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OFFICE XI (Version 11)
This list documents the features introduced in Papyrus OFFICE XI (Version 11). For the list of new features for the current version of Papyrus OFFICE 12, please click on the link.
One very important "new" feature is actually an "old standby": the stability and ergonomic functionality in Papyrus OFFICE is very important to all of us at ROM logicware GmbH, which is why we have invested significant time and effort to preserve these qualities in each new version.
1. Special features for the English version of Papyrus
1.1. Spell checking improved and expanded
1.2. Papyrus WORD: Regional selection of American or British English
1.3. New format templates for US-Letter and ISO/DIN A4 paper
1.4. Default measurement in inches
2. New functions for editing and correcting text
2.1. Papyrus WORD: Highlighters with text comments
2.2. Papyrus WORD: Text attribute "Strikeout"
2.3. Provisionally deleted text (shrink-wrapped as a "mummy")
3. New graphic functions
3.1. Papyrus WORD: background text colors
3.2. Papyrus WORD: Moving graphic objects with arrow keys
3.3. Papyrus WORD: Rounded line ends, or with arrows
3.4. Papyrus WORD: "Set default" button for new graphic objects
3.5. Rotated vector graphics (WMF/EMF)
3.6. Papyrus WORD: Show Picture in Catalog
3.7. Papyrus WORD: Replace picture
4. New functions for large projects
4.1. Papyrus WORD: Expanded functions for Table of Contents / Indexes
4.2. Papyrus WORD/BASE: Bibliography
4.3. Papyrus WORD: Endnotes
4.4. Papyrus WORD: Footnote numbering
5. New functions for special applications
5.1. Papyrus WORD: Invisible word break
5.2. Papyrus WORD/BASE: Password protection for documents and databases
5.3. Papyrus WORD: New Enumeration style "aa, bb, cc”, etc.
5.4. Papyrus WORD: Text statistic for characters "omitting whitespace"
6. New Papyrus OFFICE features (general)
6.1. New Papyrus Logo
6.2. Windows: Papyrus WORD / BASE: Screen-optimized character font display
6.3. Papyrus WORD / BASE: freely definable keyboard shortcuts
6.4. Improved installation (allows running Papyrus from removable media such as USB-Sticks)
6.5. Papyrus WORD / BASE: Saving with relative paths (for use with removable media such as USB sticks)
6.6. Papyrus WORD / BASE: Tip of the Day
6.7. Papyrus BASE: Show in system desktop (for field types "External File" or "Picture")
6.8. Papyrus WORD/BASE: Paste (Insert) Contents
6.9. Papyrus "Options" (Win) or "Settings" (Mac)
6.10. Saving Papyrus "Options" (Win) or "Settings" (Mac)
6.11. MacOS: Papyrus WORD / BASE: Drag & drop from Papyrus
6.12. MacOS: Flyover Help in document windows
6.13. MacOS: Floating Dialogs
6.14. MacOS: Papyrus WORD / BASE: Support for Services
6.15. MS-Word and Excel CSV-Import/Export improved
6.16. Papyrus WORD/BASE: New time format for "minutes:seconds" (mm:ss)
7. New features in Papyrus WORD
7.1. Block marks (selected text or records) in a user-defined color
7.2. Papyrus WORD: Cyclic searches
7.3. Papyrus WORD: Blinking text cursor
7.4. Papyrus WORD: Backwards search in spell checker
7.5. Papyrus WORD: Text Drag & Drop into the clipboard area to the right of the page
7.6. Papyrus WORD: Copy/apply paragraph format
7.7. Papyrus WORD: New "Insert" menu
7.8. Papyrus WORD: Show document in Explorer / Finder
7.9. Improved display of and access to special function tokens
7.10. Windows: New ruler appearance
7.11. Expanded Assistants and Key Topics
7.12. MacOS: Page number and zoom level at bottom
8. New features in Papyrus BASE
8.1. Papyrus BASE: Sorting by clicking on column headers
8.2. Papyrus BASE: Reports with predetermined Query/Sort order
8.3. Papyrus BASE: New field types Internet-Address (URL) and E-Mail-Address
8.4. MacOS: Papyrus BASE: New appearance for tables
9. Errors corrected and operating system adjustments
9.1. MacOS: List boxes
9.2. Windows: Graphic drag & drop from Netscape/Mozilla
9.3. Papyrus WORD: Printing: Warning issued when objects extend beyond the printer's margins
9.4. Papyrus WORD: Copy/Apply text style
9.5. Papyrus WORD: Import of very large graphics with text-wrap
9.6. Papyrus WORD: Improved page breaking for complex documents
9.7. Papyrus WORD: Empty page at the end of documents
1. Special features for the English version of Papyrus
- Spell checking improved and expanded
- Papyrus WORD: Regional selection of American or British English
- New format templates for US-Letter and ISO/DIN A4 paper
- Default measurement in inches
The dictionaries have been improved and expanded (including many suggestions provided by users).
