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Hm. "Genius". Is that another one of those code words?

Let me just wave my hand around frantically and say, the reason I'm not using NWE 2.7 as my workhorse word processor is the lack of multiple windows (or panes within a window) on a single document.

I really need this feature because I typically work on long files (okay, novels) and need to refer back to earlier parts while changing stuff around. Having multiple windows open on the file makes this possible. My short term memory isn't an adequate substitute; thus, on my last book I was forced, after a while, to switch to NeoOffice. (NeoOffice is slower and clunkier than NWE (and actually feels more bloated than Microsoft Word 2004 for OS/X, if you can imagine that!), but has this key feature which I need. And as I do this stuff -- write novels -- for a living, it's non-optional.)

A nice extra for NWE 3.0 would be integration with CVS, Subversion, or another revision control system ... but I can live without it at a pinch.

Let me just second cstross's request. Nothing in the poll is a must-have for me. But what would bring me over to Nisus full-time is a way to organize and work with long documents. And that includes some way to navigate through long documents. This alone makes Mellel a better choice for me. (There are other things about Nisus I prefer, However.)

I want Hidden Text. I really need it.

On top of other requests, I'd like an automatic back-up in another location, as Nisus Classic had.

I'd like to add that I am working with the longest documents all the time and have no problem navigating into them, and going back etc. etc. even with one window, thanks to the Find/Replace command. Maybe I don't understand the feature you are asking for though...
I must say I keep finding Nisus the better workhorse for me in spite of the few things I really miss (the keep- together feature, the wrap-around feature, the index-table of contents feature - and, of course, the back-up feature).

That's what I should like to have - which would be a code for drink, if it was coffee, but as it isn't…?? Did I understand you right, Midwinter?

Anne Cuneo wrote: That's what I should like to have - which would be a code for drink, if it was coffee, but as it isn't…?? Did I understand you right, Midwinter?

Well, obviously it depends upon what you're going to have to drink!

Newbie here.

I've searched for years for a WRITING (not page layout) program that fully implements RTF -- other than Classical Text Editor, which is splendid, but overkill. Nisus WE comes closest of any I have seen, and is one reason I bought my first Mac this April (I'm now on my third, as the first two died young).

I write for publication, not desktop printing, and a few more features would make NWE work MUCH better, well enough to use every day... in place of WordStar 4.0 for DOS, which has still not been beat (I've tried to run WordStar and DOS 6.22 in Parallells, still with no luck).

Here is my wish list. If these are already present, please tell me how to find them! Or how to fake them with macros.


1. Searchable non-printing BOOKMARKS, either numbered (as in WordStar) or line linked (as in TextPad). Numbered is better, but I'd settle for the other. These are essential for daily use. I can fake them in Nisus (as I do when I want to save them in WordStar) by using a dedicated 'ghost' character string such as @@. But for these ghost lines not to print would require:

2. Non-printing COMMENT lines which are saved with the file. WordStar has these; they are essential for serious writing, to keep notes, queries, alternate versions, etc., with the text they relate to.

[Could comments be faked by using OSX Sticky Notes? Can one add sticky notes to the SERVICES or other menu? Can sticky notes be used within NWE? If so, are they searchable?]


3. JOIN command, which removes all carriage returns from a block of text, and adds a trailing space to the end of any line that lacks one. This is a GREAT feature in TextPad, and is the main reason I keep that program, despite its relentless insistence on crashing Windows (but most Windows programs do that, sooner or later).

Why? Often I copy blocks of text from old TXT files or online public domain sources. These have a hard return at the end of each line, and usually but not always lack trailing spaces at line ends. JOIN instantly makes such a block into one line with all spacing correct.

Anybody have a macro that will do this?


4. DRAFT mode is GREAT, but I would like more scaling options between 200% and 400% -- at least one, but ideally more.


5. More buttons in the toolbar. Bold, Underline, Italic, Strikethrough, for starters. WordPad is lame, but even it has these. And a PASTE AS TEXT button would be just peachy. I'd even settle for a keyboard version of that command. And... maybe even size up, size down arrows.


6. The ability to "print" to a plain TXT file, or to save a DRAFT only version of a document. When NWE saves a file as "Text" it is not clean plain TXT, as you will discover the first time you open one in a Windows or DOS text editor, such as NotePad. Maybe I'm saving to the wrong flavor of TXT? Suggestions welcome!

My typical magazine submission is a fully formatted printout (which NWE does just fine in RTF) plus a fully unformatted TXT file, which the layout person uses in her layout program (usually Quark, but with plain TXT it does not matter).


7. VIEW CODES mode, maybe even editable, but at least viewable.


THANKS FOR LISTENING!

BRL...

BRL: To get an answer to your "Join" question, you will get more attention if you start a new forum topic. I for one only rarely check this topic.

That said, you need to clarify what you want your Join macro to do. Are you asking that each carriage return be replaced by a space? What about the last carriage return in the block? What if there are two or more carriage returns in a row in the block? Also, what do you mean by the "line" that is to end in a space. Nisus distinguishes between paragraphs, ended by carriage returns and "lines," which can be deliberately delimited by soft-returns. The distinction affects spacing: paragraphs receive paragraph spacing and lines receive, in addition, line-spacing). Both can be longer than the document width.

brl... wrote:3. JOIN command, which removes all carriage returns from a block of text, and adds a trailing space to the end of any line that lacks one.

I'm not sure I understand exactly what it is you're asking for either. When you say "end of any line" do you mean any sentence? As for the removal of all returns, there is the Form Paragraph macro. I'm sure both of your desires could be wrapped up in a single macro. Let me know if I've got your request right... and perhaps start a new topic as ssampler suggested.

4. DRAFT mode is GREAT, but I would like more scaling options between 200% and 400% -- at least one, but ideally more.

You can set any zoom percent that you want using the menu View > Zoom > Other.... The zoom tag also has this menu option.

And a PASTE AS TEXT button would be just peachy. I'd even settle for a keyboard version of that command.

You can assign any menu item a custom keyboard shortcut in Express' preferences, in the Menu Keys pane.

When NWE saves a file as "Text" it is not clean plain TXT, as you will discover the first time you open one in a Windows or DOS text editor

When you choose to save a document using the "Text" format Express does save it as "clean" plain text. The problem you are describing might be due to the encoding you use to save the file. By default Express saves the text as UTF-8. You may have better luck in transferring the file to a PC if you use a Window's encoding like Western (Windows Latin 1).

Jeez Martin. Showoff.

midwinter wrote:Jeez Martin. Showoff.

Quiet, banana man!

dave wrote:

midwinter wrote:Jeez Martin. Showoff.

Quiet, banana man!

Don't tempt me. That icon could be much, much worse.

midwinter wrote:

dave wrote:

midwinter wrote:Jeez Martin. Showoff.

Quiet, banana man!

Don't tempt me. That icon could be much, much worse.

You dare to invoke the sacred name of Hoff in a threatening manner? May you be sentenced to a lifetime of Baywatch reruns!

I try to pick them up on DVD when they're on sale.

brl... wrote:3. JOIN command, which removes all carriage returns from a block of text, and adds a trailing space to the end of any line that lacks one.

Why do this just in Nisus when you could do it in any program on your computer? Check out TextSoap. It's a great program for bulk formatting text, and the Deluxe versions contextual menu is amazingly useful.