory Management and File Management the idea behind each should be obvious from the name. In the first mode moving the highlight bar in the directory tree graph causes the files in the window on the right to change continuously, i.e. the contents of each directory is displayed automatically each time you move in the tree (this is the equivalent to the Browse mode in Lexa File). 

 8.1.1.	Directory management 

 F1  On-line help.  Offers you a screenful of extra help (apart from that to be seen to the right of the screen). 

 Shift-F1  DOS command Allows you to enter a command which is passed on to DOS directly. An automatic return to Lexa Dirs is made. 

 F3  Show directory contents Calls the Lexa FileCat utility Lexa List to display the contents of the current directory.  An automatic return to Lexa Dirs is made. 

 F4  Log in new drive Permits a change of drive by presenting a list of the logical drives on the current system from which the user can choose. 
	As with the other Lexa programmes with this option, the drives on your system are read (only the first time the command is activated) and displayed in a window from which you choose a new drive. Assuming that the structure file adirs.fil is available in the root directory of the new drive, this is read and the structure shown. Otherwise the directories are read, adirs.fil created and the structure displayed. 

 F7, Alt-F4  Quit to DOS Exits without user confirmation to DOS. The current directory is left unchanged. To move to a new directory exit via Return or Shift-F7. 

 Shift-F7  Exit with directory change The current directory is changed to the directory which was highlighted in the tree structure as you pressed Shift-F7. To remain in the directory from which you started Lexa Dirs you should press Escape or F7. 

 F8  Make new directory Allows you to create a new directory. On pressing this key an input window opens in the centre of the screen. The current directory is echoed in the input line and you are prompted to enter a name for the new directory. Users should grasp that the new directory is created below the current directory. To create a new directory on level one change to the root directory and press F8. 

 Shift-F8  Delete directory Removes the current directory from the disk under the double pre-condition that (i) this directory contains no files and (ii) it is the last node in a branch (it is not possible to "extract" a directory from a branch). 

 Ctrl-F8  Rename directory Alters the name of the current directory without affecting its contents. 
	Names of directories are (for DOS) a type of file name, i.e. they can consist of up to 8 letters followed by a dot and up to 3 further letters (just like a file name extension). 
	In each of the above three cases the structure file adirs.fil in the root directory of the current disk is updated to reflect the change in directory structure just made. 

 Alt-F8  Re-read drive Forces Lexa Dirs to re-read the structure of the current disk. This is necessary if you have created, deleted or renamed a directory with a programme other than those in the Lexa group which include directory management. On reading the directories of a disk, Lexa Dirs also sorts them alphabetically. 

 F9  Show environment Offers a windowful of information on the system environment you are presently working in. 

 Shift-F9  Directory information.  Shows you the number of files in the currently highlighted directory, their total size, the full path of the directory and the currently valid file template. 

 F10  Save tree graph Enables the user to save the structure of the current disk to a file of his/her choice. 
	You are prompted to enter a file name and must confirm overwriting an existent file. The resultant file is an ASCII text file and can be edited with any software. 

 8.1.2.	File viewing 

 This is the second mode available when you have started Lexa Dirs interactively. When you press the Tab key to activate File Management then you note that a highlight bar appears in the window on the right which is filled with the files of the currently highlighted directory; the arrow keys respond by moving the highlighting. You now have a series of command at your disposal which only apply to this level of Lexa Dirs. 

 F2  View file Again as in Lexa File you can view any highlighted file by pressing 

 F2. Lexa View is loaded with this file passed as parameter to it. 

 Shift-F2  Edit file Loads Lexa Text with the currently highlighted file passed as command line parameter. 

 Ctrl-F2  Hexedit file Works analagously to the previous command with the difference that in this case it is Lexa Hex which is loaded. 

 Shift-F4  File template Permits a change in file template. You enter a new template and display is refreshed to show any matches in the file window. 

 F7  Exit to DOS Exits to DOS without user confirmation. 

 Shift-F9  Directory information Similar to the command in the Directory Management mode. Note that by making skillful use of a file template you can find out exactly how many matching files are in what directory and what their total size is (useful before executing a copy operation). 

 Ctrl-F9  File type.  Offers you further details on the currently highlighted file, i.e. its size and the date / time it was last archived. This option is necessary as the file listing just shows the names of files. 

 8.2.	Command line mode 

 The second means of starting Lexa Dirs leads to a mode of operation which is quite different from the interactive one. Here you type the letter d and then a fragment of a path to instantaneously change directory. Consider first of all a few examples: 

	Fragment		Dir. changed to 
1)	d man		->	\manuals 
2)	d \lf		->	\src\tc\lfile 
3)	d \		->	\ (i.e. to root directory) 
4)	d c:wor		->	c:\word_proc 

 The fragments typed would be sufficient to change to the directories indicated on the right (assuming that they existed on a particular system). The way this works is as follows. Lexa Dirs takes the path fragment and consults the structure file adirs.fil and tries to find a match among the full directory names for the substring entered by the user. If there is a find the directory is changed. Should the fragment not have been enough to distinguish two similarly named directories then simply repeat the command and Lexa Dirs looks for a further find and then changes directory again if found. 
	Example (ii) furthermore shows that you can enter a backslash as part of a fragment. This backslash does not have to be the first in the full path name. 
	As can be seen from example (iv) preceding the fragment by a drive letter and colon forces Lexa Dirs to consult the structure file adirs.fil on that drive and, if a match is found, to change to the new drive (and directory). 

 43 line EGA/VGA display You can also avail of the 43 line display of an EGA/VGA video adapter with Lexa Dirs (as you can with Lexa File). To do so you must enter the switch /e immediately after the name of the programme and before any further switches (e.g. a drive to log in) as in: 

		d /e [d:] 

 The video adapter automatically switches back to the normal 25 line text mode on exiting Lexa Dirs. 

 

 9.	Lexa Find 

 Syntax:  lfind [(drive)file_spec] [/e] 

 9.0.	Introduction 

As soon as one’s hard disk reaches any appreciable size the question of file information retrieval becomes a matter of increasing concern to the computer user. Before one knows what has happened one has 1000 files on the hard disk and is not really sure any more just what or where these files are, after all they are scattered over different directories or worst still are present in a couple of mammoth directories. The situation very quickly arises that one cannot find a file one is looking for although one is certain that it is on the disk somewhere. Lexa Find is specifically designed to help users in this quandary. It offers you the easiest and most visually effective way of retrieving information on the files which are to be found on a disk. 
	The programme starts by reading all the files in all directories. It then lists these in a directory window on the left of the screen; this is as long as there are files on the disk. It could be 100, 500, 1000, 3000, 5000 items long (n.b. the limit is 360 directories and 8000 files per disk). You can navigate in this window in the usual way (see section on general key settings below). Furthermore you can search for a particular file by typing the first few letters of its name as capital letters (because small letters are gathered in the DOS command line, see below). The display in the directory window is refreshed after each letter you type. 
	In addition, Lexa Find offers the structure of the current disk in the form of a tree graph on the right of the screen. When you move the highlight bar in the directory listing on the left, the tree graph is updated so that the directory in which the current file is present is highlighted in the tree on the right. From this you can immediately grasp what directory the particular file is in. The full path of the directory of the current file is echoed in the first line of the screen. 
	As the directory listing on the left contains all files from all directories there may be repeats (copies of the same files in different directories). Furthermore there is no option to change the window directory (as there is no organization of files according to directory as there is with other programmes such as Lexa File, etc.). 
	A different drive from the present one can be logged in by pressing F4 and a file template for the directory listing can be specified via Shift-F4 (these are the standard keystrokes in the Lexa set for these functions). In addition you can specify either a drive or a template on the command line when you first call Lexa Find as in the following examples: 

	1)	lfind *.txt 
	2)	lfind d: 
	3)	lfind c:*.doc 

 If you wish to specify both a drive and a file template then you must do it as in example 3 (i.e. in the same manner as with other Lexa programmes, e.g. Lexa Scan). 
	The screen you are presented with when Lexa Find is loaded should look something like the following. Note the division of the screen into areas. The first line contains the name of the current directory, the number of files it contains and the total size of these files. Below the directory and file windows is a line in which the number of the current file is shown. The penultimate line is a prompt which leads to a prominent feature of command structure in Lexa Find. 

9.1.	Processing user input 

User keyboard input serves two purposes in Lexa Find: on the one hand to realize internal commands of the programme and on the other as alphabetic input which is sent to the command line at the bottom of the screen. 
	You can edit the DOS command line in Lexa Find with the commands of the User Input Editor (see Appendix B below). Previous DOS commands (up to 8) can be retrieved by pressing Shift-Home (to move backwards in the queue of commands) or Shift-End to move forwards. Note that the UpArrow and DownArrow keys do not have this function as these keys are reserved here for moving the highlight bar up and down in the file directory on the left of the screen. The DOS command line can be executed by pressing Return or cancelled (erased) by striking Escape. 

 9.2.	Function key settings 

 F1  On-line help This offers you a small help text on the desktop, notably containing the function key settings active in Lexa Find. 

 F2  View file Allows you to view the file the highlight bar is resting on. Calls Lexa View. Will work with any type of file; an automatic return to Lexa Find is made. 

 Shift-F2  Edit file Allows you to edit the file the highlight bar is resting on. Calls Lexa Text. Return to Lexa Find is automatic. 

 Ctrl-F2  Hexedit file Allows you to hexedit the file the highlight bar is resting on. Calls Lexa Hex. Will work with any type of file; an automatic return to Lexa Find is made. 

 F4  Log in new drive Allows you to change the current drive by choosing a driver letter from the window of the drives on your system which now appears in the centre of the screen. 

 Shift-F4  File template With this command you can filter out unwanted files and view only those which fit a user specification, e.g. *.txt. 

 F5  Full file information Offers you the details on size, date and time for the file which is currently highlighted on the left of the screen. 

 F7  Exit Lexa Find.  Unloads Lexa Find and returns you to DOS. 

 Shift-F7  Exit Lexa Find with directory change.  The same as the previous command but with a change to the current directory if this is different from that from which one started Lexa Find. 

 F9  Show Environment Displays some relevant information about the environment you are working in such as the current and original path, the total and presently free disk space, the amount of system memory left, the current date and time, etc. The present option is slightly different from that in Lexa File or any other of the major Lexa programmes which offer a Show Environment function. Note the following points in this connection. There are three directories which Lexa Find keeps track of internally. 

	1)	DOS Path 
	2)	Current File Directory 
	3)	Original Path 

 Of these the third is the simplest: it is the (drive+)directory (i.e. path) where you started Lexa Find from and where you are returned to when you exit with F7. 
	The second is the (drive+)directory which is currently active in the directory listing on the left of the screen. You may have changed this via F4 to log in a new drive. It is this directory to which Lexa Find changes if you exit with Shift-F7. 
	The first path is the (drive+)directory which is currently active for DOS. You could, say by entering cd \new_dir on the DOS command line, change to a new directory. 