The following dictionaries are supplied with the English version of Papyrus:
American.clx American English basis dictionary (binary compressed format)
American_Add.tlx American English additional words (user-editable ASCII file)
British.clx British English basis dictionary (binary compressed format)
British_Add.tlx British English additional words (user-editable ASCII file)
English_Add.tlx common English additional words (user-editable ASCII file)
Additional dictionaries for Dutch, French, Italian, Spanish are also available - visit www.rom-logicware.com to order the "foreign language dictionary package".
In "Options/Spell checker" it is now possible to select either American or British English (or both). When the selection is made, the appropriate dictionaries (from the list above) will be activated.
To make it easier for US users to start using Papyrus, the default templates for new documents (_new.pap, etc.) have been preset for US-Letter sized paper (8.5 x 11 inches). For European users (who may prefer the English version over the German version), an alternative template for A4-sized paper (_new_A4.pap) has also been provided.
The default unit of measurement for Papyrus in English is now "inches" (1 inch = 2.54 cm). European users may switch back to the metric system on the "Rulers" page of the "Options" notebook.
2. New functions for editing and correcting text
Papyrus offers several new, integrated features that help authors (and editors) in correcting text. Most important among these are (colored) highlighters (which may have a comment attached), as well as strikeout text, which may be converted to "provisionally deleted text" (called "mummies"), or back to normal text, as needed.
- Papyrus WORD: Highlighters with text comments
- Papyrus WORD: Text attribute "Strikeout"
- Provisionally deleted text (shrink-wrapped as a "mummy")
Choosing the Highlighter option from the Insert menu opens the Highlighter dialog, in which you may set the color used for highlighting text, and also attach a comment or explanatory note to each highlighted section. The highlighter appears similar to a text background color, except that highlighters are not printed with the document.
If the highlighter contains a comment, a small plus sign appears on the lower left corner (of the first line) of the highlighted text. The comment is automatically displayed in the status line and as "tooltip-help" below the highlighted block when the mouse is held over the highlighted area.
A doubleclick on the sign opens the highlighter dialog with the color (and comment text) for that highlighter.
It is also possible to mark all highlighted regions as discontinuous blocks with the Mark All button. By
using the checkbox "
Mark only selected color" you may limit the discontinuous block marks to
highlighters with the color that currently appears in the highlighter dialog, otherwise, every highlighter
in the document will be marked.
The new Highlighter icon in the toolbar works in two ways: if you have marked a text block, clicking on the icon highlights the marked area(s). If there is no marked block, the icon activates "Highlighter mode", in which each text block marked with the mouse is highlighted.
In response to many user requests it is now possible to apply the text attribute "strikeout" (appears as "Strikeout". This attribute is closely related to the new "text mummies" function for "provisionally deleted text", and text can be converted between the two forms by using the context menu (click on the strikeout text with the right mouse button, and use the "Delete strikeout text" to permanently remove the struck out text, or "Mummify strikeout text" to convert it to a provisionally deleted text "mummy". The options in the "All Strikeout Text..." submenu work similarly, but operate on all occurrences of strikeout text in the document).
To
aid in editing text, Papyrus now makes it possible to delete text passages provisionally, allowing
you to recover the text later, if necessary. Just select the option "mummify text" (from the context
menu). This will remove the marked text into a holder, which we have decided to call a "mummy"
(partly because of the Egyptian
history of the word "Papyrus").
