Mscript with MSDOS

Many of us made a choice years ago of using either TASWORD II or MSCRIPT for word processing on our 2068 computers. As I recall, I was the only member of our user group to use MSCRIPT on a continuing basis though I used TASWORD when forced to. Then when Jack Dohany developed his nice modifications to MSCRIPT we had a program that was hard to beat. How about up to 52 printer commands with 3 to 4 key strokes?

In this issue you will note that RMG Enterprises now carries MSCRIPT for IBM clone users. For some, the complexity of most of the clone word processors are just too much to conqueror just to do letters, memos and notes. MSCRIPT may well be the answer for you, particularly if you have been a past MSCRIPT user, and the price is right.

This is an early issue that may predate the MSCRIPT Word Processor manual published for the 2068 computer by Zebra Systems. However, a review of the various menus on screen and comparing with this manual show very few differences. This manual uses FUNCTION with macro keys but this is no problem as it seems to be replaced with the ALT key with the same macro keys.

The COMMAND menu is brought up with CTRL+ESC, the PRINT menu displays with ALT+P, and the EDITOR HELP menu displays with ALT+H. ESC returns to the editing screen from any menu except the main menu which displays only the window size as typing progresses (for the line being typed). The beauty of this is that one can scroll down the screens and determine page breaks by line number .

In many cases instructions are given once a particular function or command is selected so a manual is not an absolute requirement. As ZEBRA no longer provides these manuals, Jack Dohany is one source (maybe the only source). Some years ago I purchased a spare manual for $15.00 from him but there has probably been price changes since then.

For the uninitiated, printer codes are limited to a few built-in codes, such as underline and bold, and those that can be set up by the user. This appears to be rather restrictive as only 10 numbers can be used for codes and code parts such as ESC. Thus in many cases 2 or 3 digits are required for a code insert in the text. A marker is required before each code number so (for instance) the code for double strike (my printer) is ESC G, which is 27 71, and I would assigned 27 to 0 and 71 to 1. I will show the marker as @ so the printer will not double strike, so @0@1 is inserted in the text where required, or if the whole text is to be double strike it would be at the beginning of the first line.

While this system seems to be restrictive, the same 10 digits can be reassigned any number of times throughout the text in order to use other printer codes. One of Jack Dohany’s improvements is to permit any of the 26 cap letters and 26 lower case letters to be assigned a printer code!

If the reader has used the 2068 computer MSCRIPT then that manual will serve your needs, along with the program from RMG Enterprises. Members of a user group can probably find an MSCRIPT manual among the membership .