 Ctrl-F9  Call Programme and File The idea behind this command is that you can call a programme of your choice with the file the highlight bar is currently resting on passed to it as a command line parameter. A practical example: say you wish to edit a file with your own text editor / word processor (and not Lexa Text which is provided for via Shift-F2) then choose this option. You are prompted to enter the name of the programme you wish to call and Lexa Find loads the latter with the current file in the directory listing window passed to it. 

 9.3.	General key settings 

 Tab  By means of the Tab key you can switch from the (default) file window to the tree window to move in the tree independently of the files listed. You notice that the tree window is active as the light bar in the file window disappears and in the top lefthand corner of the screen the words Full Path: are displayed; the tree is now shown from the top of the graph. 
	You may move in the tree with precisely the same commands as in the file listing (e.g. UpArrow, PageDown, Control-PageUp, etc.). When the highlighting shifts in the tree window the full path of the current directory is echoed on the left of the top line of the screen. 
	Letter search is available in the tree window just as in the file window or in the directory manager, Lexa Dirs. Capital letters are not necessary, however, as no input is collected in the DOS command line (contrast the position in the file window). 
	You switch back to the file listing by pressing Tab again. 

 Enter  Execute DOS command line. 

 Escape  Clear DOS command line. 

 Shift-Home, Shift-End  Retrieve previous DOS commands from internal queue. 

 Navigation in Directory Listing  UpArrow, DownArrow; PageUp, PageDown move the highlight bar vertically in the directory window; Ctrl-Page Up, Ctrl-PageDown move it to the beginning or end. 

 Shift-UpArrow, Shift-DownArrow  Repeatedly mark / unmark files in directory window. 

 Ctrl-Enter  Executes the programme the highlight bar is resting on. Assumes that the programme has the extension .com, .exe or .bat. 

 For the full operation of Lexa Find the programmes Lexa Text, Lexa Hex and Lexa View must be accessible via the DOS path variable. 
	Note If you start Lexa Find with the command line parameter /e then, assuming that you have an EGA/VGA video adapter, it switches to a 43 line display. 

 

 10.	Lexa Scan 

 Syntax:  lscan [drive_spec]file_spec [output_file] 

 This programme serves the function of searching a disk (floppy or hard disk) for the files of the type specified immediately after the name of the programme. The file_spec can contain the DOS wildcards * or ? with the usual meanings (several characters or one character not specified respectively). If you wish the output of the search to be written to file then you must add the name of an output file after the file specification. 

 Each directory which is combed through is listed and if any matches are found then the file names appear after the directory name. Once the screen has been filled Lexa Scan waits and prompts you to press any key or Escape to abort. 
	When the search has been finished a few statistics are offered on the top of the screen regarding possible matches and directories searched through. 
	These statistics are also written to a file if disk output of a search is requested. An output file is always an ASCII text file and can be edited with any word processor. 

 

 

 11.	Lexa Print 

 Syntax:  lprint [ini_file] [/b] 

 11.0.	Introduction 

 There are occasions where it is expedient to print text without the use of a word processor. This arises frequently when one is editing an ASCII file with a text editor (which is a word processor which does not tolerate formatting information). Or you may be using a text editor which has very limited printing abilities (even though it might be otherwise powerful). 
	The current programme is a flexible tool for printing a file (or a number of files) while specifying a considerable amount of formatting criteria such as pitch, line spacing, page width, length, etc. The only condition which must be met by the file(s) to be printed is that it(they) be pure ASCII text. Should you wish to use Lexa Print to print a text which you have created with your word processor then you will have to generate an ASCII text file from it to begin with (i.e. strip it of formatting information). There will be an option in your word processor for doing this. If you are not quite sure of what this is, then do not use Lexa Print as you are unlikely to need it in that case anyway. Lexa Print can of course be used to print those texts which you have created and/or processed with Lexa Text. Indeed the font and character attribute information which you may specify within Lexa Text is recognized by Lexa Print and converted into the correct printer commands on output. 

 11.1.	The Lexa Print desktop 

 Like many of the major programmes of the Lexa set, Lexa Print begins by presenting the user with a desktop. This type of interface will be known to users from Lexa Desk, Lexa Sweep, Lexa Pat, etc. You have a series of three menus with groups of options. The first menu is opened automatically on loading. It is here that you enter the necessary information for Lexa Print to operate successfully. 
	The first option requires of the user that he/she enter the name of the file to be printed, or a file template, should several files be printed. 

 The second allows the user to convey to Lexa Print what type of printer one wishes to use. Note that many of the further options (notably printer fonts) depend on what one chooses here. You have two possibilities, to specify either a Dot Matrix Printer or a Laser Beam Printer. If you have a printer of the former type it must be Epson/Nec compatible; if your printer is of the latter type then it must be Hewlett Packard Laserjet compatible. Users of such laser printers as those by NEC or Kyocera must ensure that the Hewlett Packard emulation is active before printing from Lexa Print. 

 11.2.	Editing printer switches 

 On selecting this option a large window opens to the right of the screen and you can now edit a set of 12 switches. These should be self-explanatory; as prompted in the smaller window to the left, you can move the arrowhead to the switch you wish to edit and then by pressing the RightArrow key actually change the value. Note that Lexa Print expects you to enter a valid number where the switch is numeric. If you make an unacceptable entry, the former one remains active. Those switches which are toggles (the last three) can be changed by simply using the SpaceBar. Conclude your editing of the printer switches by pressing Return. 
	 Laser Beam Printers If you choose a laser printer as printer type then the first switch is left open and when you press the RightArrow key additional picklists appear by means of which you can specify (i) the typeface to be used for printing, (ii) the point size and (iii) the character set. 

 Dot Matrix Printers These are considerably simpler than laser printers. The prompt for the first printer switch is Pitch [10,12,15,17,20 cpi]. You have five choices here. Bear in mind that if you choose 17 or 20 characters per inch your printer may not produce satisfactory results if it does not support these pitches. 
	After specifying a pitch a window opens on the left and you are prompted to choose a typeface for printing. There are three possible types: (i) Draft, (ii) Letter Quality and (iii) Proportional. Move the highlight bar to the typeface you want and press Return; the picklist disappears and you can continue editing printer switches or press Return again to terminate this entirely. Note  (i) The value for line spacing must be an integer (e.g. 1.5 would be an illegal value). (ii) If you choose to view the text being printed then the screen changes and the text scrolls vertically as it is being sent to the printer. On completion of the print operation the desktop screen is restored. 
	The entire configuration you have chosen (or determined in a previous session) can be viewed by selecting the fifth option in the first menu on which a screen something like the following appears: 

 With the fifth option you can save this configuration to disk (similar to the function in Lexa Pat and Lexa Sweep, for instance). When you start Lexa Print again this information is read from the setup file lprint.ini (assuming that Lexa Print can find it in the current directory or via the DOS path variable). 

 Name of printer driver When Lexa Print is outputting a text (either to disk or to the printer) it can consult a printer driver to determine how it is to convert printer control codes which may be embedded in the text. These codes are those which one can enter as font attributes in Lexa Text. Depending on what printer driver one specifies, the codes will convert to laser or dot matrix printer commands. With the present option one can determine the name of a printer driver. Note that by default Lexa Print assumes the names laser.pcf for laser printers and dmp.pcf for dot matrix printers. To see what these drivers do, consult the supplied drivers on the Lexa distribution diskettes. Users are advised not to customize these unless they really know what they are doing. 
	The last option in the first menu is for actually carrying out the print operation. If you have not entered a file name or file template (and no setup file was found when Lexa Print was loaded) then obviously the programme will not know what to print and you are presented with an error message. 

 11.2.1.	Header and footer files 

 In order for Lexa Print to output text with a header and/or footer it must be able to find the necessary header and/or footer file. The names for header and footer files are derived from the names of the files to be printed. This is achieved as follows. Before printing a file, Lexa Print takes the name (without extension!) and adds .hdr and .ftr to the names of the header and footer files respectively. If you have specified that you wish to print a header and/or footer and there are files on disk which match the names derived by Lexa Print then headers and/or footers appear on each printed page. What each header/footer file contains is irrelevant to the printing process. The only restriction is that header and footer together not be greater in length that the number of lines to be printed on each page. 
	Both the header and the footer files can contain certain combinations of characters which are interpreted in a specific manner by Lexa Print. These are so-called command sequences which are used to encode instructions to the printing programme. 

	Command sequences in header and footer files: 

	$4 1 :   Name of current text 
	$4 2 :   Size of current file 
	$4 3 :   Current date 
	$4 4 :   Current time 
	$4 5 :   Current page number 
	$4 6 :   Total number of pages to print 

 To enter these sequences in a header or footer file, press the Alt key and type the number "4" on the numeric block on the right of the keyboard; then enter the appropriate number immediately after it, the latter must be typed from the number row at the top of the alphanumeric block of the keyboard (needless to say, without pressing the Alt key). The ASCII $4 character is a diamond shape; if you edit the header and footer files with Lexa Text you will see this form on pressing Alt + "4". Should you use a different editor you may find that instead the programme displays "D" which is a shorthand for "Control-D", another manner of referring to the character with the numerical value 4 in the ASCII character set. 
	For examples of a header and footer file, take a look at the files supplied with the Lexa package. 

 11.2.2.	The use of initialization files 

 When you load Lexa Print without any command line parameters it searches for an initialization file lprint.ini in the current directory and those listed in the DOS path variable. Assuming that the search is successful, the programme sets its internal parameters to the values contained in the initialization file. 
	If you enter the name of a file on the command line then Lexa Print assumes that you wish to use an initialization file other than the default lprint.ini. It now looks for the file name passed to it and if found reads the information contained in it. Make sure than the file you specify is a correct Lexa Print initialization file otherwise the results are unpredictable. 
	To create a customized initialization file, set up Lexa Print interactively (i.e. from the desktop) so that all internal parameters are just as you want them. Then choose the option Disksave Configuration in the leftmost menu and specify the name you wish for the file which is now created. The values contained in all initializable parameters are stored to this file and thus can be used at some later point. 

 Initializable parameters for Lexa Print 

	1)	Name of printer driver 
	2)	Send output to file or printer 
	3)	File template, e.g. *.txt 
	4)	User-specified editor 
	5)	Pitch to be used 
	6)	Page at which to begin 
	7)	Page at which to end 
	8)	Left-hand page margin 
	9)	No. of lines per page 
	10)	Line spacing to be used 
	11)	No. of spaces per tab 
	12)	Width of page in spaces 
	13)	No.of copies to be printed 
	14)	Print header at page top 
	15)	Print footer at page end 
	16)	Print line numbers on left 
	17)	View text during printing 
	18)	Printer type 
	19)	Laser font 
	20)	Laser pitch 
	21)	Character set 
	22)	Dot Matrix Printer font 
	23)	National date format 

 11.3.	Disk options 

 The first option in this menu calls the directory lister Lexa List which is supplied with the Lexa package (see below). By default it is loaded with the current file template for printing passed to it so that you can see just what files in the current directory would be printed. The template can of course be changed internally in Lexa List via Shift-F4. 
	The second option allows you to set the current directory. This is then echoed in the bottom of the screen. This is often important when wishing to access files not in the directory from which Lexa Print was started. Bear in mind that you cannot print files from different directories at the same time from within Lexa Print. 

