============ VDE264SP.DOC ============ The Screenplay Version of Video Display Editor This documentation on the screenplay version of Eric Meyer's Video Display Editor is for both for the latest version of the CP/M program (v2.65 as of this writing), and the MS/DOS program as well (now v1.2). This modification will not work with versions earlier than v2.63. If you prefer VDE v2.63, get VDE263SP.LBR. To create a working version of VDE-SP.COM (CP/M) or VDE-SP.EXE (MS/DOS) you need the basic VDE libraries, VDE264.LBR or VDE12.ARC, for the basic VDE program and the detailed documentation, which isn't duplicated here. VDE-SP is much the same program in CP/M and MS/DOS, so the discussion applies to both. If you wish to modify any of these macro definitions, a program I have released recently, VDKCOM v1.2, will enormously simplify the process, allowing you to use VDE's full-screen editing on a text file of the macros rather than VINST's backspace-only line editing. NEW FEATURES IN THIS VERSION AND VERSION V2.64 Eric Meyer has added many new features to his high speed miniature word processor VDE since I first began adapting it to the special task of screenwriting. Since my adaptation for VDE v2.63, I've further automated the paginating functions, simplifying them for the user, and made some other small enhancements. A bug in v2.64 added one two many blank lines in the ESC-5 pagination function. That is now corrected. In addition, I've expanded the ESC-1 and ESC-2 margin setting functions so that they not only reset the margins, if there is text on the line where the command is issued, the remainder of the paragraph will be reformatted to the new margins and the cursor returned to its original locations. These are the new features of v2.64: 1) The ESC-3, ESC-9, and ESC-0 commands all start from the end of the preceding material rather than from the line on which they will appear. If you don't like this feature, just revise the appropriate key macros to remove the preceding carriage returns. 2) It is no longer necessary to measure off each page when paginating. You must measure off the first page with three CTRL-C commands, but after that the cursor repositions itself for the next page break automatically. Whenever you want to, though, you may return to the last embedded CTRL-L page break - use a CTRL-Qb command, put the cursor on it, and measure off three CTRL-C's to the next page break position. 3) Page headers are now added during, rather than after, paginating. Compose the header you want in a separate file called HEADER, and the paginating macros will read it in automatically. This lets you have more than five lines in the header. VDE- SP will now automatically adjust for six or more. NOTE: Version 2.64 introduces a top margin feature for the first time, but leave it set to 0 and control all spacing at the top of the page with your HEADER file. 4) Parentheticals are handled differently. When you type ESC-3 at the point where you want to insert a parenthetical, a blank line is forced, the text after the parenthetical is reformed to the dialogue margins, and () is printed to the file. The cursor is left under the ), and, since you are in insert mode, you need only type the text. When you've finished, just exit with a CTRL-X or any other cursor movement. No special parenthetical margins are set. The parenthetical is aligned to a tabstop on the left. If the line is too long, wrap it manually with a carriage return. NOTE: This feature doesn't function well at the very end of the file where you are likely to be working. If you add a few carriage returns before the point where you are working, so you push them along as you type, it will work properly. Use ^OD to toggle the display of hard carriage returns on and off. INTRODUCTION VDE-SP is nothing but a special set of VDE macro definitions which are incorporated into VDE with VINST and the VDE-SP.VDK file in this library. To make them work properly several options have to be set in the options menu of VINST, but there is no modification to the basic word processor at all. If you don't mind traveling light, learning a few simple rules for formatting, and doing some of the work yourself, VDE-SP can be used without recourse to any other program whatsoever to produce a screenplay in standard Hollywood format. You can write your text with full wordwrap and a screen display that exactly matches the printed page, then paginate and or print out selected scenes or the whole screenplay - directly from your computer's memory, without ever leaving VDE-SP. One thing VDE-SP doesn't do is number and renumber scenes. SCRIPTOR's ability to strip page breaks and scene numbers out of a thoroughly rewritten script is still a great advantage which VDE-SP can't match, although the separate program SPSTRP, which I've included here, comes