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Main Chapter Advanced User Manual Programmer Manual

Word-processing Fields


Screen Editor

Introduction

To edit the contents of WORD-PROCESSING-type fields in files, you need to use a word processing editor. VA FileMan provides two standard editors: the Screen Editor and the Line Editor. The Screen Editor provides flexibility and freedom not provided by the Line Editor. The Screen Editor provides such features as full-screen editing, automatic text wrapping, and search-and-replace. In most cases you would want your default editor to be the Screen Editor.

NOTE: To set your default editor, please refer to the "Choice of Word-processing Editors" chapter in this manual.

For most people, the Screen Editor should be your Preferred Editor for WORD-PROCESSING fields.

If you enter <PF1>H at any time in the Screen Editor, you can get online Help that lists all the available commands.

At any time, while entering text using the Screen Editor, you can select a command. For example, at any time you can change your left margin, move to a different screen, save your document, or get online Help. To invoke most commands, you need to enter only two keystrokes: the <PF1> key and a character key, such as D for delete line.

You'll usually find the <PF> keys at the right-hand side of your terminal keyboard, along with the numeric keypad. If you're using a personal computer rather than a computer terminal, the <PF> keys are mostly likely re-mapped to another set of keys (consult your IRM to find out to what keys the <PF1> through <PF4> are re-mapped).


Main Screen

The Screen Editor display consists of a status bar at the top and a ruler at the bottom. Between the two status bars is the area where you create and edit text:

Example of a WORD-PROCESSING Field in the Screen Editor.


Entering Text

When using the Screen Editor, you type your text as you normally would. As you type, the Screen Editor automatically wraps lines of text to fit within the left and right margins. There is no need to press the Enter/Return key at the end of each line. The Screen Editor accepts any printable characters as keyboard input. However, it cannot be used to edit text that contains control characters.


Entering Commands

Editor commands are invoked using keyboard command sequences. The Screen Editor makes use of the <PF> keys, the cursor keypad, and, if available on the keyboard, the edit keypad to perform its editing functions.


Cursor Movement (Navigation)

The following table illustrates the keystrokes you use to navigate while in the Screen Editor:

Action Key Sequence
Move one column left or right <ArrowLeft> or <ArrowRight>
Move one line up or down <ArrowUp> or <ArrowDown>
Move one word left or right <Ctrl-J> or <Ctrl-L>
Move to next tab stop to the right <Tab>
Move cursor left or right one screen <PF1><ArrowLeft> or <PF1><ArrowRight>
Move cursor to beginning or end of line <PF1><PF1><ArrowLeft> or
<PF1><PF1><ArrowRight>
OR: <Find> or <Select>
OR: <Home> or <End>
Move cursor one screen up or down <PF1><ArrowUp> or <PF1><ArrowDown>

OR: <PrevScreen> or <NextScreen>

OR: <Page Up> or <Page Down>

Move to top or bottom of document <PF1>T or <PF1>B
Go to a specific screen, line, or column. <PF1>G

You can move forward quickly across a line by pressing the Tab key (<Tab>). The Tab key in the Screen Editor does not insert anything into the text. The Tab key is for navigation only and simply moves the cursor to the next tab stop to the right. Another way to move across a line, either forward or backward, is to move a word at a time, using <Ctrl-J> or <Ctrl-L>.


Saving and Exiting

The following table illustrates the keystrokes you use to exit and/or save text while in the Screen Editor:

Action Key Sequence
Exit and save text <PF1>E 
Quit without saving <PF1>Q
Exit, save, and switch editors <PF1>A
Save without exiting <PF1>S

If your editing session ends unexpectedly because of hardware failure or another reason that prevents normal exiting, any changes you've made in the current WORD-PROCESSING field are not saved. On the other hand, if you time out when editing text, your changes are saved.


Finding Text

The following table illustrates the keystrokes you use to find text while in the Screen Editor:

Action Key Sequence
Find text
(not case sensitive)
<PF1>F
Brings up a "Find" dialogue (see picture below). To search for text downward, enter the text to find and press the Enter/Return key. To search for text upward, enter the text to find and press <ArrowUp>.
Find next occurrence of text <PF1>N
Find/Replace text <PF1>P

Example of the Find Dialogue Box in the Screen Editor.


Formatting Paragraphs

The following table illustrates the keystrokes you use to format paragraphs while in the Screen Editor:

Action Key Sequence
Join and/or break the current line and next line <PF1>J
Make sure Wrap mode is on before joining or breaking lines (Toggle Wrap mode with <PF2>).
Reformat paragraph
<PF1>R
Joins and/or breaks all lines between current line and next blank line, to create a word-wrapped paragraph. Make sure Wrap mode is on first (Toggle with <PF2>).