 Send Output to Disk The output created by Lexa Print will normally go to the printer. However, you may specify that it should be deposited in a disk file. You may want to do this to check on the output before sending it to the printer. The output file can be loaded and processed with Lexa Text if you like. Once satisfied with the result you can load Lexa Print and this time specify the printer as destination for output. Alternatively you can copy the output disk file to the printer port which has the same effect as printing it. This is done by typing copy XXX lpt1: /b on the DOS command line with XXX standing for the name of the output file. 

 Name of Disk Output If you state that output is to go to a disk file then you must also specify the name for the file to be created. By default the programme suggests lprint.$$$ (the three dollar signs indicate that this is a temporary file). Should the file name you enter correspond to a real file on disk you are asked if you wish to overwrite it. Saying "no" here will lead to output being redirected to the printer to avoid accidental overwriting of the disk file. 

 Note If you save a particular configuration in which you want output sent to a file and then start Lexa Print again with this configuration as the initialization file the programme checks to see whether the output file already exists on disk. For this reason you may find that on starting the first thing Lexa Print does is to ask you if you wish to overwrite a file on disk. Again answering negatively leads to output being directed to the printer. 

 11.4.	File services 

 The File Services menu in Lexa Print is like that in Lexa Pat and Lexa Sweep inasmuch as you can specify you own editor (the default name is, as always, Lexa Text) which you can then use to view/edit the file you wish to print. 

 The first three options simply call the Lexa File utilities Lexa View, Lexa Text and Lexa Hex respectively all of which must be accessible via the DOS path variable. 
	The fifth option loads your text editor with the name of the output disk file passed to it as a file name. 
	With the last option you can state what national format date strings are to be printed in. This is of relevance, for instance, when there is a place holder for the current date in the header of a text. 

 11.5.	Function key settings 

 F1  Help screen This displays the on-line help screen of Lexa Print. The command is available on all levels of the programme. 

 Shift-F1 Execute DOS command Here you are presented with an empty input line and can enter anything you like. Lexa Print then tries to load your entry externally by passing it on to DOS so that for the successful execution of this command you must have entered (i) a DOS command or (ii) the name of an external startup file which is either in the current directory or accessible via the path command. 

 Ctrl-F1  DOS Call With this command DOS is loaded temporarily and you can carry out any commands as if you were in DOS normally with the restriction that some of your system memory is now taken up by Lexa Print which is in the background. If you load a further programme when you enter DOS, avoid making another DOS call from within this programme as this may lead to your system hanging. When finished working in DOS, type exit to return to Lexa Print. The screen is restored just as you left it. 

 F3  Call Lexa List Loads the Lexa utility Lexa List to give you a list of all the files in the current directory, going on the template for files to print. 

 F7  Exit Lexa Print Returns you to DOS. No confirmation of exit needed. 

 Shift-F7  Exit with directory change.  Between starting Lexa Print and your present position you may have changed directory (via the Set current directory option in the second menu) and now wish to change to this and unload Lexa Print. Pressing Shift-F7 will leave you in the directory last chosen as current.  

 Ctrl-F7  Switch colours Allows you to toggle the colours for an EGA/VGA based system. There are 7 different colours from which you can choose by simply pressing Ctrl-F7 until you reach the colour you want. 

 F9  Show Environment Displays some relevant information about the environment you are working in such as the current and original path, the total and presently free disk space, the amount of system memory left, the current date and time, etc. 

 11.6.	Using Lexa Print in the batch mode 

 Apart from printing unformatted files (e.g. sections of a text corpus) there is another major application for a programme like Lexa Print. This is printing records from a database. For this purpose Lexa Print is ideally suited. To cater for needs in this area, a special batch mode is available. By this is meant that Lexa Print starts, carries out its work and ends automatically. There is no desktop presented during the batch mode and the programme does not stop for user input at any point. 
	Here is a typical situation where one would use Lexa Print in the batch mode: You edit a database with a database manager (e.g. the Lexa database manager DbStat). When you are finished you send the database through the report form generator ReportDb to convert it to a text file of your specification. Then you can print it and so complete the cycle of processing, conversion and output. The advantage of Lexa Print in the batch mode is that it obviates the necessity of user entry during its operation. The net result of this is that all the steps just outlined can be carried out from a DOS batch file. 
	To give you an idea of how this would work consider the following hypothetical DOS batch file: 

	dbstat %1.dbf 
	reportdb %1.rep 
	lprint %1.ini /b 

 The first line calls DbStat with a certain database which is determined by the user entering a valid file name after the name of the batch file. Say you call the batch file process.bat and you have a database called my_data.dbf then you could call the batch file as follows: 

	process my_data 

 This DOS command line entry starts the batch file, i.e. it loads DbStat and passes to it the name my_data in place of the replaceable parameter %1 so that DbStat is actually called with dbstat my_data.dbf. For the above batch file to work properly you must also have two further files with the name my_data, namely a report form file (for ReportDb) my_data.rep and a Lexa Print initialization file my_data.ini. 
	With the third line Lexa Print is called with my_data (= %1 in the batch file) and via the /b switch the programme recognizes that it is being called in the batch mode. It then proceeds to print the text which is mentioned in the setup file my_data.ini which must be either in the current directory or accessible via the DOS path variable. Note that Lexa Print does not print a file my_data.txt unless this is the name of the file whose name is contained in the setup file my_data.ini. The reason for this apparently roundabout way of printing the text file my_data.txt is that Lexa Print requires quite an amount of information to print a text file and all of this along with the name of the file to be printed is contained in the setup file whose name you pass to Lexa Print (see remarks on initialization above). 
	Incidentally leaving out the /b switch would lead to Lexa Print loading the setup file my_data.ini (if present) but not to the batch mode; instead the normal interactive mode would be used and you would enter Lexa Print at the desktop level. 

 

 12.	Lexa Sort 

 Syntax:  lsort [/t,#] [/c] input_file output_file 

 Should one have large text files which one wants to sort then the best way to do this is to transfer them to a database management system and process them from there. There are instances, however, when one has small text files (up to 160K in size) where the trouble of importing them into a database system for the purpose of sorting is disproportionately large. 
	For such eventualities the present programme has been included in the Lexa group. It takes an input ASCII text file and sorts it in ascending alphabetical order. Be careful not to use any files larger than about 160K as the ordering may be erratic in the output file. A file which you sort can have up to 8000 lines. 
	Three switches are legal here: the first (/t) specifies what tab position the line sorting is to start at (the default is zero) while the second (/#) specifies the column at which sorting is to begin where # stands for a digit indicating the start column. These two switches are mutually exclusive, i.e. you cannot sort a text at a certain tab and a certain column. 

 When calling Lexa Sort you can furthermore specify that the sort is to be case sensitive by using the /c switch. Normally case is ignored during a file sort. Decide carefully on what you want. Case insensitive sorting will lead to proper names (with initial capital letters) being correctly sorted with normal nouns (without of course altering the case of any form) and, as this is what most users want, case insensitive sort has been chosen as default. 
	Note Case insensitive sorting is considerably faster than the corresponding case sensitive sort. This should be borne in mind if speed is of importance. 

 

 

 13.	Lexa Chain 

 Syntax:	1)	lchain output_file file1 file2 file3 ... 
		2)	lchain output_file file_spec 

 The idea behind Lexa Chain is to offer a file chaining facility for ASCII files, typically texts which one wishes to process lexically with Lexa. Any series of ASCII files can be linked up to a single output file and with the complementary programme, Lexa UnChain (see next entry), they can be dismantled into the original member files again. 
	To enable you to keep track of what files have been chained to a single one, Lexa Chain generates a log file after each chaining operation. It consists of a name list of input files along with their size, date and time. The log file itself has the same name as the output_file but with the extension .log. Say for example you enter the following on the DOS command line: 

	lchain my_pool.doc *.txt 

 After the chaining operation there will be a file my_pool.doc which is the composite file from all those files with the extension *.txt which could be found in the current directory. In addition there will be a log file my_pool.log which contains a list of all the .txt files which were found and chained together. 
	The first thing Lexa Chain does on starting is to check whether the input file or files are in fact ASCII texts. For the programme an ASCII text is defined as one which has lines not longer than 256 characters, each of which is terminated by a carriage return and line feed. If the first line of each file does not meet this requirement Lexa Chain terminates with an error message. 
	Before starting, Lexa Chain requires the name of an output file for the chaining operation and either (i) a file specification or (ii) a list of files which are to be linked together. A typical file specification would be *.doc to link all the text document files in the current directory. What you cannot do is offer a list of file specifications, i.e. lchain chain.fil *.doc *.txt *.fil would be an illegal call to Lexa Chain. 
	The chain file remains a pure ASCII file (i.e. there is no compression of data). At the beginning of each source file the line LEXA CHAIN FILE NO. # is to be found with "#" standing for the number of the file as it was chained by Lexa Chain. 
	During its operation Lexa Chain shows the number of kilobytes linked and at the end the number of files. It is not recommended that you edit the chain file as this could disturb the reverse operation of unchaining later on. 

 

 14.	Lexa UnChain 

 Syntax:  lunchain file_name 

 The operation of Lexa UnChain is simple as could be. You call it with the name of the chain file which you generated with Lexa Chain. The programme keeps a count of the number of files extracted from the input file and should an error occur a relevant message is issued. This might be the case if you linked a file into a chain file and then created a read-only file with the same name afterwards. There is nothing Lexa UnChain can do now: it cannot extract the original file and write it to disk as there is a read-only file of the same name already in the present directory. However, the likelihood of this happening is slight. 
	Lexa UnChain does not delete the composite file on unchaining its components. 

 

 15.	Lexa List 

 Syntax:  llist [/sort_switch] [path_spec] [output_file] 

 The idea behind Lexa List has been to offer an alternative to the DOS dir command. What is required is a directory lister which displays the size of the current directory and which allows one to scroll backwards and forwards in a listing, specify a file template and log in a new drive. Lexa List does just this. When you start it a screen appears like the following. 

 The left part of the screen is taken up by the first 23 items from the current directory which is indicated in the name and template box in the top righthand corner. The directory info box to the bottom right, provides just that information which one wants about a directory. 

 Navigation keys.  You may move in the directory offered by Lexa List in the usual manner: UpArrow, DownArrow move the highlight bar item by item; PageUp, PageDown move it by a screenful and Ctrl-PageUp and Ctrl-PageDown jump to the beginning or end of the current listing. 

 Letter search By means of this feature you can locate a file quickly in a directory listing if you type the first letters of the file name. 

 Ctrl-Enter  Executes the programme the highlight bar is resting on. Assumes that the programme has the extension .com, .exe or .bat. 