pretty close, and is even somewhat faster than SCRIPTOR. SCRIPTOR remains the only program I know of that is really good at numbering scenes. I can paginate a script with VDE-SP as fast as SCRIPTOR can, if not faster, but SCRIPTOR's ability to number, strip, and renumber scenes will be difficult to match. An advantage of VDE-SP is its very small size. Although I use it on a hard disk, I developed it on a floppy-based system, and I found I could keep a spelling checker with its outsized dictionary, Z3KEY, and a host of other utilities on the disk with VDE-SP, and another copy of VDE-SP on my SCRIPTOR disk. The greatest advantage of VDE-SP, however, is speed. The whole of VDE-SP is loaded into memory when you begin work, so there is no chaining in and out of overlays, and the whole of your screenplay file is in memory along with it, which means that you can work for hours on a file without pausing for disk I/O until you save your work to disk. Most word processing functions seem virtually instantaneous. GETTING STARTED To make VDE-SP, configure VDE for your terminal and printer. Then make a copy of it and call it VDE-SP.COM. If you are installing the CP/M version, use VINST on this again to install the screenplay function key codes in VDE263SP.VDK, like this A0>vinst263 vde-sp vde-sp.vdk If you are installing the MS/DOS version, do A>vinst11 vde-sp.exe and, when you open the K(eys) menu, select the R option to read in the VDE-SP.VDK file. Now open the Options menu in VINST. The critical options to set are these: Default file mode (W/A/N): A : Left margin col: 1 : Right margin col: 60 : Page length: 0 : Variable tab columns: 16 :... 21 :... 41 :... 56 :... 0 :... 0 :... 0 :... 0 :... It is very important to set the variable tab columns properly, as all the key macros for formatting the screenplay use them. You can also work in the default file mode W (for WordStar- compatible), but the pagination stripping program SPSTRP will NOT work on files created that way. Further, in the Printer installation division of VINST you will want to set top margin to 0 and page length to 0. This too is important for the pagination functions to work correcty. If you open the macro keys menu in VINST, you'll see something that looks like this: MACRO KEYS: (009D bytes free) <0>^V^Ol11^M^Or44^M^M^M^I^I <1>^Ol1^M^Or60^M^[b^B^Qb^[u <2>^Ol11^M^Or44^M^[~ 0^T^[0^[b^B^Qb^[u <3>^V^Ol11^M^Or44^M^[=^M0^[~ <^[= <^D^[0^M^I(^[b)^M^G^B^Qb^[u <4>^V^Ol1^M^Or60^M^[=^M>^P^L^[b^[rheader^M^Qs^C^C^C <5>^V^Ol1^M^Or60^M^N^N^N^I^I^ICONTINUED^X^P^L^[bCONTINUED^Qb ^[rheader^M^Qs^C^C^C <6>^V^Ol1^M^Or60^M^N^N^N^N^N^X^X^I^I^ICONTINUED^X^P^L ^[bCONTINUED^X^X^B^Qb^[rheader^M^Qs^C^C^C <7>^V^Ol1^M^Or60^M^N^N^N^N^N^N^N^X^I^I(more)^X^X^I^I^I CONTINUED^X^P^L^[bCONTINUED^X^X^Ol11^M^Or44^M^I^I <8> (cont.)^M^[~^M0^G^[0^B^Ol1^M^Or60^M^Qb^Krheader^M^Qs^C^C^C <9>^V^Ol1^M^Or60^M^M^M^I^I^I I've wrapped the key strings to keep them from running off the page, but otherwise this is the way VINST shows you the coding of the macros. PRINTER INSTALLATION The only thing left to be done is to install a printer initialization string which gives you the standard screenplay page offset of 18 columns (printing starts in column 19.) This appears to be offset way too far over to the right, but it will look right when the script is fastened down the left side with the customary brass paper fasteners (1-1/4" shank, with brass washers). If you have an inexpensive daisywheel printer which uses the Diablo 1610 command set - many do, including Brother, Dynax, Comrex, and Morrow models - you can install the printer with the DIABLOSP.VDP file in this library. A0>vinst vde-sp diablosp.vdp If you have a printer which is not Diablo 1610-compatible, use VINST to install a printer initialization string which sets your printer to 10 pitch and a page offset of 18 columns (printing starts in column 19). For those who can use the DIABLOSP.VDP included here, it not only sets the 18-column page offset, it also implements the toggles and switches. The CTRL-D toggle produces boldface, the CTRL-S underlining, the CTRL-Y alternate ribbon, as in WordStar. Of these, only underlining would be used in a screenplay. The CTRL- T toggle has not been implemented. The switches are CTRL-Q, CTRL-W, CTRL-E, and CTRL-R. The CTRL-W produces 12 pitch type, CTRL-E 15 pitch, and CTRL-R sets proportional spacing. None of these should be used for screenplays, however, since they are always typed in 10 pitch. The CTRL-Q resets to the settings of the printer's front panel switch. The core of the VDE-SP system, however, is the programmed macro keys. VDE-SP MACRO KEYS Function keys are simulated by VDE with ESC-n sequences. Just type ESCAPE and a number key from 0 to 9. ESC-1 sets scene description margins at 1 and 60, reformats the text at the cursor accordingly, and returns