NOTE: The reformat paragraph command is very useful!

Cutting and Pasting

The following table illustrates the keystrokes you use to cut and paste text while in the Screen Editor:

Action Key Sequence
Select/Mark text <PF1>M
Position the cursor at the beginning of the text you wish to select and press <PF1>M. Move the cursor to the end of the text you want and press <PF1>M again. The selected text is highlighted in reverse video.
Deselect/Unmark text <PF1><PF1>M
Delete selected text <Delete> or <Backspace> on selected text
Cut and save to buffer <PF1>X on selected text
Copy and save to buffer <PF1>C on selected text
Paste from buffer <PF1>V
Move text to another location <PF1>X at new location
Copy text to another location <PF1>C at new location

To move or copy selected text to another location:

  1. Select the text (use <PF1>M).

  2. Place the cursor at the new location.

  3. Press <PF1>X (move text) or <PF1>C (copy text).


To save text to the buffer so that you can paste one or more times:

  1. Select the text (use <PF1>M).

  2. With the cursor on the selected text, press <PF1>X (cut text to buffer) or <PF1>C (copy text to buffer).


To paste text from the buffer:

  1. Move the cursor to the location you want to paste the text.

  2. Press <PF1>V.

Deleting

The following table illustrates the keystrokes you use to delete text while in the Screen Editor:

Action Key Sequence
Character before cursor <Backspace>
Character at cursor <PF4> or <Remove> or <Delete>

(which key depends on your terminal and keyboard type)

Word at cursor <Ctrl-W>
From cursor to end of line <PF1><PF2>
Entire line <PF1>D

Settings/Modes

The following table illustrates the keystrokes you use to change settings and mode while in the Screen Editor:

Action Key Sequence
Wrap/No Wrap mode toggle <PF2>
If wrap is off, left and right margin settings are ignored.
Insert/Replace mode toggle <PF3> or <Insert Here> or <Insert>
Determines whether new characters are inserted before existing text, or instead overwrite existing text.
Set/Clear tab stop <PF1><Tab>
Change from default tab stops is effective for current session only.
Set left margin <PF1><Comma>
Move cursor to desired left margin position first.
Set right margin <PF1><Period>
Move cursor to desired right margin position first.
Status line toggle (on or off) <PF1>?

Troubleshooting

Terminal Type Setting

The Screen Editor is designed for use on all terminal types known in the Kernel computing environment. It is very important that your terminal type be correctly identified to VA FileMan. Refer to the Kernel manuals for more information about how terminal types are identified. Since the <PF> keys are used in the Screen Editor, those keys should not be reprogrammed.

<PF> Keys Not Working: How to Exit

If your <PF> keys do not work in the Screen Editor, your terminal type is probably set incorrectly. Before you can correct the setting, you need to make an emergency exit from the editor by using one of the following keystroke combinations:

NOTE: You must enter all letters in the above key sequences in uppercase.


Screen Editor and Personal Computers

Pasting and Uploading

If you are accessing your hospital computer system from a personal computer (PC), you can paste text from an application on the PC into the Screen Editor, and also upload files into the Screen Editor. There are some issues to be aware of when pasting text or uploading files into the Screen Editor.

Symbol Characters

Extended ASCII characters (typically "symbol" characters) cannot be stored in WORD-PROCESSING fields. Examples of such characters include "smart quote" characters, bullets, and symbols. Such characters, when encountered, are stripped or replaced with a space, ', ", or *, as appropriate. To avoid problems uploading these types of characters, you should:

Files: Save as Text

If you are uploading an entire word processing document (as opposed to pasting), save it first as a "Text Only with Line Breaks" (or similar) file type in your personal computer word processor.

Wrap Vs. No Wrap

If your source document contains a carriage return at the end of every line, turn WRAP off in the Screen Editor before you paste or upload by pressing <PF2>. Turn it back on once the paste or upload is completed. If your source document contains a carriage return at the end of each paragraph only, however, leave WRAP on in the Screen Editor.

Avoiding Lost Characters

If the host computer system can't keep up with the your text upload, characters can get "lost." This can be a factor if you upload large quantities of text or characters. This character loss can occur because pastes and ASCII uploads don't use error-correcting communications protocols.

If you notice characters getting lost, one way to solve this is to adjust the "character pacing" (or similar) setting in your terminal emulation program. This can slow down the transfer of text such that characters no longer get lost due to communications overload.

If you need to paste or upload large quantities of text, consider switching to an Alternate Editor such as Kermit that uses an error-correcting communications protocol. This automatically compensates for communications overflows, preventing the loss of characters during text transfer. To use Kermit, it must be installed as an Alternate Editor at your site.

 


Reviewed/Updated: October 2016