 Shift-F1 Allows you to enter a DOS command directly. This is then passed on to the operating system for processing. Irrespective of whether it is successful or not an automatic return to Lexa List is made. 

 F4 As in Lexa File, this key allows you to specify a new drive to log in. 

 Shift-F4. This permits you to enter a file template (mask). In both this and the above case the directory display is refreshed. 

 Shift-F5  Re-read directory. This simply forces Lexa List to re-read the current directory. This might be useful if, for instance, you carry out a command via Shift-F1 which might affect the directory listing. 

 F7, Shift-F7, Esc You exit Lexa List by pressing F7 or Esc; using Shift-F7 will leave you in the current directory, i.e. it does not return you to the directory from which you started Lexa List. 

 Ctrl-F9  Call Programme and File The idea behind this command is that you can call a programme of your choice with the file the highlight bar is currently resting on passed to it as a command line parameter. A practical example: say you wish to edit a file with your own text editor / word processor then choose this option. You are prompted to enter the name of the programme you wish to call and Lexa List loads the latter with the current file in the directory listing window passed to it. 

 Command line parameters Lexa List can be called using (i) a file template or (ii) a path specification, the latter being (1) a drive name or (2) a directory or (3) a combination of both. Here are some examples: 

	llist *.txt 
	llist letter??.doc 
	llist a: 
	llist \atools 
	llist c:\db\db_data 

 Using sorting order switches The examples of calls of Lexa List so far assume that one accepts the default sorting order of files, i.e. according to file name. As you can see from the call syntax above, one can specify a sorting order on the command line. There are three possibilities here (apart from the default of File Name which applies if no switch is used). 

	(1)	Extension	(/e) 
	(2)	File Size	(/s) 
	(3)	Date Stamp	(/d) 

 In brackets above the switches are listed which produce the specified sorting order. While you are in Lexa List you can also set a new sorting order. Simply press F5. A window opens on the left of the screen as shown above.  	The currently active sorting order is indicated by a tick on the left. Move the highlight bar to the order you want and press Return; use Escape for no change. The current directory is re-read and displayed according to the sorting order just set. 
	Note Bear in mind that a sorting order switch must be the first switch on the command line when calling Lexa List. 

 Generating an output file with Lexa List An output file can be specified to uptake the output of Lexa List. In this case no listing is presented on the screen. A short message is displayed and you are returned to DOS after the output file has been created. If a file with the same name as the output file you specify exists then you must confirm overwriting it. Note To generate an output file you must have entered a file template from the command line as Lexa List will only then know that the last switch is a file name and not a file template. 

	Right:	llist /s *.c out.lst 
	Wrong:	llist out.lst 

 The second call will cause Lexa List to list a file called out.lst from the current directory if this exists. It will not regard it as the name for an output file. In the first instance it does as there is a file template specified before the name of the output file for the directory listing. 

 

 16.	Lexa CrLf 

 Syntax: lcrlf [file_name /## /n] 

 The present utility is a necessity for those users who wish to continue working with a text, which was created with Lexa Text, in a word processing environment, e.g. with WordPerfect or Microsoft Word. The reason for this is that every ASCII text ends with a pair of characters, a Carriage Return (ASCII $13) and a Line Feed (ASCII $10), which for a word processor are interpreted as a signal for the end of a paragraph. The net effect of this is that an ASCII text is treated by most word processors as a series of lines each of which consists of a single paragraph. One of the most undesirable consequences of this is that the word wrap function of your word processor no longer works between lines (as you would expect) as each line is seen as a paragraph. 
	The solution to this dilemma is to remove the Carriage Return/Line Feed pairs of characters. However, the matter is not quite as simple as it looks. If you just blindly removes all Carriage Return/Line Feed’s then the ensuing file is a single paragraph which is almost certainly not what the user wants. Instead one must devise means by which a programme can divine where a user-intended paragraph break is present. 
	One answer to this is to delete all Carriage Return/Line Feed’s after a certain column. This is good for starters as a paragraph break is usually preceded by a partial line which is less that X columns in length. 
	Another approach is to suppress deletion of Carriage Return/Line Feed’s if they are followed by (i) another Carriage Return/Line Feed or (ii) a tab character (ASCII $9), either of which would signal a new paragraph. Leaving the Carriage Return/Line Feed in this case would ensure that a paragraph break appears at that point in the document when imported into a word processor. 
	Notes Values for all parameters can be passed from the DOS command line to force Lexa CrLf to operate in a batch mode (no user-programme interaction is then required or offered). 
	Only one file can be altered at a time. It is the original which is changed so only experiment with copies of valuable originals! 
	The values of the various parameters are stored to disk on exiting Lexa CrLf in a file called lcrlf.cfg which is deposited in the home directory of Lexa CrLf On re-loading, these values are extracted from this file (assuming that it can be found at a later point in time) and fill the user-definable parameters so that it is not always necessary to specify all parameters afresh. 

 

 17.	Lexa LineNo 

 Syntax:  llineno FileSpec [/d, /e, /p, /n, /s, /c] 

 When working with text corpora it is frequently appropriate to have an indication of the line numbering contained in the texts. Of course a text editor will provide this in the form a line counter. You can, however, add the line numbering as part of the text with the current utility. There are a number of additions which makes the present solution preferable in certain instances to the type of running line count offered by a text editor. 
	First of all note that you may enter either a file name or a file template (with one of the DOS wild cards * or ?) as a specification of the texts to receive line numbering. 
	Secondly, Lexa LineNo is geared specially towards dealing with the texts of the Helsinki corpus. This is evident in the first switch /d which will cause the line end markers # in a Helsinki text to be removed with the remainder of the line attached to the current one. The result is frequently a more natural text in appearence. 
	The next switch /e allows you to determine whether the entire text is to be numbered. The third switch /p offers you plain numbering; if this is not specified then the line numbers are included in the text as Helsinki corpus comments to avoid disturbing the texts if later manipulated by data processing software like Lexa. A Helsinki comment begins with the two characters [ and ends with these in reverse order, i.e. ]. 
	The remaining three switches have the following effect on the operation of Lexa LineNo. 

/n	No line numbering (i.e. just delete the line end markers in a text) 
/s	Separate numbering is done for each text. This only works with Helsinki corpus 
texts where a single DOS file may contain several texts. 
/c	Comments are also to be numbered. 

 It will have struck the user that not all these switches can occur together. Specifically, the /e switch (number the entire text) excludes the /s switch (separate numbering for each text in a file); the /n switch (no line numbering) will turn off all other switches except /d (delete line end markers). 

 

 

 18.	Lexa Adjust 

 Syntax:  ladjust 

 When dealing with very large text corpora certain difficulties may arise when files are too big to fit into system memory. Or users may, for whatever reason, edit parts of a corpus and wish to join up sections to larger files or the converse, extract parts of a sizeable corpus. 
	Whatever the motivation, it is clear that one requires a programme with which one can manipulate large texts, creating more manageable files and fusing these back into a single text. 
	In essence, the present utility will perform four functions: (i) file insertion, (ii) extraction of a section of a file, (iii) deletion of a section of a file and (iv) appending one file to another. 
	Once you have started Lexa Adjust you are presented with a desktop with a listing of the files in the current directory on the left and a list of the programme options on the right. At first you can move in the directory (and log in a new drive with F4 and/or specify a new file template with Shift-F4 if you wish). 

 When the light bar is in the directory listing you can view any file by pressing the SpaceBar. This option has a particular significance for the current utility as you are shown the contents of a file (assuming that it is an ASCII text!) with the numbers of lines on the left of the screen. Thus if you wish to insert one file into another then check on the contents of the file at the line number at which you wish to insert the second file. 

 To choose an adjust option press F5 or the Tab key and the highlight bar appears in the option window on the right. Move it accordingly and press Return. The option chosen is echoed after the word TYPE. Depending on the kind of operation you wish to carry out you must now choose one or two files and answer one or two questions, such as the line number at which one file is to be inserted into another. 

 Notes The first and foremost fact which users must bear in mind is that Lexa Adjust will only handle ASCII texts. This is for obvious reasons as only such texts are organized on a strict line by line basis. All files which comprise text corpora are ASCII files. 
	If you choose an operation, such as line extraction, in which a new file is created then you must enter a file name. If the latter corresponds to a file which already exists on disk then you must confirm overwriting this file or else the operation is aborted. 
	Once an operation has been completed the directory listing is refreshed. The altered or created files can now be viewed by striking the SpaceBar. 

 

 19.	Cocoa 

 Syntax:  cocoa 

 Many of the text corpora available for personal computers have information on each text in a header which contains a set of parameters with values in what is called the Cocoa format. This is used by the Oxford Concordance Program and has been adopted for many others in imitation of this. It thus seemed sensible to the present author to allow users of the Lexa package to avail of the references entered in the header of corpus texts when retrieving information. 
	The method chosen here is to extract the header information and store this in a database which can then be edited with DbStat. Each file is given one record in the database generated with file information. The structure of the database used here is as follows: 

	Field 1:	File name		Field 2:	File size 
	Field 3:	File date		Field 4:	File time 
 
	Field 5 - 30:	Cocoa parameters in the following order: 
 
	1:	B	=	‘name of text file’ 
	2:	Q	=	‘text identifier’ 
	3:	N	=	‘name of text’ 
	4:	A	=	‘author’ 
	5:	C	=	‘part of corpus’ 
	6:	O	=	‘date of original’ 
	7:	M	=	‘date of manuscript’ 
	8:	K	=	‘contemporaneity’ 
	9:	D	=	‘dialect’ 
	10:	V	=	‘verse’ or ‘prose’ 
	11:	T	=	‘text type’ 
	12:	G	=	‘relationship to foreign original’ 
	13:	F	=	‘foreign original’ 
	14:	W	=	‘relationship to spoken language’ 
	15:	X	=	‘sex of author’ 
	16:	Y	=	‘age of author’ 
	17:	H	=	‘social rank of author’ 
	18:	U	=	‘audience description’ 
	19:	E	=	‘participant relationship’ 
	20:	J	=	‘interaction’ 
	21:	I	=	‘setting’ 
	22:	Z	=	‘prototypical text category’ 
	23:	S	=	‘sample’ 
	24:	P	=	‘page’ 
	25:	L	=	‘line’ 
	26:	R	=	‘record’ 

 The generation of the above database is achieved by simply loading the programme cocoa.exe and then, when the directory listing shows the files you wish to embrace in the resulting database, pressing F10. The name for the database must be entered by the user; confirmation of overwriting an existing one is required. 
	Before making the database you may choose a particular file template with Shift-F4 or log in a new drive with F4. The file the highlight bar is resting on can be viewed with Space. Cocoa will only include records for those files which (i) are true ASCII files and (ii) actually contain Cocoa parameter information in the form of a header before the actual text in a file (this is true of all the files in the Helsinki corpus, for example). 

 Once created, the database can be viewed with F5. This loads DbStat and passes the name of the database to it. You may now page in the database viewing the information on each file of the directory examined by Cocoa as you do so. 