the cursor to its original position. ESC-2 sets dialogue margins at 11 and 44, reformats the text at the cursor accordingly, and returns the cursor to its original position. ESC-3 inserts parentheses on a blank line following the point of insertion, leaving the cursor on the right parenthesis. Type the desired text and exit with CTRL-X or any other cursor movement. If the parenthetical is inserted in existing text, the trailing text will be reformed to the dialogue margins. This may not work if you are the very end of your file - on the cutting edge, so to speak - and you are not pushing any carriage returns ahead of the cursor. Add a few extraneous carriage returns and the feature will work properly. No parenthetical margin is set, so, if your text is long, you'll have to wrap the line yourself with a carriage return. ESC-4 inserts a simple page break between scenes. ESC-5 inserts a page break in the middle of a scene, with CONTINUED at the bottom right of the leading page, CONTINUED at top left of following page. A custom header is added to the top of the trailing page, with the page number position is indicated by the symbol #. ESC-6 inserts a page break with CONTINUED strings in the middle of long description. ESC-7 inserts a page break in middle of long dialogue, with a "(more)" string centered below the last line and CONTINUED strings. You retype the speaker's name, then type ESC-8 to complete the sequence. ESC-8 after the duplicate name string above the second part of divided dialogue, writes "(cont.)" after the character's name and reforms the ensuing dialogue. ESC-9 sets scene description margins and positions the cursor for typing transitions such as FADE OUT, CUT TO, DISSOLVE TO, CHINESE DOLLY SHOT, and so on. ESC-0 sets dialogue margins and positions the cursor for typing the character's name. WRITING A SCREENPLAY To write a screenplay, you need only five keys, the ESC-1 through ESC-3 keys, and the ESC-9 and ESC-0 keys. The remaining keys are used only later, for pagination. When you start a passage of dialogue, the ESC-0 key positions the cursor where you want to write the speaker's name in caps and sets the dialogue margins as well. When you want to write a new shot line or a block of description which belongs in the full margins, just type ESC-1. When you come to the end of a shot that requires a transitional phrase - CUT TO, CROSS FADE TO, or what have you - typing ESC-9 positions the cursor for that. ESC-2 is used to reset dialogue margins - but without positioning the cursor to enter a character's name, and ESC-3 inserts a parenthetical interjection in dialogue. ESC-1, ESC-2, and ESC-3 set wide, narrow, and narrowest margins respectively. ESC-9 positions the cursor for transitions and sets the wide scene margins, and ESC-0 positions the cursor for a character's name and sets the narrow dialogue margins. ESC-4 through ESC-8 are used to set page breaks. SETTING PAGE BREAKS VDE-SP produces a long unpaged file. You can paginate whenever you please, as you go along, at the end of the day, or after you've finished a substantial body of work. Paginate by measuring off the maximum allowable length of the first page, then inspecting the text at that point to find the appropriate place to set the page break. Typing three CTRL-C's measures off the maximum page length, but you only have to do this at the very top of each file, or if you interrupt pagination and start over again in the middle, in which case you measure off three CTRL-C's from the last ^L form feed. Normally the page break keys measure the distance to the next page break automatically. To start locating page breaks, go to the top of the file, put the cursor in top left corner of the screen and and strike CTRL-C three times. This advances the cursor to the last line on the first page where you can insert a page break. Now you have to learn some simple rules about how to find the actual place you want to put the break. There are only four cases to consider, 1) a clean break between scenes, 2) a break in the middle of a scene, which requires a CONTINUED at the bottom right of the leading page and another CONTINUED at the top left of the following page, 3) a break in the middle of a long block of description, which also requires CONTINUED's, and 4) a break in the middle of a long piece of dialogue, which is the most complicated, since it requires - in addition to the usual CONTINUED strings - several extra strings and the retyping of the character's name at the head of the detached dialogue carried over to the following page. The vast majority of breaks will be of types 1 or 2. Breaks of types 3 and 4 are relatively rare. The first two kinds of page breaks (ESC-4 and ESC-5) are made at three positions in the text, 1) on a shot line or either of the two blank lines above it, 2) on the