On Saturday 05 July 2008, Andrew Douglas Pitonyak wrote:
> Hal Vaughan wrote:
...
> > This next part may be off because it's been so long since I've been
> > able to sit down and write in an actual word processor, so I don't
> > remember if OOo uses the ALT key for any commands, but let's assume
> > it doesn't for now. I'll have one other main macro. When I call
> > it, it'll ask me for a phrase, which will usually be a character's
> > name, then it'll ask me to press a key (or enter a key in a dialog
> > box). Then it'll create a macro (hopefully for that document only)
> > that will, within that macro, call up one of the margin setting
> > macros, then type the name (or phrase) I entered in the dialog box.
> > It'll also link that macro to the key I specified when used with
> > the ALT key.
...
> >
> > Hal
>
> Remember, never do more work than you need to make.... You may be
> able to use auto formatting to do the same thing. I have not used
> it.... I thought that you could set formatting and everything. The
> idea would be something like this:
>
> You enter some specific text.
> Press a key like Ctrl+F3
> Based on the text that is present, new text and/or formatting is
> applied
>
> I need to search around OOo a bit to figure it out, but it might be
> one of these. (and I need to be somewhere soon so I can not look
> now).
>
> http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Documentation/OOoAuthors_Use
>r_Manual/Writer_Guide/Using_AutoText
> http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Documentation/OOoAuthors_Use
>r_Manual/Writer_Guide/Autoformatting
>
> The bottom line is that you would simply need to create the entry and
> then use it. This might be easier than the macro, perhaps not...
I have to look into it, but the advantage of a macro is that once I
specify the macro, it happens in one keystroke every time. It sounds
like this means I'd type the full text, THEN specify the formatting.
The idea is that even though all I'm typing is names, I can still set
the margins and type the name in one stroke. This other way I'd have
to type the name, then hit the keys for formatting.
I have wondered about using an F key instead of a key combination. For
example, there are some F keys that aren't used. I thought at one
point I had found a way to make OOo listen after a keypress. In other
words, I could type something like, say, F6 and it might trigger a
macro that does nothing but listen for the next key until it gets a
keypress. Then when it does, it dispatches the control to the
appropriate macro.
Just for reference, a script looks a bit like this:
-------------------------------------
FADE IN:
EXT. PARKER'S MOUNTAIN SHACK
Sunrise coming over the mountains and lighting up the roof of the shack
as we see PARKER emerge from the door, stretching in the morning.
PARKER
(as he stretches and yawns)
Ho, hum. Another boring day on the island of
Pagay Pagay...
-------------------------
I don't know how that came across in your email, with font changes, but
there are 4 distinct margins, the one for the first 4 typed lines, the
one for the character's name when he speaks (which many systems just
center, other times people use a set margin for it), then one for stage
directions (the next line) and a 4th for what people say.
In a script you often have a lot of dialog, which means typing people's
names at that place in the center of the page or with that widest
margin 20 times or so in a page. That's why being able to just hit a
key instead of typing their full name is so handy. And with that many
margin changes, you can see why changing a paragraph margin with a
single keystroke is not a luxury but a must.
When I was on the Amiga, it was a nightmare dealing with some companies
and their word processors. Except for Word Perfect, not one word
processor let you change the margin through keystrokes, you had to use
the mouse, and trying to do that when writing a script with the
frequent margin changes you've just seen is simply not possible if you
want to have an average typing speed that's faster than a 5 year old
hunting-and-pecking.
When I first started checking out OOo, I was concerned because OOo
doesn't do actual margin changes without forcing a page break (a
serious flaw, as I see it), so when I did early imports from Word
Perfect, I'd get one line per page in many cases and it's only after
the filter was created to import Word Perfect documents that the
situation changed.
Anyway, I thought by giving an example of a script page, it would help
make more sense of what I'm trying to do.
Hal
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