 Creating a list file for information retrieval The generation of a database with cocoa.exe has more relevance than just offering you the header information of files in database form. For most users the main use of the database will be to filter out those texts which have certain combinations of parameters. Say you wish to filter out those texts which are prose, translations and written between 850-950 in the Helsinki corpus. To do this you activate the filter function with Alt-F3 and enter the relevant filter information for the fields concerned. Recall that any filter which you activate within the database manager DbStat can be saved to file and used later. 
	Now once you have realised a filter within DbStat you must mark the records matching the filter by pressing Ctrl-E (= ‘mark matching records for export’). Then you move the cursor to the first field (file_name) and choose the option Organization in the left-most menu (or alternatively, press Alt-F9 to activate this directly). Now select the last option, Save field to text, and enter a name of your choice for the text file which is now saved to disk. The contents of this file then consist of the names of each file which matches the filter you just set within DbStat. 
	This text file can subsequently be used as a so-called list file with the Lexa programmes Lexa Pat, Lexa Search and Lexa Context instead of specifying a file template for the files which the latter programmes are to examine during information retrieval. By this means you can comb through a set of files which share certain contents (specified in the parameters values of the header) rather than just those which show some similarity in their DOS file name. 
	To recapitulate, the steps involved in this process are the following: 

 1 Generate a database with Cocoa parameter information with the programme cocoa.exe. 

 2 Process this database with the Lexa database manager DbStat. 

 3 Set a filter within DbStat (via Alt-F3 when editing the above database) which matches just those files you wish to retain. Press Ctrl-E to mark all the records retained by the filter. 

 4 Move the cursor to the first field of the database (if not already there) and press Alt-F10 for the Organization menu and then select the last option Send field to text. Enter a file name and a text file with the names of each file from the first field of the database is created with one file name per line. 

 5 When using (i) Lexa Pat, (ii) Lexa Search or (iii) Lexa Context set the option Use List File to "on" and enter the name of the text file generated by DbStat instead of a DOS file template. This ensures that these information retrieval programmes examine just those files which are contained in the lines of the text file created by the database. 

 Note Bear in mind that the text file used as a list file for the three above-mentioned programmes does not necessarily have to be generated by DbStat. Furthermore you can edit such a file with Lexa Text if you wish to add or remove file names from it. Just remember that each line of the file must contain one and only one valid DOS file name. 
	If you do work with a database of Cocoa parameter information, then you can add criteria of your own for later filtering. This can be done quite easily by first creating a new database with additional fields (to be filled with information you yourself specify), importing the contents of a database generated by Cocoa via the appropriate menu option on the desktop of DbStat and then editing this new database, using the information in your own fields when creating a filter or filters which then ensure that the selection of files retained after setting a filter are precisely what you want. 
	You many create different text files resulting from the implementation of various filters within DbStat. These can serve as list files for the information retrieval programmes of the Lexa package allowing search runs through sets of files which are grouped according to various combinations of parameter values contained in their headers. 

 

 20.	Lexa Byte 

 Syntax:  lbyte [file1] [file2] [/f] 

 20.0.	Introduction 

 Just like Lexa Sweep is a much expanded version of Lexa Replace, Lexa Byte is a very much more powerful version of Lexa Hex. Note some of the features of this flexible hex editor: 

	1)	You can edit two files simultaneously 
	2) 	You can search for strings in either file 
	3)	You can jump to a specified offset in a file 
	4)	You can compares files for differences 
	5)	You can dump a file in hex format on the printer 
	6)	You can toggle between full and split screen display 
	7) 	You have an integrated file manager at your disposal 

 Lexa Byte can be started either by entering the name of the programme on its own or by supplying one or two file names on the command line. Entering the name of a file on the command line leads to it being loaded automatically by Lexa Byte. There are two file windows in the programme.  If you enter one file name on the command line as in: 

	lbyte problem.fil 

 then this will be loaded and displayed in the upper window to start with. If you enter two file names then the lower file window is filled with the first 160 bytes of the second file assuming that you have not used the /f switch in which latter case the full screen mode is automatically activated and you see 320 bytes from the first file occupying the entire screen. 

 20.1.	File management facilities 

 Should no command line arguments be passed, the programme starts by invoking the internal file manager of Lexa Byte and prompting you to choose a file from a directory listing. The screen you are presented with at this stage should look like the following: 

 On the right is the normal directory listing which you know from many of the Lexa programmes. You can move in this with the arrow keys, PageUp or Page Down and Ctrl-PageUp or Ctrl-PageDown. A letter search facility is also available to locate files swiftly. The directory help window to the left indicates the commands which are effective in the directory listing. Again these should be known to users from the other Lexa programmes which have integrated file management (see the three programmes just mentioned). 
	The primary purpose of the directory listing is to enable you to choose a file for editing. This you do by pressing Return. The Escape key cancels the present procedure only if a file is already loaded in the current window, i.e. you cannot abort the file choice option at the very outset, only if you were intending to load a new file. 
	Note As with Lexa Browse the Disk Tree option assumes that the file adirs.fil is present in the root directory of the present drive otherwise the latter is read by Lexa Byte and then its structure offered for swift directory change. 
	Once you have loaded a file you can now either (i) scroll in the file or (ii) edit the portion currently displayed on the screen. As with Lexa Hex you enter the edit mode by pressing Return. Inverse display is used to indicate the current position in the window. A cursor indicates if the Hex or ASCII window is active. In addition the file offset of the present cursor position in indicated in the status line above (or below) the current window. 
	Note When you are actually editing the contents of a file then a tape appears at the base of the hex window to help you to read the contents of a file in more or less plain text form. 

 20.2.	Split screen and display issues 

 Alt-F7  Toggle split and full screen When you start Lexa Byte the programme is automatically in the split screen mode in which only half of the screen is used to display the current section of the chosen file. By pressing Alt-F7 you can force Lexa Byte to use the entire screen for a single file which means that you see twice as much in hex form as with the split screen mode. This key combination is a toggle: to revert to the split screen mode, press Alt-F7 once more. 

 In order to help users to recognize the contents of files, four display modes have been included in Lexa Byte, three of which are a type of filter. Note that each time you press one of the following keys the screen is refreshed. 

	F4		Show entire character set 
	Shift-F4	Only show characters above $32 
	Ctrl-F4		Only show characters above $32 and below $127 
	Alt-F4		Only show characters above $127 

 20.3.	Switching between and loading files 

 F8  Switch between files. If a file is not open in the second window (the lower one) when you first use F8 a directory window opens and you are prompted to choose a file to edit. You can in theory load the same file twice and view it at different positions. However, if you edit the file then only the changes made last are retained on disk. 
	Instead of using the F8 toggle you can switch to file one by pressing Alt-1 and to file two by striking Alt-2. 

 F5  New File To load a new file into either window press F5. A directory window opens and you choose a file in the accustomed manner (or press Escape to revert to the old file). 

 20.4.	Navigation, searching and comparison 

 Four additional keystrokes are available when you are either in the list or the edit mode, i.e. when you are either paging in a file or actually altering the contents of the current window: 

	1)	Shift-F5	Goto file position 
	2)	F6		Compare two files for differences 
	3)	Shift-F6	Search file for string 
	4)	Ctrl-F6		Continue search string 

 The first of these is the easiest. You are prompted to enter a number corresponding to the file offset (in decimal) which you wish to jump to. If the value you enter is greater than the file size the programme just moves to the end of the current file. 
	The second command above is useful if you are comparing two files which should be the same but which you suspect to be different. Lexa Byte starts from the current file position and compares the two files byte by byte (obviously this command is only available if two files are actually loaded, i.e. both windows are filled). If a difference is found the cursor is automatically located at the byte after the first difference and you are in the edit mode. The reason for locating the cursor one byte beyond the first difference is that you can now repeat the command and the cursor jumps to the next difference. Of course the next difference might be the byte the cursor is resting on in which case the cursor is only re-located by one further byte. By continually pressing F6, however, you can trace through the differences between two files until the end of the (shorter) file is reached. 
	The third command allows you to search for a pattern in a file. The entry line into which you type the search string will accept unfiltered text. This means that you can search for control codes (which you will have to enter via the Alt key and a number typed in on the numeric keypad). Assuming that the string you enter is found the cursor is located on the first byte of the string and you are automatically placed in the edit mode. You can repeat the search by pressing Ctrl-F6 as often as you like until you reach the end of (the shorter) file. 

 Hex and ASCII input for searches 

 Frequently users wish to search for contents of files containing ASCII $0. The only way to do is to enter the search string in the Hex mode (use F4 to toggle input modes). When entering text in this mode you must type in sequences of two hex digits, separated by blanks if you wish (this is optional), e.g. to search for ASCII $0, $6, $0, $14 you could enter either (1) or (2). 

	1)	00 06 00 14 
	2)	00060014 

 Obviously (1) is easier to read. Remember here that all Hex numbers must be entered as sequences of two digits, for instance $6 must be typed as 06 and not 6. 
	Note When you search for a string or jump to a new position while you are editing a window, Lexa Byte first asks you if you wish to save the current window to disk. This prompt might be a nuisance to you so you have the option of turning it off via F3. There is then no warning about possible loss of data when executing some command or other. 

 20.5.	Hex printing a file 

 Finally you should note that you can print a hex dump of a file directly from the directory listing by pressing Shift-F9. Your printer must be turned on and online otherwise an error message is issued. 

 

 21.	Lexa Kill 

 Syntax:  lkill [drive_spec]file_spec /n 

 As the name indicates, the present utility is quite dangerous. What is does is to delete every file matching a specification in all subdirectories of a drive. 

 Take a simple example. You want to clean your hard disk of all .bak files (these might be generated by various programmes, e.g. a word processor or database manager). In such a case you would enter the command line as follows: 
	 
	lkill *.bak /n 

 Of course if you are sure of what you are doing you do not need to confirm deleting every single file and so you can enter the command line with the /n which turns off the user confirmation request. Be careful using wild cards as these may match up with files which you do not want to delete. If the files for deletion are not on the current drive then enter the drive letter with a colon immediately before the file specification (without an intervening space) as in: 
	 
	lkill a:*.* 

 You can abort a kill operation immediately by pressing Escape. 

 

 22.	Lexa MkASC 

 Syntax:  lmkasc 

 The present utility performs the simple function of converting any input file into an ASCII text file. To facilitate the generation of files, the programme operates interactively. When loaded you are presented with the following screen: 

 Notes Filtering out the character values under $32 is advisable if you want to process the resultant file with a text editor. 
	The line length parameter is used by Lexa MkASC to determine at what intervals it is to insert a carriage return/line feed pair of characters. 
	You can only specify one input file at a time. 
	If you specify an output file which already exists then you must confirm overwriting it. 

