NOTE: this software is for Classic Mac OS (eg: OS 9) and cannot be used on Mac OS X.
Nisus Writer Classic is no longer for sale. This page is only for archival purposes.

Having spent much of the night awake wondering what Don Diego de la Escribir would learn about Dawn, Ben awoke late. The Macintosh had already turned itself on and, along with the Startup applications Nisus Writer's InitInit macro had begun. There, before him, was his diary. It had clocked him in at the time he had anticipated starting his work, and now that insistent question faced him on the monitor:





Ben didn't have anything particularly meaningful to report. But, at least he was honest with himself. He pressed Return on the keyboard and the macro pasted his comments (up to 256 characters - he had to keep those first comments pithy) into his diary. He knew he could not slack off because he'd arranged his macro to ask him for a simile each morning:





This time, after pressing Return he saw his file open before him with the persistent flashing I-beam insertion point awaiting his next (unstructured - finally) thoughts.





How had he gotten to this? How had he allowed his computer, a mere tool, to organize and prompt his life?


To create a "Diary" file that opens at Startup:

1. Create a new file and put in the named rulers you want (so you can have the macro call them later).
   
   
   
   
2. Save the file in a safe place (but don't close it). Save it somewhere you don't think you'll need to move often. You'll want the macro to find it easily. Remember, a macro is not smart. It can only find the file if you've not moved it.
3. If you have the macro Copy Pathname handy, run it. If not, open the Clipboard and write the following:

   clipboard=docpath
   That's "macrospeek" for put the path to the document on the clipboard.

4. Select the text on the Clipboard and choose Execute Selection from the Macros submenu of the Gear or Cogwheel menu.
5. Paste the pathname into your diary and save the file. You'll want it for later.
6. Type a few return characters and then type the word "now" or something like that to serve as a marker for where the past and the future separate. Make sure you have one "empty" paragraph above the word "now."
7. Select that word and choose Mark... from the Tools menu.
8. In the dialog that appears click Set.
   

We're now ready to create the macro that does the work.

To create a macro that runs at startup of Nisus Writer and opens a file:

1. Choose New Macro Command from the Macros submenu of the Gear or Cogwheel menu.
   

   If you have more than one macro file open you will see a dialog asking in which file you want to put the macro and what you want to call it.

2. Make sure the new command is in the Nisus Macros file and name the file InitInit, then click Name.
   
   
   

   InitInit is "Macrospeak". It comes from an extension of the word "initial" as in "first" and means: "Initial Initial" or "First First" or, in simple English: "Start this when I start Nisus Writer."

3. The Nisus Macros file window opens. There you should type the following:
   
4. Save the macro file.

All this is wonderful. But most diaries have entries more than just at the beginning of the day. Ben makes his coffee and has breakfast, accomplishes a few chores and then gets down to the serious work. He needs an easy way to get back to his file.

To add information to your diary at will:




Two little macros take care of this. You remember how to create a new macro command. Then proceed by typing the text you see in the following screen shot of the Nisus Macros editing window.



If you add a keyboard shortcut to each of these macros (as Ben has done) you can easily get to this whenever you need. Try COMMAND-NN for "New Note" and COMMAND-NOW for "Jump to Now".

To the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions).
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