TechWriter, EasiWriter update imminent

By Chris Williams. Published: 18th March 2004, 18:45:02 | Permalink | Printable

Artworks support and possibly more

As revealed this week, Martin Wuerthner of MW-Software has added support for Artworks files to Icon Technology's TechWriter and EasiWriter applications. Icon's Mike Glover has also, at Martin's request, asked users to post suggestions for new features and details of bugs to the Icon mailing list.

We asked Martin if he had any other updates planned for TechWriter and EasiWriter. He replied: "There maybe other new features and bug-fixes may be in the new release, but this has not been fully decided yet. Mike has asked for suggestions for new features and bug fixes on the mailing list, so anyone interested in the discussion may want to join it and contribute."

TechWriter and EasiWriter are two popular word processors with MicroSoft Word compatibility and equation editing, among other features. Development on TechWriter and EasiWriter ceased when Icon's programmer Bob Pollard sadly passed away in 2001. Feature suggestions from users so far include multiple undo support, the ability to apply a watermark to pages, auto save and enhanced search'n'replace.

Links

Icon Technology website

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Discussion

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Very good news indeed!

fylfot on 18/3/04 8:47PM
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Fantastic. If Martin can do a fraction of what he has achieved with Artworks there will be many happy people, I for one.

pipalya on 18/3/04 8:50PM
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Agreed. Easiwriter Pro is looking a bit dated now. A nice updated modern UI would be a good start.

sa110 on 18/3/04 9:03PM
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I second that suggestion for multiple undos - Draw's been able to do it for years! lol One thing I've always found difficult to understand is table borders - as much as I hate to say it MS Word handles table borders incredibly well.

Excellent news

Smiler on 18/3/04 9:25PM
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Yeah, table-creation/editing has always been kind of weird in Easy/TechWriter. I would love to see this improved.

JGZimmerle on 18/3/04 10:05PM
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I third that. I hate the table function in Easiwriter. On subject of tables, the border facility needs to be tweaked somewhat also.

sa110 on 18/3/04 10:09PM
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By all accounts Bob Pollard was an exceptional programmer. I wish Martin well in picking up the thread. Good news indeed. I look forward to buying the upgrade. (Shame the Mac version never made it to market though).

Eddie on 18/3/04 10:49PM
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How does Martin find the time to do all that he does. He is remarkable, not content with Artworks and Gimp Print this as well.

If I had one billonth of his talent I would be pleased.

Revin Kevin on 18/3/04 11:27PM
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This really is excellent news.

TechWriter really is the only piece of software I truly miss from RISC OS and on various occasions when I've been forced to use Word I have come extremely close to investing in Virtual Acorn simply to run it. Further development is only going to make it more difficult to resist that temptation!

nboalch on 19/3/04 10:04AM
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Yes, *very* wonderful news! EasiWriter is a very versatile piece of software (cf. 'save as Draw'), and the addition of support for ArtWorks makes it more flexible still.

The prospect of further development is very exciting. Good luck to everyone involved!

In reply to nboalch:

TechWriter runs beautifully under Virtual RiscPC. Very swift too on my 1.2Mhz machine. Go on, buy a copy of VARPC in anticipation of the new TW, you know you want to ;-)

Stewy on 19/3/04 11:57AM
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Does anyone ever happily pass away?

cynic on 19/3/04 12:54PM
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Well, that depends in whether or not you believe in heaven.

hutchies on 19/3/04 1:08PM
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And if you believe that's where you're heading...

Rimmer on 19/3/04 5:26PM
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This *is* good news, an Easiwriter update at last!

However, I disagree about Easiwriter's table creation. Like so many things, it does it in its own way; it's different but very slick once you get your head around it. If you're struggling, I suggest you turn off 'automatic column widths' - I often do this to get more control and it makes EW work more like "other" WPs (page 125 in the EW manual).

TonyStill on 19/3/04 6:53PM
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The EasiWriter/TechWriter demo at the London RISC OS user group (by Mike Glover) spent quite some time on the "tables" issue. Not because it's bad in the software, but because everyone needs to get into the mindset of it before using it.

Once you understand how it works (I'm not sure just turning off "automatic column widths" is a panacea), things work much better.

I have to admit I never read the manual. Maybe Julian and sa110 didn't either?

dgs

dgs on 19/3/04 8:19PM
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Techwriter, like Sibelius, really requires you to read the manual as they're so different from what you're used to.

mavhc on 19/3/04 10:20PM
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It's a massively important package though to RISC OS. Really hope the upgrades don't cost too much.

AW on 20/3/04 12:41AM
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Thye mac version was finished with the exception of one thing. THe screen displayed upside down.

With 3M lines of code is was a feat of genius.

Cheers Bob

nijinsky on 20/3/04 12:32PM
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nijinksy: I do not quite believe this. I think if this was the only thing lacking from the Mac version would you not think that someone could have fixed it by now so the package could have been released? Martin

wuerthne on 20/3/04 2:22PM
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I seem to remember seeing the Mac version on Mike Glovers portable Mac and it looked OK to me. I understand the rights to the Mac version were sold on, so it looks as though it has dissappered down some plug hole. Shame really, I really wanted a copy of that.

Eddie on 20/3/04 5:15PM
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Yes, it's very good news indeed. Hope it's not too expensive.

Timothy609 on 20/3/04 6:39PM
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I subscribed to the discussion group (Yahoo) but haven't received anything let alone a confirmation. Is anybody here a member of this group?

AW on 22/3/04 12:17PM
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AW:

It is a moderated group, so the group moderator will have to approve your request first. Martin

wuerthne on 22/3/04 12:27PM
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I find a lot of EW/TW requires you to get in the correct mindset before using it, but like my other favourite piece of software, vi, it can do wonders when you do. Very zen.

ninja on 22/3/04 1:21PM
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I look forward to future developments (multiple undo would be marvellous).

jonix on 22/3/04 3:46PM
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