This -symbol appears as a
small red flag with a black plus
sign. The text within the
"mummy" is displayed as
tooltip-help when you hold the
mouse over the symbol.
By double-clicking on the
symbol, you may display and even edit the mummy contents in their "deleted" condition.
Text mummies are functionally related to strikeout-text, and may be converted back and forth by using the (right click) context menu of the mummy symbol. The following functions are provided:
Mummy -> normal text (restores the deleted text into the document and removes the mummy)
Mummy -> strikeout text (as above, but the text's attribute is set to strikeout)
The options provided for "All Mummies" work correspondingly, but act on all mummies in the document at the same time.
3. New graphic functions
Papyrus
WORD: background text colors- Papyrus WORD: Moving graphic objects with arrow keys
- Papyrus WORD: Rounded line ends, or with arrows
- Papyrus WORD: "Set default" button for new graphic objects
- Rotated vector graphics (WMF/EMF)
- Papyrus WORD: Show Picture in Catalog
- Papyrus WORD: Replace picture
under Text / Color you can set a background color for text. The background color is drawn exactly as for a marked block of text, in other words, it covers the entire line height, and if it extends over more than one line, the entire text frame width will be colored.
Background text colors are similar to the new highlighter function, except that background text colors are "real" (and are printed with the document); furthermore, background colors are not "markable" or "searchable" (as highlighters are).
In graphic mode (arrow button in the toolbar) you may now re-position graphic objects by using the arrow keys. The step distance (for each keypress) can be set in the Options notebook under "Rulers".
In the "Graphic" menu (under "Object Attributes" -> "Line style") you can now select "rounded" or "arrow" line ends for graphic objects.
instead of the "defaults" page in the "Graphic Object Properties" notebook there is now a "Set default" button, which permits the default properties to be specified for the currently selected type of graphic object. For instance, you can select a graphic object that has the properties that you would like to have for future objects (or change the properties to match your wishes), then by pressing "Set Defaults", all new objects (of this type) will have these properties when they are created (or imported). Note that graphic defaults do not apply to "Angle" or to HTML-properties.
Vector graphics (WMF, EMF) may be rotated by any angle desired (free input). This function is supported by Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP. Unfortunately, older Windows versions (95/98/ME) do not provide the system function required (world transforms), so this feature is not available on those systems.
The context menu for pictures now offers the option to "Show in Picture Catalog", which opens the picture catalog to the location of the current graphic, allowing further operations (replace, change the selected frame, etc.)
The picture catalog now offers the option to "Replace picture", to replace a picture with another graphic. All instances of the graphic (including subframes) that appear in the document are then changed to the new graphic.
4. New functions for large projects
Useful features for writing books, papers, or thesis projects.
-
Papyrus
WORD: Expanded functions for Table of Contents
and Indexes - Papyrus WORD/BASE: Bibliography
- Papyrus WORD: Endnotes
- Papyrus WORD: Footnote numbering
A table of contents or index may now be created directly within the document, with additional options, and may also be updated within the document.
Use "Create Table" to create new or update existing tables of contents, as well as lists of tables or captioned graphics (illustrations). With "Define Titles" you can specify headline texts for the lists (for the Table of Contents the title and other options can be customized by editing the file "_content.pap" in the /Modules/TEMPLATES.SYS directory.
The bibliography function uses HyperOFFICE-Links, in other words, links to a literature database which is coupled to the document. The new menu option "Generate/Bibliography" generates a list of the HyperOFFICE-Links and executes a standard report. By specifying an appropriate sort order for the report, you can cause the report (in other words, the bibliography) to be sorted automatically (for example, by author and title). If no sort order is specified in the report, the entries will appear in the order they are in the document.
Endnotes are independent from footnotes and are managed in a special database that is linked to the document (similar to the HyperOFFICE links used for bibliography references, but may be used independently).
In the dialog that appears when you select Document -> Document Properties -> Endnotes you can select the endnotes-database that will be linked to the document. In most cases the database will contain just one field (for the endnote text).
