
1. Introduction

   The intention of the present group of programmes is to
put at the disposal of the interested linguist the tools he
or she would require in order to process lexical data with a
high degree of automation on a personal computer. The pack-
age is divided into several groups which perform typical
functions. Of these the first, lexical analysis, will be of
immediate concern. The main programme, Lexa, allows one to
tag and lemmatise any text or series of texts with a minimum
of effort. All that is required is that the user specify what
(possible) words are to be assigned to what lemmas. The rest
is taken care of by the programme. 
   Manual tagging and editing of a text is equally possible
with Lexa as are a whole range of additional processing op-
tions which are desirable during lexical analysis.

   In the design of the current set flexibility has been
given highest priority. This is to be seen in the number of
items, in nearly all programmes, which are user-determinable.
Furthermore, techniques have been employed which render the
structure of each programme as user-friendly as possible,
permitting the linguist to concentrate on essentially lin-
guistic matters.

   To the user who has little or no previous experience of
computing a word of warning is called for: all technical ex-
planations given within programmes and in the manuals assume
that one is acquainted with the basics of computer hardware
and software and that one has at least some experience with
word processing if not with database management. Those users
for whom this is not the case are strongly advised to ac-
quire the necessary background knowledge in these relevant
areas before embarking on lexical data processing.


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2. Mouse support

   A Microsoft mouse (or compatible one) can be used with
the main programme of the Lexa package and most of the
minor ones as well. 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 com-
mand with the mouse, move the block cursor to the text of
a command (e.g. to a line of a window menu) and press the
left 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 win-
dow then the latter disappears (this is functionally equiv-
alent to pressing the <Escape> key.


3. On slide bars

   In any window listing, be it online help, a directory
list or a disk tree structure, a slide bar can be recog-
nized 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. The block gives
a visually effective indication of where the currently high-
lighted item is in the list (towards the beginning or end).


4. 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 ne-
cessarily 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.


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5. Command typology

   In order to reduce the effort required to acquaint one-
self with the Lexa set, 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 other via internal programme commands. Here is a
brief summary of these.


F1  Help        Shift-F1  DOS Command  Ctrl-F1  DOS Call

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

F3  Mark Files  Shift-F3  Unmark all Files

F4  New Drive   Shift-F4  File Template

F5  Load File   Shift-F5  Re-read Dir.

F6  Erase File  Shift-F6  Confirm      Ctrl-F6  Rename File

F7  Exit Progr. Shift-F7  And Change Dir.  

F8  Make Dir.   Shift-F8  Delete Dir.  Ctrl-F8  Rename Dir.

F9  Environment Shift-F9  File Type    Ctrl-F9  Run Pro.+File

F10 Save File, Start Operation


   If a programme has integrated file management (e.g. Lexa
File) 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 as opposed to Lexa View).
   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. 
  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-PgUp, Ctrl-PgDn      Beginning or end of relevant list

   These settings above apply to text display, directory
listings and tree structures.
   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 ex-
tension .com, .exe or .bat).
   In any listing, directory or tree structure, typing normal
alphabet letters leads to the highlighting jumping to the
next alphabetical find on a letter by letter basis (so-called
letter search).

Remember:

In those programmes which have a large set of commands you
can activate either a picklist or a system of menus or both
by pressing <Shift-Tab>. This is indicated in the bottom
right-hand corner of the screen. By moving a scoll bar and
pressing <Return> you can execute the highlighted command.


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6. User Input Editor

   At various points in Lexa and in the additional utilities
like Lexa Sweep or Lexa Pat, the user is prompted to enter
text which is to serve as input for some command or other.
In such cases an internal input editor is activated which
has a small set of commands at its disposal. You can simplify
the task of providing programmes with input by mastering the
use of this mini-editor. Here is a description of its command
set.

   <Return>  Pressing this key when within the User Input
Editor causes the entry to be terminated and the current
command to continue to the next step (which may be its ex-
ecution).

   <Escape>  Used to abort the current command. Even if there
are several prompts involving the User Input Editor pressing
the <Escape> key at any point leads to the entire command
being cancelled and the controlling programme returning to
the point immediately before the initiation of the cancelled
command.