line where the character's name appears, or 3) at the first line of a block of scene or action description which is not preceded by a shot line. In the example below, the symbol @ indicates appropriate cursor positions for page breaks: @ @ @ INT. THE OLD SHACK - DAY Here is a bit of scene description... which goes on for as long as you like. @ CHARACTER'S NAME This is the character's dialogue, and it too could go on for a while... @ And suppose this text is the start of a new block of description, with no shot line as a header... The break at the first three @ symbols would be an ESC-4 (between scenes) break, and the other two ESC-5 (inside a scene) breaks. PAGE BREAK RULES There are four rules for inserting page breaks: 1) If the cursor is between scenes, that is, on the shot line or on either of the two blank lines above it, type ESC-4. If the cursor lands a few lines below the desired break, just move the cursor up to an appropriate position before typing ESC-4. For the other three breaks, remember that you rarely want to move up more than five lines to make your break, although you may have to in special circumstances. All breaks in descriptive text and especially in dialogue are made between sentences. Many typists do not like to leave a single line at the bottom of the leading page, although that's better than leaving too much white space. 2) If the cursor is inside a scene, move the cursor up to the line on which a character's name appears or to the first line of a block of scene description. Type ESC-5. 3) If the cursor lands in a block of description so long you would have to move the cursor up more than five lines to find a natural break, you will want to divide the block of description. Move the cursor up at least TWO lines, put it on the first letter of a new sentence, and type ESC-6. 4) If the cursor lands in a block of dialogue so long you would have to move the cursor up more than five lines to find a natural break, divide the dialogue between sentences. Move the cursor up at least THREE lines, then put it on the first letter of a new sentence and type ESC-7. VDE-SP will divide the dialogue, then pause to allow you to retype the speaker's name above the trailing part of the dialogue. To finish the page break, type ESC-8 immediately after the character's name (adding neither a space nor any other character), which will add the "(cont.)" string, reform the trailing dialogue, and measure off the distance to the next page break. This is all you have to know. To recapitulate, you may make an ESC-4 (between scenes) break on the shot line or on either of the two blank lines above it. You may make an ESC-5 break on the line on which the cursor falls or above it, normally on a line with the character's name or on the first line of a block of description not preceded by a shot line. You must move the cursor up at least two lines for an ESC-6 (divide description) break, and at least three lines for an ESC-7 (divide dialogue) break. Description and dialogue may only be divided between sentences. Try to avoid moving the cursor up more than five lines. For purely aesthetic reasons you might also wish to avoid putting a break anywhere that would leave a single line of text as the last line of the page. Most of this is trivial if not downright silly, as the only thing that really counts is the action and the dialogue, but you won't be taken seriously if your screenplay doesn't look pretty much like the standard. There is some sense to keeping the standard margins and spacings too, as a lot of people make judgments about how long a scene or group of scenes or your whole screenplay is by the size of it on the pages. So take a minute to get the rules down. You'll find that you don't even have to think about them after you've paginated twenty or thirty pages. PAGE HEADERS A new feature of this version of VDE-SP is somewhat greater flexibility with headers. You need prepare the header only once, as a special file called HEADER, and VDE-SP will read it in at every page break. The HEADER file is an ordinary text file which you can make up or edit with VDE-SP or any other editor. It has this structure: < < Your header text goes here #< < < < The < symbol indicates where the hard carriage returns are. The last of those carriage returns should be the last byte in the file - do several CTRL-T's to remove any tail. If you want to add a second (or even a third) line, you may. < < Your header text goes here #< [revised 5-13-88]< < < < VDE-SP will automatically compensate for the number of lines in your header. You need only make sure that there are no more than the two blank lines at the top and bottom, plus a "third" carriage return to reposition the cursor in column 1. PAGE NUMBERS When you've finished inserting page breaks you will have a number symbol # at the position where the page numbers go in column 56. To insert the actual numbers, just the quick find feature of VDE as you would in WordStar. 