 

 23.	Lexa Strip 

 Syntax:  lstrip file_spec 

 For a variety of programme types it is necessary for files not to include special ASCII characters below $32 (so-called printer control codes) or above $127, i.e. upper ASCII codes. 
	Files can be cleaned of these characters using the present programme. It has the advantage that it simply removes the characters, rather than, say, setting the eighth bit to zero which would lead to upper ASCII characters turning up in the output file or files as the equivalent lower ASCII characters. This action can be useful when one wants to generate a pure ASCII text file from a file which has been formatted with a specific word processor. You cannot usually use such files when working with a text editor as they contain ASCII characters outside of the English alphabet as placeholders for information which is translated for display on the screen and for output on the printer as formatting (typeface, style, page layout, etc.). 
	Note that you can strip a set of files with Lexa Strip by using a file specification with a valid DOS wild card, e.g. *.doc. 

 

 24.	Lexa Mem 

 Syntax:  lmem 

 This programme serves the simple function of indicating the total amount of conventional memory (i.e. not extended or expanded memory) and how much of this is currently in use by what programmes. Useful if you are checking on possible memory-resident software in system memory. 

 

 

 25.	Lexa Expanded Memory 

 Syntax:  lem 

 This utility states whether a system has EMS support or not. Recall that for expanded memory support according to the Lotus-Intel-Microsoft specification there must be additional memory chips fitted in the computer to provide memory above the 1MB of conventional memory accessed directly by the CPU under MS-DOS. Furthermore a so-called device driver must have been loaded which forms the software interface between the operating system and the additional memory hardware. 
	For all intents and purposes there are two versions of EMS: an older 3.2 and a more recent 4.0 version. The number of pages available refers not to the total amount of memory your system contains for EMS use but to the quantity of memory which is currently non-allocated (a memory-resident programme could well be occupying part of the expanded memory, thus blocking it from use by normal programmes). A page of expanded memory is 16K in size. 
	Do not confuse expanded with extended memory. The latter refers to memory which is physically present in the computer but which can only be accessed when the CPU is run in the so-called protected mode. A system may have typically 4 or 8MB of extended memory when running OS/2 which uses the 80286/80386 in the protected and not the real mode (as MS-DOS does). 

 

 26.	Alter Path 

 Syntax:  alt_path 

 This programme serves the simple purpose of altering the DOS path variable in the file autoexec.bat in the root directory of drive C:. The reason this is necessary is because when you copy the files on the CD ROM to your hard disk, your computer must know where these are to be found so that it can load any programme from the Lexa or LinguaFont suites which might be requested by the user. The addition to the path variable which is inserted is the following: 

 	;c:\lexa;c:\lingfont 

 This is placed at the end of the line in autoexec.bat on which the path variable is to be found. Should you copy the Lexa and LinguaFont files to anywhere other than the C: drive or to any other directories then you will have to enter these manually in the autoexec.bat file before it is possible to access them from your hard disk. 

 

 Font module files 
 
 0.	Introduction 

 As the Lexa package will presumably be used in connection with standard text corpora of English which are available academically it would seem sensible to offer some utilities which would enhance these corpora with respect to the correct representation of special symbols not contained in the ASCII character set. 
	First of all a word about text corpora in general. These text collections are all compiled using only a subset of the symbols available on MS-DOS machines. Typically they only consist of characters from ASCII $32 to $126 and not even all symbols in this range may in fact be used. The reason for this is allow maximum portability of the text files from one system to another. Every computer has the possibility of processing ASCII files with characters from the restricted range 32-126. Furthermore all software can deal with texts compiled with just these symbols. The difficulties arise with special symbols which are not available in the range just mentioned. The compilers of text corpora get around the problem by coding these symbols. This is done by taking some character (technically called an ‘escape’ character) and stating that when it occurs in a text the symbol which immediately follows it is to be interpreted differently. Take the Helsinki corpus of English texts as an example. Here the sequence +d is to be interpreted as the coding for Old English eth (originally a crossed ‘d’ with very roughly the shape of a Greek delta). The escape character ‘+’ causes a re-interpretation of the ‘d’ which follows it. 
	Now when processing text corpora on a personal computer one should make use of the options which it offers. One of these is the ability to display customized characters. Needless to say, if one processes a text with many special symbols coded as escape sequences, the text can become practically illegible. The Lexa package contains a solution to this problem by putting a font module at the user’s disposal. With this one can convert escape sequences into actual special characters and thus see Old and Middle English texts in more legible form on screen. 

 0.1.	Printer drivers 

 Seeing customized characters on screen is one thing, seeing them on paper is quite another. In order for the latter to succeed one must (i) load a special symbol font into the printer and (ii) use a special printer driver from within one’s processing software to address the special font. Contained in the Lexa package there are two printer drivers for WordPerfect (version 5.1). The first is hels_dmp.prs which is intended for use with dot matrix printers and the second is hels_las.prs which is for laser printers. Whenever you wish to print something from a text which has been processed by mak_symb.exe (see below) you must choose one of the two printer drivers just-mentioned and use the font which is labelled Phonetic. Further details of handling printer drivers is contained in the relevant documentation on WordPerfect. 

 0.2.	Soft fonts for printers 

 For special symbols to turn up correctly on paper a font file must be loaded from disk into the printer before you start printing. This holds for both dot matrix and laser printers. The soft fonts for printers are contained in a special directory on the Lexa distribution diskettes and are copied into your Lexa directory when you install Lexa. Furthermore if you wish to use the font module, Lexa Install will make the necessary adjustments to the startup file of your computer, AUTOEXEC.BAT. 
	What users should bear in mind is that soft fonts are volatile and can easily be lost. Typically when you turn off your printer for some reason or other, e.g. because of a paper jam, any soft font present is automatically discarded. If you wish to print with special characters again you must re-load the soft font(s) from disk. To this end a special batch file, dmp_font.bat for dot matrix printers and las_font.bat for laser printers, has been included on the distribution diskettes. It will be in your own Lexa directory on disk after installation so that you need only enter the name of the batch file and the fonts are downloaded to the printer. Be sure that the printer is both powered up and on-line, otherwise the operation will not be successful. 

 

 

 1.	Lexa Keyboard 

 Syntax:  lkeyb [2] [/s] 

 This is the keyboard which you should use when working with the Lexa programme group. It behaves in all respects like a normal MS-DOS keyboard driver but has a number of additional features. It can be customized with the programme Lexa SetKey (see below) and contains a greater number of keystrokes than normal keyboard drivers. 
	Entering lkeyb with the switch 2 leads to the second, customized keyboard layout being active. The first layout is the normal American keyboard. You may switch between the two by pressing Ctrl-Alt + F1 or Ctrl-Alt + F2. 
	The switch /s will use Shift Lock for Caps Lock and thus cause the numbers on the top of the keyboard to be replaced by diacritics and the shift function to be reversed if you press one of the Shift keys (left or right). Without the /s switch neither of these effects are to be observed, i.e. the shift function just leads to capitals for lowercase letters but nothing else. Note The key combination Alt + Return works with the Lexa keyboard drivers (which is not true of normal MS-DOS keyboard drivers) and can be used to activate the menu system of any Lexa programme which has such menus, e.g. Lexa Text. 

 Keyboard driver for Helsinki corpus 

 There is, in addition to the generic keyboard lkeyb.exe, also a customized keyboard supplied with the font module of the Lexa package, key_hels.exe. The following symbols can be accessed from this keyboard. You must load this when starting your computer and also load the screen file hels_sym.??? with the batch file show_sym.bat. 
	Note that the extension which is to replace .??? is passed to the batch file on execution. The name of the batch file must be entered from the DOS command line with the extension which holds for the type of video adapter you are using, e.g. show_sym vga is the call on a system with a VGA video adapter, show_sym ega is used with an EGA video adapter and show_sym fnt with a Hercules Plus card. 

	Combinations of Right Alt key and letter: 

		a	:	æ	(Ash) 
		d	:	delta	(Eth) 
		g	:	-	(Yogh) 
		t	:		(Thorn) 
		z	:	-	(Crossed Thorn) 
		e	:	ê	(E caudata) 
		l	:	-	(Pound sign) 

	Combinations of Left Alt + Left Control keys and letter: 

		a	:	Æ	(ash) 
		d	:		(eth)
  		g	:	_	(yogh) 
		t	:	-	(thorn) 
		z	:	-	(crossed thorn) 

 Note The letters can be typed as lowercase (no case distinction is made). 

 

 2.	Lexa SetKey 

 Syntax:  lsetkey [keyboard_file] 

 2.0.	Introduction 

 Lexa SetKey is simplicity itself. When you start it you are presented with a directory lister from which you choose a suitable keyboard file to edit. Bear in mind here that Lexa SetKey lists all the files in the current directory with the extension .exe so be careful that you choose a keyboard driver and not some other programme file. 
	Once this is loaded you are faced with a screen in which two sets of keyboard characters are displayed on screen, one for the lowercase symbols and one for the uppercase ones. The default layout is that of an American English keyboard. 

 With the Arrow keys (or PageUp, Page Down) you can move within the keyboard template (the inverse video block wanders across both sections of the keyboard template). To change the value of a particular key, press Return. You will notice that a cursor appears and you can now enter a single character. It may well be that to access the screen font symbol to be laid on the current key in the screen template you will have to press the Alt key and type in the ASCII code value of the screen font symbol as a number on the numeric keypad to the right of the keyboard. After entering the code value, do not press the Return key as the entry is automatically terminated by Lexa SetKey. 
	With one of the arrow keys you can now move to another character. By pressing F10 you can save the present layout and return to DOS; using Escape instead leads, as one might expect, to this layout being abandoned (not saved to disk); this must be confirmed by the user. 
	Five grids in all are available within Lexa SetKey. These correspond to the five character tables which can be activated by the keyboard driver lkeyb.exe. 

	(1)	American English keyboard layout	(full, with shift) 
	(2)	Customized keyboard layout		(full, with shift) 
	(3)	Right-Alt keyboard layout		(half, no shift) 
	(4)	Alt+Ctrl keyboard layout		(half, no shift) 
	(5)	Shift+Alt+Ctrl keyboard layout	(half, no shift) 

 Note that only the first two layouts cover a full complement of keys (one normal set and another when the Shift key is depressed). The remaining three are half sets for each of which you must press one or more status keys. 
	To view other grids, simply press F5. The next grid appears and can be edited. For the next one press F5 again. When you press this key and the last grid is already displayed, the programme loops back to the first layout again, i.e. the default layout. 

 2.1.	Creating a new keyboard driver 

 Lexa SetKey does not generate a new keyboard driver but alters an existing one. With the Lexa set a driver is supplied, called lkeyb.exe (see comments in previous section). 
	This driver is intended as an input for the drivers users design themselves. To create such a driver, the first step is to copy the normal driver. Copy it as follows (assuming, for argument’s sake, that you wish to create a Russian keyboard driver). 

	copy lkeyb.exe keyruss.exe 

 You can now edit the newly created file keyruss.exe with Lexa SetKey by entering the following command line at the DOS prompt and pressing Return. 

	lsetkey keyruss.exe 

 In order to be successful in editing such a driver you would have to define a Russian character set (for example with the font manager FontSoft by the present author) and load it as a screen font into your video adapter. You can then devise a layout which enables you to access the symbols of your Russian screen character set from the keyboard. 

