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.

     Choose Word Count... from the Tools menu to learn more about your document. When you finish examining the information in the window, click OK.

The Word Count window displays:
• the location of your file on disk
  (the name of the path to the file, i.e., its "pathname")
• when it was created
• when it was modified
• the size of the file (on disk) calculated in bytes.
• and more described below

     Below the dotted line Nisus Writer displays details about the active file (in the first column) as well as all open files (in the second column). Nisus Writer calculates the Flesch Reading Ease and the Reading Grade Levels using only the text entered in U.S. System fonts (this includes left-to-right (that is, not WorldScript) Arabic or Hebrew as well as symbol or picture "dingbat" fonts).
     Note: If you have a selection in your text, Nisus Writer displays information about the selection in the second column (instead of all open files).
     The information in the right-hand-most column describes only the active file. "Formatting characters" refers to spaces, tabs, Soft Return characters (also known as line feed or new line characters created by typing SHIFT-RETURN) and character graphics.
     Some international Macintosh Operating Systems use two byte characters. The U.S., Cyrillic, Arabic/Persian and Hebrew Operating Systems (and their corresponding Language Kits) use only single byte characters, but these are separated for your information into Alphanumeric and Punctuation (whether U.S., East European, Cyrillic, Arabic/Persian, or Hebrew), Aleph - Tav (Hebrew alphabetics) and Nikud (Hebrew vowels and cantillation characters), Abjadiyan (Arabic/Persian alphabetics) Al-Tashkeel (Arabic/Persian vowels). The East Asian Language Kits use both one and two byte Katakana and Hiragana characters. The Word Count window counts each of these separately.
     Nisus Writer uses the Flesch Reading Ease scale to evaluate the reading level of documents. The scores range from a low of 0 to a high of 100. A high Flesch Reading Ease score means your document should be easy to understand. Nisus Writer also calculates the reading grade level of the document in addition to many other details about your file. The higher the reading grade level, the harder it is to read.

Who Was Flesch and How Is Reading Level Measured?

To the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions).
To the Tips Table of Contents.