When the endnotes are generated, the standard report for the endnotes database will be used. The default report uses the special function ENDNOTE_NUMBER to produce the proper endnote number corresponding to the text (note that this is a function, and not a field in the database). Thus, the standard endnote report (which is automatically created) contains just:
<Field ENDNOTE_NUMBER> <Field Text>
Endnote numbers may be assigned continuously through the document, or restarted (at 1) for each chapter, and may use a variety of styles (arabic or roman numerals, or typographical symbols).
Instead of numbers, footnote designators may now be letters, roman numerals, or symbols (asterisks, etc.). This can help differentiate footnotes from endnotes. The settings may be examined and changed in the Document menu under "Document Properties/Footnotes".
5. New functions for special applications
- Papyrus WORD: Invisible word break
- Papyrus WORD/BASE: Password protection for documents and databases
- Papyrus WORD: New Enumeration style "aa, bb, cc”, etc.
- Papyrus WORD: Text statistic for characters "omitting whitespace"
This item in the "Insert" menu inserts a work break with zero-width, which when appropriate will be used when wrapping text at the end lines, or as a boundary for block marks, and so forth. This is a "mission critical feature" for users who write in certain foreign languages (such as Thai, which has no word divisions, but does need clean line endings). It can also be used to split up extremely long internet addresses (this has the advantage of avoiding any inserted hyphens in the address, which might otherwise be misinterpreted). The 'invisible' word break appears on the screen as a light blue vertical line (which is not printed, of course).
Passwords can be specified for each Papyrus file: under "Document/Document Properties/Password" for text documents, or under "Database/Properties/Password" for databases. Before Papyrus opens a document or database that has been password-protected, a dialog appears to prompt the user to enter the correct password. To protect against brute-force password attacks (repeated testing until the correct password is found), after three incorrect attempts an increasing time delay is imposed before each attempt.
The contents of each password-protected Papyrus file are encrypted with the password. The password is not stored in the file, instead the password is compared to a special checksum to determine whether the entered password is valid to decode the file. The encryption used is only "medium" strong: a true expert who is willing to invest a lot of time and trouble could probably break the code. However, this would require detailed knowledge of the internal document structure: your friends, co-workers or advanced computer freaks will not be able to break our encryption, but it will not protect you against the CIA or NSA. Even we (R.O.M. logicware) can not crack the encryption, so be very careful with your passwords: if you forget a password, it will not be possible to rescue the file's contents.
If you need more security than what Papyrus provides, we recommend the use of "strong" encryption on a file-by-file-base, such as FileVault (for MacOS X), PGP (Pretty Good Privacy), as well as the appropriate user access rights for networks.
Special considerations for password protected databases:
A database-password applies for all users of the database.
In principle, entering or changing a database password in multi-user-operation (when other users are working on the database) will work: at the next opportunity they will see a dialog that requests the new password. However, we recommend that other users should close the database before the password is changed.
For password-protected databases the encryption includes database definitions (fields, calculated expressions, etc. in *.set) and the file with the current changes (in *.log); so that no cleartext data is exchanged over the network (this protects against "packet sniffer" programs that examine network traffic). Reports are not automatically password protected: since they are normal Papyrus WORD documents, password protection can be assigned on an individual basis.
This "double letter" style (sometimes used in technical or legal documents) has been added to the standard choices for paragraph enumeration (along with [1], [a], [A], [i], [I]). Just specify the enumeration style [aa] in the paragraph styles dialog (under "Enumeration", "Format description").
The "Text Statistics" (found under Document -> "Document Statistics" -> "Text Statistics") now includes a count of characters excluding "whitespace" (in other words, disregarding spaces, hard spaces, tabs, and paragraph ends).
6. New Papyrus OFFICE features (general)
These features apply equally to Papyrus WORD and Papyrus BASE.
