Stationery and default choices



To avoid clutter I keep my stationery in a directory (called “Stationery” — I’m certainly imaginative!) inside !TechWriter. To tell the program where it is I include a line

Set TechWriter$Path <TechWriter$Dir>.Stationery.

in the !Run file. (Note the trailing full stop. This command sets a path.) This tells the program where to look for stationery.

You can then tell !TechWriter which piece of stationery to use by default by adding the switch “-u” to the run command at the bottom of the run file. In my case this reads

Run .!RunImage %*0 -d -ustyle_def -r1600

So my default stationery is the file “style-def” inside the !TechWriter.Stationery directory.

Whilst on the subject, the “-r1600” switch tells !TechWriter to keep the current document wholly in memory unless it gets bigger than 1600 kbytes. i.e. it sets the file size below which !TechWriter avoids any disc-swapping and keeps the current file ‘closed’ unless you’re loading/saving. You can use “-r” to set any size you find convenient.

Other switches you can add to the Run line include:
And if you're wondering what the -d in my own run line means... It means I'm lazy. This used to tell !TechWriter that you want to see 3D icons. However, that is now determined by a bit in the CMOS RAM but I haven't got around to deleting it from my run line!


Modern Choices!

Strictly speaking, putting the above info on the run line is now regarded as being old-fashioned. Acorn have decided that such things should be saved in a “Choices” file elsewhere in the machine. This is to facilitate the Net machines which have the applications in ROM. So. You should look inside !TechWriter and see if you can find a file called Choices. If you can't see it, try also looking inside the !Boot application on the main hard disc. Specifically, look for a file

This file is saved when you select “save choices” from a !TechWriter menu. If it exists it over-rules anything you may set on the run line. So this is where you should make changes, not on the run line.



Content and pages maintained by: Jim Lesurf (jcgl@st-and.demon.co.uk)
using a StrongARM powered RISCOS machine.