WordStar 7.0 High-Resolution Preview with Any Graphics Card by Robert J. Sawyer Back in January 2007, I worked out a system for getting WordStar 7.0 (and only 7.0 -- this won't work with earlier versions) to do graphic previews of pages on any computer, and at high resolution. It works flawlessly for me, and I've found it so indispensable that I now have a second monitor swiveled permanently into portrait mode to facilitate the best-possible preview experience. Since figuring this out for myself, I've been trying to find the time to convert the system from working specifically on my particular computer setup (using JP Software's 4NT instead of the Windows version of DOS), but I haven't found that time. So, instead, I'm simply posting here what works for me, and leave it as an exercise for knowledgeable users to get it working for themselves. I'm afraid I can't provide tech support for this, but I do encourage others to come up with a more user-friendly anyone-can-do-it set of instructions. The instructions below are also available on my website: http://sfwriter.com/wsprevu.txt First, a sample of the quality of preview available: http://sfwriter.com/wsprevu.pcx Nice, eh? Okay, here we go: Problem: WordStar's Advanced Page Preview only works with a limited number of graphics cards; many modern cards don't support it at all -- and those that do often only preview WordStar files in VGA resolution or lower. Solution: Instead of using WordStar's Advanced Page Preview function to preview pages, use WordStar's Fax function: create faxable .PCX files for each page in your document, and view them in an external viewing program. Advantages: 1. very high-resolution preview on any system 2. preview window can be kept open, even after returning to editing (ideal for dual monitor systems, but still a great advantage on single-monitor systems, too) Disadvantages: 1. takes a little longer 2. previews are black and white; no font colors or color graphics === Setting it all up begins with these WSCHANGE settings: Go to WSCHANGE menu C,D,A,2,G (Search Path for WordStar Files: Search path 16) and set path to: C:\WS-PREVU Then go to WSCHANGE menu C,D,4,I (WordStar Files Menu #4: FAX description files), and set filename to: ????????.PCX and set primary and secondary path to "P" ("Use path 16"). === Setting up external graphics viewer: For my external viewer, I use IrfanView 3.99, available for free from: http://www.irfanview.net/ On IrfanView's "Properties" | "Misc 1" menu, I have these options checked: * View all files in directory * If the end/begin of the folder is reached, loop current folder * Only 1 instance of IrfanView is active * Start in full screen mode * Warning on ESC program exit * Fullscreen mode: Use right mouse button for scrolling === WordStar Macro: To invoke Preview, I used this WordStar macro (I've left an older system for making this work in the macro as REM comment lines, since that system may work better for some people). Note that paths must be set to match what you use on your own system, and that the target directory for the preview files -- in my case, C:\WS-PREVU -- must be manually created by you the first time: Sub Main AutoRestore(ON) SetHelpLevel(4) Insert(OFF) CmdTags(OFF) HideDots(OFF) ColMode(OFF) ColReplace(OFF) Key("^QI^K") Key("^K8") Key("^KF") Key("del C:\WS-PREVU\*.PCX^K") Key("^OPorSHEET{Enter}") Key("{Enter}") Key("999{Enter}") Key("rc") REM Key("^K\") ' Old method using fax function on REM Key("PAGE-{Alt+3}") ' WordStar's block and save menu REM Key("^K") ' advantage: defaults to 300 dpi. Key("^Q8") Key("^K8") Key("^KF") Key("C:\F\BAT\4NTPREVU.BAT^K") REM Key("START C:\PROGRA~1\IRFANV~1\I_VIEW32.EXE C:\WS-PREVU\SHEET001.PCX^K") End Sub === Here's the batch file 4NTPREVU.BAT that the macro calls: C:\G\4NT\4NT @C:\G\4NT\4NTIRFAN.INI C:\G\4NT\IRFAN\4NTEXIT.BTM REM START C:\PROGRA~1\IRFANV~1\I_VIEW32.EXE C:\WS-PREVU\SHEET001.PCX /C EXIT === Here's the special 4NT initialization file 4NTIRFAN.INI called by 4NTPREVU.BAT: 4StartPath=C:\G\4NT\IRFAN === And here's 4NTEXIT.BTM, also called by the 4NTPREVU.BAT batch file; it contains just one word and a hard carriage return: exit === The results, I think, are spectacular. I hope this is of help to you! All best wishes. Rob ---------------- ROBERT J. SAWYER, Science Fiction Writer Hugo Award winner for HOMINIDS Nebula Award winner for THE TERMINAL EXPERIMENT John W. Campbell Memorial Award winner for MINDSCAN http://www.sfwriter.com * sawyer@sfwriter.com ----------------