- New Papyrus Appearance
- Windows: Papyrus WORD / BASE: Screen-optimized character font display
- Papyrus WORD / BASE: freely definable keyboard shortcuts
- Improved installation (allows running Papyrus from removable media such as USB-Sticks)
- Papyrus WORD / BASE: Saving with relative paths (for use with removable media such as USB sticks)
- Papyrus WORD / BASE: Tip of the Day
- Papyrus BASE: Show in system desktop (for field types "External File" or "Picture")
- Papyrus WORD/BASE: Paste (Insert) Contents
- Papyrus "Options" (Win) or "Settings" (Mac)
- Saving Papyrus "Options" (Win) or "Settings" (Mac)
- MacOS: Papyrus WORD / BASE: Drag & drop from Papyrus
- MacOS: Flyover Help in document windows
- MacOS: Floating Dialogs
- MacOS: Papyrus WORD / BASE: Support for Services
- MS-Word and Excel CSV-Import/Export improved
- Papyrus WORD/BASE: New time format for "minutes:seconds" (mm:ss)
Our favorite "wizard" for icons and logos (Gunnar Gröbel) has once again graced Papyrus with an updated look. Admittedly, this isn't a new "function", but the improved appearance does enhance the product as a whole.
Up to now, the font display in Papyrus (for very small point sizes) did not appear as "clean" as it does with some web-browsers, or with word-processors that "fudge" the screen display; on the other hand, the positioning of the characters on the screen by Papyrus was and is truly exact, providing an absolutely accurate representation of how the printout will look.
Papyrus places every symbol according to the finest possible internal resolution available from the vector font, thus guaranteeing agreement between the appearance on the screen and the printed page (which is exactly what WYSIWYG means: What You See Is What You Get).
One consequence of other products (such as MS-Word) which use a "more or less" approach to WYSIWYG is that changing the printer driver can change the appearance of the document (lines and even pages may be split differently under the changed font interpretation). This "dirty reality" of other products is completely foreign to Papyrus.
The only minor disadvantage of 100% WYSIWYG is the legibility on the screen, since Windows provides "optimized" screen fonts whose character widths strongly differ from the internal spacings in the vector fonts (we have measured differences of up to 20% between the screen and print for 10 point fonts).
The result was that for small text sizes, there were letter combinations for which Papyrus' screen display looked slightly "funny" (for example, combinations with "I", "i", or "1" could be asymmetrically spaced. In some situations even a difference of 1 screen pixel could disturb the visual flow).
Papyrus Version 11 introduced a new display method which bridges the gap between absolute WYSIWYG and legibility on the screen. The screen position of characters within words is adjusted slightly, adapting the standard screen output fonts in Windows. The exact character position is reestablished at every word break, so the contents and the width of every line on the screen remains 100% identical to the printed page. Character "slip" or altered line breaks (due to word wrap) cannot occur. Complicated, but well worth the result of combining WYSIWYG with improved screen legibility.
This adaptation applies to Papyrus WORD (for Windows) only. In Papyrus BASE the standard character fonts are used: legible, but not identical to the print fonts. However, has no practical disadvantage, since database tables and entry forms are usually not printed directly. Papyrus BASE reports are handled by Papyrus WORD, where 100% WYSIWYG is still maintained.
Since the adjustments to character positions could cause letters to "wobble" within the line being typed, Papyrus always uses the WYSIWYG display for the current line, and then switches when the line is completed. You may notice a slight "flicker" as the letters are adjusted when you leave a line or begin editing a new line of text.
The end result is noticeably more legible text (especially for long documents in small point sizes), which nevertheless is virtually indistinguishable from 100% WYSIWYG. There will never be any word-wrap differences in Papyrus WORD that could lead to a discrepancy between the screen appearance and the printed output, such as often occurs with other word processing programs.
Of course, Papyrus still allows the user to select the screen display method. If you prefer, you may select "100% WYSIWYG" (in Options / Display), and Papyrus will use the old (traditional) method. For large font sizes (or zoom percentages) the difference is practically unnoticeable: it's your choice.
You may compare the font display methods in the following graphic snapshots:
Fonts positioned exactly (100% WYSIWYG-display):
Screen fonts for improved legibility (with exactly the same line lengths):
The keyboard shortcuts that Papyrus recognizes (to open various menus, dialogs, or for text operations) can be completely customized and redefined to fit your needs. Menu entries may be assigned multiple shortcuts, which can be used parallel to one another.
In the Windows version of Papyrus it is not possible to use Ctrl+Alt+<key> shortcuts, because these combinations are reserved by the operating system (BIOS). Under Mac OS X you should be careful when using Alt+<key> shortcuts, which may be reserved for graphic and international special characters. It is nevertheless possible to use them.