 2.2.	Managing keyboard drivers 

 Remember that the keyboard driver lkeyb.exe, which is the source of all keyboard drivers which users may create and then alter with Lexa SetKey, allows two full keyboard layouts. You switch between layouts by pressing Ctrl and Alt together and then pressing F1 or F2 to activate one layout or the other. 
	Note a few final points in connection with the keyboard drivers you can design with Lexa SetKey. 
	1)  Initially when you create a new keyboard file by copying the original keyboard driver supplied with Lexa SetKey, the default keyboard layout is duplicated in the customized keyboard layout. 
	2)  There may be one or two peripheral letters of the keyboard (diacritics) which cannot be re-defined for a customized keyboard layout. 
	3)  When you first load a keyboard driver it is the default layout which is active; you may then switch between layouts as follows: 

	Ctrl - Alt + F1   =  Default keyboard layout 
Ctrl - Alt + F2   =  Customized keyboard layout 

	4)  If you wish the customized layout to be active initially or if you wish to activate it with the keyboard driver already resident in system memory then enter the number "2" (= 2nd. layout) as a command line parameter as in: 

 	lkeyb 2	 
 
	5)  By default the CapsLock key functions as just that: it converts lowercase letters to uppercase ones but nothing else and, importantly, is not turned off by the user pressing the LeftShift or RightShift key. However, if you wish to have the second type of situation (that found with so-called multifunction keyboards with PCs nowadays) then enter /s as a command line parameter and this will then hold. 

	lkeyb /s 

 2.3.	Loading a keyboard driver 

 A customized keyboard driver is loaded by simply entering its name at the DOS prompt and pressing Return as follows (with the exemplary Russian keyboard driver). 

	keyruss Return 

 This keyboard remain resident in system memory and is used by DOS until you either reset the computer or load another keyboard. What is important to remember here is that the keyboard is independent of any application programme (word processor, database management system or whatever) which you might subsequently load and is, of course, present on the DOS level as well. Bear the latter fact in mind and change the keyboard setting to the default layout (American English) when in DOS (press Ctrl-Alt + F1) as you will probably never need a customized layout when working on the operating system level. 
	Be careful!  When using a customized keyboard driver, the customized layout (reached via Ctrl-Alt+F2) may well contain symbols from the upper ASCII area which will have been re-defined for the screen by the user so that they display the special symbols he/she requires. You can use this alternative keyboard layout for entering text but not for entering commands in the programme you are using. Say, for example, a particular command in your word processor requires that you press F4 followed by one of the letters "y/n" (a common situation). With the customized keyboard layout, the F4 key reacts normally, but when you strike the n or y key you do not convey "no" or "yes" to the programme. Instead the key which is to be found on the n or y keys in the customized keyboard layout is sent to the programme and the latter will most certainly not be able to interpret this in any meaningful way. At best, the programme simply forgets you ever started the command and returns you to the text, at worst it does something which is the reverse of your intention. The moral of the story is: switch back to the default keyboard layout before issuing commands in a programme. 

 

 3.	Lexa Perm 

 Syntax:  lperm font_file 

 The intention behind this utility is to render any font loaded into either an EGA or VGA video adapter permanent, i.e. resistant to a video reset. This is necessary as so many programmes reset the video adapter of the computer either on starting or during operation, e.g. when switching from a graphics mode back to a text mode. If you load a font in the normal fashion with Lexa LoadVid (see below) then this customized font is lost after the video reset. 
	Lexa Permanent functions by re-routing a pointer in the Video Display Data Area in low system memory (just after the BIOS Data Area, at 0040:00a8) to point not to the tables in the ROM BIOS of the video adapter but to an area of system memory in which alternative tables, including the customized font passed to Lexa Permanent from the command line on loading, are located. These tables are used anytime a video reset is made. The net effect of this is that your font will survive any change in video mode which a subsequently loaded application may make. 
	A few points in connection with Lexa Permanent should be noted. The first is that it remains in memory after being loaded. This is necessary as the font buffer with the contents of your customized font must be retained in order for it to be accessed any time a video reset is made by some programme or other. The sacrifice you make here is about 12K of system memory (the programme Lexa Permanent itself and a 4K memory buffer for the font in question). 
	Lexa Permanent should be loaded immediately after you start your computer (your best move is to include it in AUTOEXEC.BAT, if this has not been done for you by Install). If you call it a second time it installs itself again, and you forfeit another 12K. 
	There is no checking on the type of video adapter in your machine as this would require code which would in turn take up a little more system memory. As the latter is undesirable, adapter checking has been left out, so make sure you know what video subsystem is in the machine you are working with before calling Lexa Permanent. 
	Either an EGA or a VGA file (supplied with the Lexa package, for example) can be passed to Lexa Permanent from the command line. It automatically recognizes which is which and loads the correct number of bytes into the internal font buffer. 

 

 4.	Lexa Load Video 

 Syntax:  lloadvid font_file /h,e,v /t 

 Loading a font file into your video adapter can be achieved either by using Lexa Permanent (see previous section) or the present utility which supports three basic types of adapter. Before discussing each in detail users should note that a font which is loaded with Lexa Load Video is not necessarily deposited permanently. While it is true that none of the programmes of the Lexa package will discard a special font in your video adapter there are some programmes which reset the video adapter before starting. The latter would result in the loss of special symbols on the screen. In such instances use Lexa Permanent. 

 4.1.	Hercules mode 

 By using the /h switch (see call syntax above) you can load a font into a Hercules Graphics Card Plus assuming one is present in your system. The font_file parameter must then be represented by a file with the extension .fnt. These files are 4096 bytes long as opposed to the EGA files which are only 3584 bytes long. 

 4.2.	EGA mode 

 The /e switch is intended to be used when loading a font into the EGA adapter. Use files with the extension .ega. You notice that these are slightly smaller than the corresponding .fnt files. If you have a multi-resolution EGA card (capable of various modes) in your system unit then check that it is in the default EGA mode before trying to use Lexa Load Video otherwise the font load will probably not succeed. 

 4.3.	VGA mode 

 By using the /v switch you load a customized font into the VGA adapter. This is the video adapter present in IBM PS/2 machines and practically all colour-based PC systems today. You must use a special VGA font file (such as that supplied with the Lexa package) as otherwise the length of the screen will be incorrect after calling Lexa Load Video. 
	If you also enter the /t switch then after Lexa Load Video has loaded the specified font you are presented with a screen on which the entire ASCII set is to be seen. The characters used for this display are those in the font you have just loaded thus providing a check on whether the operation just carried out was successful or not. You press any key to return to DOS. 

 

 5.	Make Symbols 

 Syntax:  mak_symb file_spec /r 

 In order to convert any file or set of files from the Helsinki corpus, with special Old and Middle English symbols coded as escape sequences, it is necessary to run them through the present utility Make Symbols. 
	The procedure is very simple: you call Make Symbols with a file name or file template passed as parameter. The programme proceeds to convert any code sequences found in each text into the corresponding symbol according to the following key. 
	 
	Lowercase		Coded in Helsinki corpus as 
 
	Ash		:	æ	+a 
	Eth		:	delta	+d 
	Yogh		:	-	+g 
	Thorn		:		+t	 
	Crossed thorn	:	-	+tt 
	E caudata	:	ê	+e 
	Pound sign	:	pound	+L 

 	Uppercase 

 	Ash		:	Æ	+A 
	Eth		:		+D 
	Yogh		:	-	+G 
	Thorn		:	-	+T 
	Crossed thorn	:	-	+TT 

 Note The present utility alters files in their original form so be careful not to work with original files but preferably with copies. 
	However, if you wish to recover the code sequences from a converted file then simply call Make Symbols with the /r switch which reverses the special characters, converting them into the code sequences from which they were derived on a previous occasion. 
	To test the present utility, try converting the supplied file codes.tst. It contains all the code sequences of the Helsinki text corpus. After conversion you should see these symbols for what they are, i.e. the actual characters. If you then run the file through the programme again but this time with the /r switch for "reverse" the file is restored to its original form. 

 

 Appendix A 

 Check list of files of the Lexa set 

 Executable files (Total: 64 + 2) 

	Area:	Lexical Analysis 

		1)	Lexa 
 
	Area:	Data Processing		Area:	Information Retrieval 
 
		2)	Lexa Text 		10)	Lexa Pat 
		3)	Lexa Bat		11)	Lexa DbPat 
		4)	Lexa Form		12)	Lexa Context 
		5)	Lexa Browse		13)	Lexa Sweep 
		6)	Lexa View		14)	Lexa Search 
		7)	Lexa Hex		15)	Lexa Replace 
		8)	Lexa Info		16)	Lexa Filter 
		9)	Lexa Comp			 
			_Db_Mod			 

	Area:	File Management; Utilities 

 		17)	Lexa Desk		34)	Lexa Backup 
		18)	Lexa Control		35)	Lexa Move 
		19)	Lexa Shell		36)	Lexa Byte 
		20)	Lexa File		37)	Lexa Kill 
		21)	Lexa FileCat		38)	Lexa MkAsc 
		22)	Lexa Dirs		39)	Lexa Strip 
		23)	Lexa Find		40)	Lexa Memory 
		24)	Lexa Scan		41)	Lexa Extended Memory 
		25)	Lexa Print 		26)	Lexa Sort			

	Area:	Font Module Files 

		27)	Lexa Chain 		28)	Lexa Unchain					42)	Lexa KeyBoard 		29)	Lexa List					43)	Lexa SetKey 		30)	Lexa CrLf					44)	Lexa Perm 		31)	Lexa LineNo					45)	Lexa LoadVideo 	32)	Lexa Adjust					46)	Install 			33)	Cocoa						47)	Make Symbols 

	Area:	Database Management		Area:	Corpus Processing 
												DOS learning utilities 

		48)	DbTxt (DbStat)		59)	CM (Corpus Manager) 
		49)	DbTrans		60)	CharInd 
		50)	DbPage		61)	TinyText 
		51)	DbLook			62)	DosDict 
		52)	CompDb		63)	DosDemo 
		53)	MergeDb		64)	DosHelp 
		54)	ReportDb						 
		55)	DbList 
		56)	ClassifyField 
		57)	PackMemo	 
		58)	CalcStat 