1) Switch INSERT mode off with a CTRL-V, 2) do a ^Q^F and answer the prompt with "#". 3) When the cursor lands on the first "#" type "2" (no page number on the first page), 4) do a ^L to continue the search, type "3", another ^L, type "4", and so on. Naturally you have a lot of control here. If you need to make A, B, C pages with the same page number for insertions, feel free. On the first page of script, it is customary to center the title of the script (in addition to the separate title page) on line 13 of page 1, which otherwise has no header. The first shot line is then positioned three or four lines below that. FINISHING OFF THE FILE When you have finished paginating each file you will probably have a partial page at the end, although you want each file to end at the bottom of the last full page. Snip off the last partial page this way: 1) Position the cursor immediately after last ^L in the file (you will probably be able to jump return to it with a CTRL-Qb) and mark the last partial page as a block. 2) Write the block out to a new file with ^KW or ESC-W, 3) then delete it with ^KY or ESC-D. 4) Save the file with ESC-S. 5) Then use ESC-L to load the next screenplay file. 6) With the cursor at the top of the new file, read in the partial page cut from the preceding file with the ^KR or ESC-R command. If you finish every file with a whole page you don't need to chain files when you print out. You will want to keep each file down to about twenty to thirty pages, and make five or six of them for a standard length 120- page screenplay. VDE-SP, as I've organized it, doesn't make backup files, but your spelling checker may, and they can choke your disk pretty fast, so it's a good idea to erase them as they appear. If you don't make backup files, you can easily write your entire screenplay on a single double-sided double-density disk, and you should always back up your whole working disk at least once a day to a backup disk anyway. Having a dozen backup files on your working disk doesn't help much after the dog has eaten the disk. Since VDE-SP doesn't paginate automatically, keep track of how long the file is by watching the line count. I usually look for a place to close off a file when I get to about 1400-1600 lines. VDE-SP will accept a great many more than that, but I like to leave plenty of room for later rewriting. Remember that paginating and putting headers on your pages will add a few bytes and quite a few lines to the file. PRINTING OUT Print out your screenplay files with VDE-SP's printing command, ESC-P, from within the file itself. If you wish to use another printing program, anything that will print out an exact image of your page with a page offset of 18 columns will do. SLMT v1.0, which sets a left margin and standard 8-column tabstops on Diablo 1610-type printers, is included in the CP/M version of this library. Typing SLMT with any or no argument prints a help screen giving the syntax, which is SLMT n, where n is any column number from 1 to 255 (a little wider than most of our printers will allow, actually). SLMT 1 resets the left margin to the default. Since there's no column 1 on the printer, SLMT 0 does the same thing, sets the margin in column 1. If you use the DIABLOSP.VDP overlay to install VDE-SP, you have a built-in page offset which allows you to print straight from memory. If you wish to print out only a page or a scene or two, mark the passage as a block, use ESC-P to print out, and type B, for "block," at the prompt for "options." Note that the normal option of printing a page or several pages is not available in VDE-SP because the page length is set at 0. Marking the pages you want as a block and using the B option works just as well, however. SOME GENERAL RULES Leave one or two blank lines between all scenes, one blank line between the shot line (EXT. OLD FARMHOUSE - NIGHT) and the following block of description, and one line between description or dialogue and the character's name on the ensuing dialogue. No line between the character's name and his dialogue. Sometimes a period is put after the page number. To see what a properly formatted page looks like, print out the sample page included with in library. Load it into VDE-SP and print out with CTRL-P, ignoring options (type a carriage return at the options prompt). STRIPPING PAGINATION The CP/M version of this library includes a program called SPSTRP which strips the pagination from the ASCII files created with VDE- SP. This is helpful when rewriting - it's usually better to strip your files completely and start all over with fresh, unpaginated files. Pagination goes so quickly with VDE-SP that starting over again is not all that