Papyrus OFFICE is completely compatible for use with removable media, in particular from USB "memory sticks" (16 MB or larger), but also ZIP-Drives, etc. Papyrus OFFICE can be started directly from the USB-drive, it is not necessary to "install" the program to a hard disk. Once the Papyrus program folder is copied to the USB-stick, just insert the stick into your computer's USB-port, and you can start Papyrus from there right away. It doesn't matter where Papyrus OFFICE is located on your computer, the principle is that is just runs.
We offer the German version of Papyrus OFFICE pre-installed on USB-sticks (compare the price list for USB-sticks of various sizes on our Internet homepage www.papyrus.de [in German]). Since it does not make sense for us to ship USB-sticks internationally, you are welcome to copy your personal copy of Papyrus OFFICE (English) onto your own USB-stick (actually, that's all we do for the pre-installed USB-sticks).
When Papyrus is started (under Windows), it checks to see whether the system registry contains a setting to automatically open Papyrus documents (*.pap, *.pb, etc.) when these files are opened with a double-click. This check ensures that Papyrus documents will be correctly opened with the latest version of Papyrus. If you don't want to change the "registered" Papyrus, you can just click on "don't change" in the dialog, or you can disable the Check whether Papyrus is registered to open *.pap und *.pb file types option on the Messages page of the Options notebook.
Note that if any version of Papyrus (started from any folder) is already running, then double-clicking on a Papyrus document does not start the "registered" Papyrus, instead, it opens the document with the existing (running) Papyrus. This insures that only one "copy" of Papyrus runs at any one time, and saves system memory.
Operation under Mac OS X is similar, except that Papyrus does not check the "default" when starting. Just open the context menu of any Papyrus document and select "Open with…", then (under "Custom") choose the Papyrus version that should be used to open all Papyrus documents in the future.
Directory paths were formerly saved in the PAPYRUS.INI (Papyrus preferences) in relative form only when they were located within the Papyrus folder. Now, if Papyrus is located in "C:/Program Files/Papyrus", and the path "C:/Documents/Backups/" is used, it will be stored as "../Documents/Backups/". This avoids problems if the disk drive letter ("C:") changes, or when the entire directory structure is copied or moved to another disk. This is particularly useful when running Papyrus directly from a USB-Memory Stick (without having to install it on the system).
When the file Help/TIPS.TXT is located in the Papyrus folder, Papyrus will display one of the tips when starting. If you disable the tips, they may be reactivated under "Options/Messages". You may also add, remove, or change the tips to suit your needs.
You can use the context menu to open files specified in these fields with Explorer (Windows) or the Finder (Mac), or to show the folder in which they are located. This makes it easier to find and manipulate files within the operating system.
Under "Edit -> Paste contents" (or via Ctrl+Shift-V) you can select the data format that should be pasted from the clipboard. This is useful when an application has copied data into the clipboard that can be interpreted as text or as a graphic. Papyrus lists the possible formats in the order that they were given by the source application. The default format is highlighted in the dialog.
The Settings-Notebook now has arrow buttons to page back or forward through the options.
When the "Save settings when quitting Papyrus" option (on the "Misc." page of the Options/Settings notebook) is deactivated, a "Save" button will appear in the dialog, to permit (or even encourage) saving the current settings in the file "papyrus.ini" (Win) or in the "Papyrus Prefs" for MacOS (in the User -> Preferences Folder).
It is now possible to drag text blocks from Papyrus into other applications (the block contents will appear semi-transparent).
Flyover Help (tracking tooltips) has been implemented in MacOS X for document windows, including table fields, links, cross references, etc.
Dialogs now always appear in front of Papyrus document windows, and are removed from view when the user switches to a different application.
Services can now act upon marked blocks in Papyrus and insert text.
The recognition of the respective document types and the processing of their internal structure has been reworked and improved. Several new import types have been added (especially for Excel-CSV imports into Papyrus BASE). Another new variant is CSV Excel (Windows encoding), which uses the default Windows character set and Excel-style semicolon separators (instead of the "commas" indicated by the acronym Comma Separated Values).