   <Up Arrow>  Any command involving the User Input Editor
can be executed several times. To obviate the necessity of
having to repeat an entry which was already made for a
former run of the command the arrow keys have been pro-
grammed so that they scroll backwards in the list of pre-
viously entered commands. If you scroll in the list and
arrive at an entry which you wish to adopt for the present
run of the command, you can simply press <Return> or edit
this entry just like a fresh one.
   Note that there is a fixed length for every input line
which in all programmes is determined by the horizontal
size of the input window/line. No characters beyond this
will be accepted from the keyboard. You may of course
delete characters and re-enter some if you wish.
   The number of commands which can be stored in the command
list varies from programme to programme. The minimum is 8
and the maximum 32. When the list is full any further command
replaces the first command of the list in a circular fashion.

   <Down Arrow>  Used to scroll forwards in a command list.
If you are at the front end of the list anyway, no action is
taken. Should the list be full, pressing the <DownArrow> dis-
plays the first command after the last command in the list.

   <Left Arrow>  Moves the cursor to the left within the
input window/line. You cannot move off the left edge of the
window.

   <Right Arrow>  Moves the cursor to the right within the
input window/line. You cannot move off the right edge of the
window or beyond the last letter of the present input line.

   <Home>  Jumps to the beginning of the input line.

   <End>  Jumps to the end of the input line.

   <Ctrl-End>  Deletes the section of the input line from
the present cursor position to the end of the line including
the character under which the cursor is presently resting.

   <Delete>  Deletes the character under which the cursor is
presently resting.

   <Backspace>  Deletes the character immediately to the left
of the cursor. This keystroke has no effect at the beginning
of a line.

   <Insert>  This is a toggle which switches back and forth
between the insert and the typeover keyboard input modes.

   The key used to terminate an entry (either the <Return> or
<Escape> key) is not considered part of the entry. 
   In some cases a programme fills the input line in advance
with a default value which is that the user is assumed to want
most frequently (e.g. "A:\" as target of a copying operation).
This value can of course be edited.
   Uppercase letters may appear when one is retrieving a pre-
vious command from the command list. You may mix lowercase
letters with these (if you are editing part of a previous
command (e.g. as in "C:\LEXA" -> "C\LEXA\my_data") as the
input line editor is (nearly) always insensitive to case.

   <Ctrl-A>  Presents a screen with the characters of the
ASCII set from which you can choose a character to enter
into the input line you are presently editing.

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7. Directory Listers commands

   In the programmes of the Lexa package an internal direc-
tory lister is available. This serves the purpose of allowing
users to choose files in a comfortable and flexible manner.
To this end a number of commands have been included which
apply to all instances of the directory lister.
   First of all you notice that the screen is cleared and two
windows are to be seen: a window with a listing on the right
of the screen and a long horizontal window in the centre.
The latter always displays the name of the directory from
which the listing was derived. When first called, the direc-
tory displayed here is that for the current drive.


                                        [  1]͸
                                         MY_FILE .DOC 
                                         TEST1   .LST 
                                         TEST2   .LST 
                                         Parent Dir 
                                             A:     
                                             B:     
                                             C:     
                                             D:     
  ͸       E:     
   D:\SRC\TC\LEXA                                   
  ;  ĳ
                                         Sh-F9 Escape 
                                        ;

   A highlight bar rests on the first item in the listing
and can be moved downwards. In all, you have the following
navigation keys at your disposal:

  <Up/Down Arrow>   Up/down an item in listing

  <PageUp/Down>     Up/down a windowful of files

  <Ctrl-PgUp/PgDn>  Beginning or end of listing

  <Letter Search>   Type the first few letters of the file
                    you want and the bar jumps to next match

   Alternatively you can use the mouse by placing the mouse
cursor on either  or  to move up or down in the listing
respectively. 


8. Changing directory or drive

   To change directory press the <Return> key when the high-
light bar is located on a directory entry, either a name, 
e.g. [MY_DATA] for a subdirectory, or the word  Parent Dir 
for the directory immediately above the current one.
   To log in a new drive place the highlight bar on an entry
with a drive letter, e.g.      A:      and press <Return>.
   Instead of using <Return> you can position the mouse and
click the <LeftButton>.
   When you change either directory or drive or both the new
current directory is reflected in the horizontal window in the
centre of the screen.

   <Shift-F4>  File template. If a programme allows you to
specify a file template you may do so via the current key
combination. You enter the template you want in the horizon-
tal window and press <Return>. Display is refreshed and any
matching files are shown.

   <Shift-F9>  Shows full details of a file in a listing.
Pressing this combination shows the entire information on a
the currently highlighted file from the listing in the hor-
izontal window, i.e. file size, date and time it was last
archived.


9. File choice or command cancellation

   To choose a file simply press <Return> when the highlight
bar is located on it. If you use <Escape> then the file
choice operation is aborted and you are returned to where you
left off in the current programme.