onerous. To use SPSTRP invoke it at the system command prompt and you will be prompted for a file name to strip. When that file has been stripped, you will be prompted for another file name. You can quit with a carriage return. SPSTRP does not perfectly reform the broken dialogue it has rejoined, so you have to reform those joints with CTRL-B when you come to them. It doesn't rejoin broken scene description at all, leaving a blank line between two otherwise properly formed paragraphs. SPSTRP does not make backup copies, so make sure you don't use it on your only copy of your screenplay. WARNING: Do not use SPSTRP on WordStar format files! If you have to use VDE-SP in W mode for WordStar compatibility, save copies of the files in ASCII mode before running SPSTRP on them. SPSTRP works on a line by line basis, and it recognizes lines by the presence of carriage returns. WordStar format files have carriage returns only at the ends of whole paragraphs. If you don't have SPSTRP or don't want to use it, a simple technique is to rename the file you paginate with the ^KN (or ESC- N) command, from FILM.C to FILM.PRN, for example. Paginate and print out FILM.PRN, but reload FILM.C when you want to rewrite. I tend to rewrite, repaginate, and reprint every day when I'm working on a script, and I find this the most efficient method, since I never have to strip the pagination from my source files. ADDITIONAL KEY MACRO PROGRAMS You may be able to continue to use other key macro programs like SMARTKEY, XTRAKEY, QUICKKEY, and my own favorite, Z3KEY, the Z System Resident Command Package program, although VDE reputedly does not cope with such RSX's - programs which load into high memory and trap character inputs in order to translate them. You'll have to experiment with your program. I use Z3KEY partly because, as an RCP, it loads into a special buffer which does not affect the available TPA (Transient Program Area). The main reason we all started using such programs was to be able to change margins quickly, but, since VDE-SP does that by itself, there's no longer much need for them if you're a good typist. If you do want to use such programs, here's the way I set up my definition file for compilation with Z3KEY. The code to the left of the equals sign distinguishes the function key on my Wyse 50 terminal. The code to the right could be adapted to your key redefinition program. ; ; Video Display Editor - Screenplay ; ; VDE-SP.DEF ; ;--------do not change defaults ; ATTENTION=^] LEADIN=^A DELAY=1000 EXPANSION=2 FILE=VDE-SP CASE=ON ; ;---------overwrite names here ; ^AA^M=^M^M^I^IALPHA^M ^AB^M=^M^M^I^IBRAVO^M ^AC^M=^M^M^I^ICOCOA^M ^AD^M=^M^M^I^IDELTA^M ^AE^M=^M^M^I^IECHO^M ^AF^M=^M^M^I^IFOXTROT^M ^AG^M=^M^M^I^IGOLF^M ^AH^M=^M^M^I^IHOTEL^M ^AI^M=^M^M^I^IINDIA^M ^AJ^M=^M^M^I^IJULIET^M ^AK^M=^M^M^I^IKILO^M ^AL^M=^M^M^I^ILOVE^M ^AM^M=^M^M^I^IMIKE^M ^AN^M=^M^M^I^INOVEMBER^M ^AO^M=^M^M^I^IOSCAR^M ^AP^M=^M^M^I^IPAPA^M ^AQ^M=^M^M^I^IQUEBEC^M ^AR^M=^M^M^I^IROMEO^M ^AS^M=^M^M^I^ISIERRA^M ^AT^M=^M^M^I^ITANGO^M ^AU^M=^M^M^I^IUNIFORM^M ^AV^M=^M^M^I^IVICTOR^M ^AW^M=^M^M^I^IWHISKEY^M ^AX^M=^M^M^I^IX-RAY^M ^AY^M=^M^M^I^IYANKEE^M ^AZ^M=^M^M^I^IZULU^M ; ;----------end USING VDE-SP WITH SCRIPTOR If you intend to use SCRIPTOR with VDE-SP - still just about indispensable if you have to number scenes - create a format with the following parameters: scene margins: 1:60 dialogue margins: 11:44 parenthetical margins: 16:36 name column: 21 transitions column: 41 page number column: 55 continued strings: CONTINUED bottom margin: 2 max white space: 5 wrap tolerance: 0 page offset: 18 WordStar mode yes If for any reason you need to covert your screenplay files to WordStar-compatible files, you need only give the VDE command ^KN (or ESC-N) and answer the "filename?" prompt with "[w" and save the file to disk. The resulting file should be very nearly completely compatible with WordStar. All other word processors are able to process the ASCII-type files produced by VDE- SP. If you need to keep files in both ASCII and WS form, it's possible to use VINST to designate automatically the operation mode for certain file extensions, say N for files with an ASC extension, W for those with a WP extension. FINAL THOUGHTS VDE-SP is a very simple, very small word processor, but it does everything that really needs to be done quickly and efficiently. Sometimes in the computers, as elsewhere, less is more. If you like speed and simplicity, you may find VDE-SP more useful than much larger and more complicated programs that waste your time by trying to do your thinking for you. If you have any suggestions or comments on the program or the documentation, please leave me a message at LITTERA MAGAZINE, Fred Haines, GLENDALE LITTERA RCPM/QBBS, 818/956-6164, or write to me at 733 North King's Road Apt 331, Los Angeles CA 90069.