The new format minutes:seconds "mm:ss" permits easier calculations based on minutes, as well as database records with "minute" fields (useful for the play length of music tracks or videos). For time-related data field types the input "now" may be used to enter the current time.
7. New features in Papyrus WORD
- Block marks (selected text or records) in a user-defined color
- Papyrus WORD: Cyclic searches
- Papyrus WORD: Blinking text cursor
- Papyrus WORD: Backwards search in spell checker
- Papyrus WORD: Text Drag & Drop into the clipboard area to the right of the page
- Papyrus WORD: Copy/apply paragraph format
- Papyrus WORD: New "Insert" menu
- Papyrus WORD: Show document in Explorer / Finder
- Improved display of and access to special function tokens
- Windows: New ruler appearance
- Expanded Assistants and Key Topics
- MacOS: Page number and zoom level at bottom
Marked text or records are no longer inverted (shown as white text on black background), but instead are displayed more legibly with a user definable background color (set under Options/Display).
Under Mac OS X, the system-defined "selection color" is used.
When a search/replace operation reaches the end of the document, it will then continue at the beginning (a message appears in the info bar at the bottom of the document window). Once the document has been searched completely (back to the original start position), a dialog appears to show that the search is complete. The start position is reset to the current text cursor position (or the beginning of the currently marked block) each time when the search text or dialog switches is changed.
This feature (with a choice of blink rates) can be activated under "Options/Keyboard" to make the text cursor more visible (especially on laptop computers). By default the blinking cursor is activated, this includes when old settings (Windows: papyrus.ini, Mac: Papyrus Preferences) are used under the new version (if you prefer a steady cursor, the blinking may also be deactivated).
The function that indicates Bold or Italic by changing the shape of the text cursor can also be deactivated.
the spell checking dialog now provides a "Previous" button to jump back to the last incorrect word before the text cursor. Similarly, there is now a "Check previous" option in the "Document" menu
In addition to graphic images, text blocks may be moved or copied to the gray (clipboard) region to the right of the page. This automatically creates a special text object with the block's contents. These text objects automatically vanish when the text has been removed (removed with drag & drop, cut, or deleted).
A tooltip help text now appears to call attention to the Papyrus clipboard area. This visible clipboard has a feature in Papyrus since version 1.0, but our experience with user support shows that many users are not aware that it may be used to temporarily store graphics, objects (and now text as well).
These functions, which were previously only available via keyboard shortcut, have been added to the "Paragraph" menu.
To simplify the "Special characters" entry in the Edit Menu (while at the same time adding a number of new items), we have reorganized them and created a new main menu entry called Insert.
This displays the current document in the Explorer (Win) or Finder (Mac) folder where it is located, permitting you to copy, move, rename, or otherwise operate on the file, without having to laboriously search for it on the desktop.
Special function tokens in Papyrus documents (such as the little blue flags marking the locations of hypertext labels, index entries, or provisionally deleted text "mummies") are now easier to point to and click on with the mouse. When the mouse is held over the symbol, double-clicking or clicking with the right mouse button (for the context menu) provides access to functions relating to the token. To signify the availability of these functions, the mouse cursor appears as a pointing hand.
Tab and paragraph margin symbols now appear in an attractive blue on a light gray background (similar to Mac OS X). Users suffering from nostalgia for the old (black & gray) ruler may reactivate it under "Options/Ruler".
The Assistants and Key Topics (in assistants.pap and pap_help.pap) have been greatly expanded and reworked to provide additional information about important subjects and complex tasks. The principle chapters are now available as entries in the online help menu.
To improve the appearance of the text window, the page number and zoom display have been moved to the information bar at the bottom edge of the text frame.
8. New features in Papyrus BASE
- Papyrus BASE: Sorting by clicking on column headers
- Papyrus BASE: Reports with predetermined Query/Sort order
- Papyrus BASE: New field types Internet-Address (URL) and E-Mail-Address
- MacOS: Papyrus BASE: New appearance for tables
Clicking on a column header in Papyrus BASE will sort the entire table according to the clicked-on column. Clicking a second time will sort the table in reverse order. The current sort order is indicated by a small triangle in the column title.