 Additional files organized according to directory 

 Dir.:	LEXA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
	CHK_FILS.LST ........... Check list of files for Lexa set 
	CM      .INI ........... Initialization file for Corpus Manager 
	COCOA   .DOC ........... List of Cocoa parameters 
	CODES   .TST ........... Test file for Helsinki corpus special characters 
	COMM_TST.DEF ........... Lemma definition file for Helsinki comments test file 
	COMM_TST.INP ........... Test file for Helsinki comments in Lexa 
	COMPDICT.IND ........... Index file for Computer Dictionary text database 
	COMPDICT.TDB ........... Computer Dictionary text database 
	CSTAT   .HLP ........... Help file for CalcStat 
	CSTAT   .IND ........... Index file for CalcStat help 
	DBTXT   .HLP ........... Help file for DbTxt 
	DBSTAT  .HLP ........... Help file for DbStat 
	DBSTAT  .IND ........... Index file for DbStat help 
	DBSTAT  .INI ........... Initialization file for DbStat 
	DBTRANS .INI ........... Initialization file for DbTrans 
	DMP     .PCF ........... Dot matrix printer command file 
	DOSDEMO .AUX ........... Auxiliary dictionary file for DosDemo 
	DOSDICT .LEX ........... Dictionary input file for DosDict 
	EME_CORR.IND ........... Index for file for following text database 
	EME_CORR.TDB ........... Early Modern English Correspondence text database 
	GER_LAS .TBL ........... Character translation table for German 
	INKJET  .PCF ........... Printer driver for Hewlett Packard Inkjet 
	KEYBOARD.LAY ........... Keyboard layout template 
	LASER   .PCF ........... Laser printer command file 
	LC      .BAT ........... Batch file for starting Lexa Control 
	LCONTEXT.INI ........... Initialization file for Lexa Context 
	LDBPAT  .INI ........... Initialization file for Lexa DbPat 
	LDIRS   .BAT ........... Batch file for starting Lexa Dirs with full name 
	LEXA    .HLP ........... Help file for Lexa 
	LEXA    .IND ........... Index file for Lexa help 
	LEXA    .INI ........... Initialization file for Lexa 
	LEXAINFO.TXT ........... Text file for online info in Lexa Control 
	LF      .HLP ........... Help file for Lexa File 
	LFB     .BAT ........... Batch file for starting Lexa File 
	LFILE   .INI ........... Initialization file for Lexa File 
	LKEYB   .LST ........... List of keyboard plane settings for LKEYB.EXE 
	LPAT    .INI ........... Initialization file for Lexa Pat 
	LPRINT  .FTR ........... Test footer file for Lexa Print 
	LPRINT  .HDR ........... Test header file for Lexa Print 
	LS      .BAT ........... Batch file for starting Lexa Shell 
	LSEARCH .INI ........... Initialization file for Lexa Search 
	LSHELL  .INI ........... Initialization file for Lexa Shell 
	LSWEEP  .INI ........... Initialization file for Lexa Sweep 
	LT      .HLP ........... Help file for Lexa Text 
	LTB     .BAT ........... Batch file for starting Lexa Text 
	LTSMALL .HLP ........... Help file for Lexa Text Small 
	LTSMALL .IND ........... Index file for Lexa Text Small help 
	LTEXT   .WDS ........... Words file for Lexa Text 
	LTEXT   .LIN ........... Lines file for Lexa Text 
	LTEXT   .ALT ........... Alt macro file for Lexa Text 
	LTEXT   .TDB ........... Text database for Lexa Text 
	LTEXT   .IND ........... Index file for text database 
	LTEXT   .INI ........... Initialization file for Lexa Text 
	LTEXT   .FTR ........... Footer file for printing with Lexa Text 
	LTEXT   .HDR ........... Header file for printing with Lexa Text 
	LX_FILE .LST ........... List of files to search for Lexa Search 
	MASTER  .FRM ........... Master form file for Lexa Form 
	MASTER  .FTR ........... Footer file for previous form file 
	MASTER  .HDR ........... Header file for previous form file 
	MASTER  .TXT ........... Sample text for insertion into form file 
	MID_ENG .INI ........... Test initialization file Lexa Search 
	NO_COMM .FRM ........... Test form file without any comments 
	NORM    .DBF ........... Database with normalized forms for DbTrans 
	PART    .LST ........... List file with wild cards for Lexa Pat 
	PC_KNOW .IND ........... Index file for PC Knowledge text database 
	PC_KNOW .TDB ........... PC Knowledge text database 
	PC_WORDS.LST ........... List of words for searching through PC_KNOW.TDB 
	PRONOUNS.LST ........... Set for search in EME_CORR text database 
	README       ........... Last minute information on programme improvements 
	ROMAN_8 .TBL ........... Character translation table for Roman 8 fonts 
	SAMPLE  .IND ........... Index for file for following text database 
	SAMPLE  .TDB ........... Sample text database for Corpus Manager 
	TRANS   .DBF ........... Database with translations for DbTrans 
	TRANS   .001 ........... Sample input file for DbTrans 
	TRANS   .002 ........... Sample input file for DbTrans 
	TRANS   .003 ........... Sample input file for DbTrans 
	VERBFORM.LST ........... Set for search in EME_CORR text database 

 Dir.:	LEXA\HELSINKI
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
	HELSINKI.DOC ........... Document explaining encoding of Helsinki symbols 
	HELSINKI.TST ........... Test file for Helsinki symbols 
	KEY_HELS.EXE ........... Special keyboard driver for Helsinki files 
	SHOW_SYM.BAT ........... Batch file for loading video and keyboard files 

 Dir.:	LEXA\HELSINKI\DRIVERS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
	HELS_DMP.PRS ........... WordPerfect dot matrix printer driver 
	HELS_LAS.PRS ........... WordPerfect laser printer driver 

 Dir.:	LEXA\HELSINKI\FONTS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
	DMP_FONT.BAT ........... Batch file for downloading to dot matrix printer 
	HELSINKI.DL1 ........... Dot matrix download file with Helsinki symbols 
	HELS_SYM.EGA ........... EGA video file with Helsinki symbols 
	HELS_SYM.FNT ........... VGA video file with Helsinki symbols 
	HELS_SYM.VGA ........... Hercules Plus video file with Helsinki symbols 
	HEL_ITAL.LPF ........... Italic Helsinki symbols for laser printer 
	HEL_UPRT.LPF ........... Upright Helsinki symbols for laser printer 
	ID1          ........... Laser printer ID no. for first font 
	ID2          ........... Laser printer ID no. for second font 
	LAS_FONT.BAT ........... Batch file for downloading to laser printer 

 Dir.:	LEXA\LEXADATA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
	CHAUCER .TXT ........... Prologue to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales 
	LOB     .TAG ........... Manual tag file with LOB tag definitions 
	LEM_DEF .LST ........... List of lemma definition files 
	LEM_DEF .001 ........... First file listed in LEM_DEF.LST 
	LEM_DEF .002 ........... Second file listed in LEM_DEF.LST 
	LEM_DEF .003 ........... Third file listed in LEM_DEF.LST 
	_LEXA   .DEF ........... Tag definition file (basic types and tokens) 
	_LX_TST1.INP ........... Test input file 1 (extract from CHAUCER.TXT) 
	_LX_TST2.INP ........... Test input file 2 (extract from CHAUCER.TXT) 
	_LX_TST3.INP ........... Test input file 3 (extract from CHAUCER.TXT) 
	_LX_TST4.INP ........... Test input file 4 (extract from CHAUCER.TXT) 
	_MANUAL .TAG ........... Manual tag file (basic grammatical categories) 
	_STOP   .LST ........... Stop words list (common words to be excluded) 

 Dir.:	LEXA\STATDATA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
	BIBLIO  .DBF ........... Bibliographical database 
	BIBLIO  .DBX ........... Index on field SURNAME for above database 
	BIBLIO  .REP ........... Report form for BIBLIO.DBF 
	BIBLIO  .TXT ........... Bibliographical database in delimited text form 
	CHI_SQ_1.DBF ........... Chi-Square test database (1) 
	CHI_SQ_2.DBF ........... Chi-Square test database (2) 
	CLEAN   .WPM ........... WordPerfect macro for bibliographical database 
	DB_TEST .DBF ........... General test database with various field types 
	DB_TEST .REP ........... Report form (standard letter) for above database 
	DB_TEST .TXT ........... General test database in delimited text form 
	DBLIST  .CFG ........... Configuration file for DbList 
	FIL_NAM1.TXT ........... Record text file for general test database (1) 
	FIL_NAM2.TXT ........... Record text file for general test database (2) 
	FREQ_LST.DBF ........... Test database for frequency lists 
	F_TST_1 .DBF ........... Test database for F test (1) 
	F_TST_2 .DBF ........... Test database for F test (2) 
	INTERVAL.DBF ........... Test database for numerical intervals 
	ITAL    .WPM ........... WordPerfect macro for bibliographical database 
	MANN_1  .DBF ........... Test database for Mann Whitney U test (1) 
	MANN_2  .DBF ........... Test database for Mann Whitney U test (2) 
	MEMO    .DBF ........... Test database for processing dBASE memo fields 
	MEMO    .DBT ........... Text file with dBASE memo field contents 
	PEAR_1  .DBF ........... Test database for Pearson correlation coeff. (1) 
	PEAR_2  .DBF ........... Test database for Pearson correlation coeff. (2) 
	SAMPLE  .DBF ........... Sample database with numerical data 
	SIGN_1  .DBF ........... Test database for sign test (1) 
	SIGN_2  .DBF ........... Test database for sign test (2) 
	SNIPPETS.TXT ........... Stretch of text for importing into DbStat clipboard 
	SPEAR_1 .DBF ........... Test database for Spearman correlation coeff. (1) 
	SPEAR_2 .DBF ........... Test database for Spearman correlation coeff. (2) 
	TEST    .LST ........... Numerical list for List Processing in CalcStat 
	WILCOX1 .DBF ........... Test database for Wilcoxon signed-rank test (1) 
	WILCOX2 .DBF ........... Test database for Wilcoxon signed-rank test (2) 
	WORD_PRO.REP ........... Report form for bibliography and word processor 
	YEAR    .DBX ........... Index on field YEAR for BIBLIO.DBF 

 

 

 Appendix B 

 Background to Lexa 

 The Lexa set of programmes started out some years ago as software for the construction of lexical databases from texts which the author had himself keyed into the computer. In the course of time it became obvious that such software, if expanded and refined, could be of use to the community of linguists involved in corpus data processing. Indeed this became even clearer with the advent of text corpora, such as the Helsinki corpus of historical English, which removed the chore of entering data from the individual linguist. In the light of these developments, the main programme Lexa was enlarged to deal with the task of tagging texts and a variety of programmes, such as Cocoa and the font module utilities, were added to round off the group. 
	The Lexa package has been written almost entirely in the high-level object-oriented programming language C++ which combines eloquent brevity in its syntax with speed and efficiency in its implementation. Small sections are coded in assembler to cater for the vagaries of the IBM PC and its myriad clones. 

 About the author. Raymond Hickey was born in 1954 in Ireland; he received his school education in Waterford and his university education at Trinity College, Dublin where he took an M.A. in German and Italian. He did his PhD in general linguistics (syntax) in Kiel, West Germany in 1980 and his "Habilitation" on Irish English phonology in Bonn where he was an "Assistent" from 1980 to 1985, a "Privatdozent" from 1985 to 1987 and professor from 1987 to 1991; from 1991-1993 he was professor for linguistics at the English department of the University of Munich, then at the Universtiy of Bayreuth and since 1994 holds the chair of English linguistics at the University of Essen.