You can also use this feature to sort by multiple columns, by going backwards in order of importance. For instance, clicking on "First_Name" and then on "Last_Name" produces a list sorted by last name, with identical last names sorted by first name. Thus, the last click sets the primary sort order.
This sort order remains set until the database is closed, or a new sort order is specified in the "Sort" dialog. When the database is re-opened, the order specified in the "Sort" dialog is used.
For very large databases that take several seconds to sort (on a modern PC this usually doesn't occur unless the database has well over 10000 records), frequent sorting can lead to bothersome delays when the sort order has been changed often and the view is switched back to the complete list of records. To avoid this you can activate the option "Always maintain sort order" in the "Sort" dialog (from the "Edit" menu). In this case, the standard order given in the "Sort"dialog will be remembered and used when switching back to the complete database. This means that the complete database only needs to be sorted once (when it is opened).
Reports may optionally contain an attached query and/or a sort order.
To specify a query, enter the search text in the search field of the table window, or create a search in the 'extended Search' dialog. Then activate the checkbox "Include Query". You can also use the "..."-button to open the "extended search" dialog and specify a query to include in the report.
To specify a sort order, either click on the appropriate column names (as described above), or use the 'Sort Order' dialog, then activate the checkbox "Include Sort order" in the report dialog (similarly, the "..."-button in the "Report" dialog may be used to open the "Sort order" dialog).
By clicking on a report in the list, such predefined queries and/or sort orders will automatically be applied to the records in the database window.
Note: since it is possible to include the same report template more than once in the list, you may create separate entries with different query or sort orders.
An Internet-address (sometimes called www- or web-address, or "URL" for "Universal Resource Locator") is an ordinary text string, that usually (but not always) starts with "www." The address ends with a period and the "top level domain": normally ".com", ".net", ".gov", ".org", etc., or foreign country codes (".de" = Germany), or the new domains such as ".info" or ".bus" (business). Spaces are not allowed in the address.
An e-mail-address is a text string with the form "username@server.domain". Spaces are not allowed, and the data-entry form will indicate an error if the "@" is missing or if there is not at least one period.
Double-clicking on either address type in the data-entry form (or by using the context menu) will automatically open the default browser (or e-mail-program) with the given address.
Database tables now appear in "Aqua-look"
9. Miscellaneous fixes and operating system
adjustments
- MacOS: List boxes
- Windows: Graphic drag & drop from Netscape/Mozilla
- Papyrus WORD: Printing: Warning issued when objects extend beyond the printer's margins
- Papyrus WORD: Copy/Apply text style
- Papyrus WORD: Import of very large graphics with text-wrap
- Papyrus WORD: Improved page breaking for complex documents
- Papyrus WORD: Empty page at the end of documents
Line height in list boxes has been reduced. Entries that do not fit in a listbox will now be included in the flyover help.
the transmitted graphic is usually passed via the system TEMP folder. Papyrus now inserts all graphics from the TEMP folder directly in the document, instead of by path & filename reference.
if graphic objects or tables extend beyond the printer's margins, a warning dialog will appear when printing. This warning used to appear only when the margins given in the page layout extended outside the printer's margins.
when "copy text style" was used at a location where a text style template was active, the attributes of the text style would be copied, and not the (possibly altered) attributes of the text at the cursor position. Since this could be confusing, Papyrus now copies the real (visible) text attributes (including any text style templates used). The applied text style may thus be different from the template copied, but will exactly match the appearance at the position from which the format was copied.
When the imported graphic is larger than the page area, and is (by preset defaults) anchored with text-wraparound, the resulting positioning and text-wrap operations could lead to indeterminate results. In such cases a message dialog appears, and the text-wrap will be deactivated for the graphic.
when large amounts of pages, jump marks, links, or graphics with text wrap are inserted into a document, the process could be held up by the need to recalculate page divisions. This process has now been accelerated by a factor of 10 or more (for example when making changes to the Papyrus Help file).
A page that contains non-anchored graphics, but no more text will remain in the document until the last graphic is removed from the page. When such documents are opened, the empty pages will be removed (with a message in the information bar).
Again, this list documents the features introduced in Papyrus OFFICE XI (Version 11). For the list of new features for the current version of Papyrus OFFICE 12, please click on the link.