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THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO IMPORTING A DOS OR CP/M DOCUMENT INTO A PcW16.

Another area within the PcW16 manual which leaves much to be desired is the importing, via floppy disc, of either DOS files on a 3.5 inch 1.44mb PC disc or CP/M files (which includes Locoscript files) on a 3.5 inch 720K from any PCW fitted with this size of disc drive, hopefully what is offered below will go someway to ease matters. Owners of 3 inch discs from the early Amstrad PCW machines will need these converted to a 3.5 inch disc as either PC Rich Text Format files or Amstrad PCW CP/M files.

The following plain English step by step guide should enable the novice to import and save into the Pcw16's cabinet those data files retrieved from a different type of machine. Originally the illustrations offered were twice the size for ease of viewing, but a compromise was needed, as the download time was extremely lengthy and probably unacceptable. You can always download the image and expand it.

FIG: 1.

Boot (switch on) your machine and then insert the disc containing the document(s) to be imported into the drive. Using your mouse click on the ' Word-processor ' icon (or you can just press the ' F1 ' key). You will then move onto the ' Word-Processor ' menu (Fig: 2).

FIG: 2.

Click on the ' New Document ' icon (or you can just press the ' Blue ' key) to move onto the ' Start a New Document ' menu (Fig: 3).

FIG: 3.

This menu defaults to ' Cabinet ' and ' Folder01 ' and unless these are known to be full or almost full leave them as they are. You will need to give your document a name, think of something relevant to what you are about to import (you will see I have used a most unimaginative name - but one that is easy for me to remember for this exercise). The cursor defaults to the Document Name Box, so just type the documents name. Click in the ' OKa ' box or press the ' Green ' key, you will then move onto the ' Choose a Template ' menu (Fig: 4).

As we all know your PcW16 could die at any moment. With this in mind it would be wise, if your Cabinet contains any important data, to stop what you are doing and ' Back Up ' (copy) the contents of your cabinet to disc and then delete the files from the Cabinet. This will give you more room should you intend to import numerous documents.

FIG: 4.

Go for the ' Blank Template ' option by either clicking on it with the mouse (or by using the ' Down ' arrow). Click in the ' OKa ' box, press the ' Green ' key or double click on the Blank Template file. You will then move onto a blank document page (Fig: 5).

FIG: 5.

At the top of this page to the left hand side, between ' Task ' and ' Edit ' is ' Document ' click on this to get a drop down menu (or you can hold down the ' Task ' key and then press the ' D ' key). Fig: 6 shows you the options offered by this menu.

FIG: 6.

Look down the list and the fifth option is ' Import Document... ' click on this with your mouse (or hold down the ' Task ' key and press the ' I ' key) and you will move onto the ' Import Document ' menu (Fig: 7).

FIG: 7.

Your machine will load, into this menu, the data it obtains from the disc. The following information in the menu will give you all you need to know about the disc you are dealing with. The ' Disc Type: ' box gives either ' DOS ' or ' CP/M '. In the ' Directory: ' box you are offered only ' Root ' with a ' DOS disc ' (the PcW16 can only access the Root Directory of a DOS disc, so ensure that all files are saved here, when saving on a PC). With a ' CP/M disc ' all 16 directories (see Fig: 9) are available for you to choose from, pick the directory you want by clicking on it, then select the file you wish to open, from those offered in the large central box, again by clicking on it with the mouse. Double click on the file, with the mouse, to open it or press the ' Green ' key.

FIG: 8.

Fig: 8 offers an example of a Rich Text Format DOS file. If possible files should be saved on the PC as ' Rich Text Format ' files rather that ' Plain ASCII ' text as this will mean you will have less editing to do, once imported into the PcW16. To save this document look at the top of the page to the left hand side and between ' Task ' and ' Edit ' and you will see ' Document ' click on this to get a drop down menu (or you can hold down the ' Task ' key and then press the ' D ' key). Fig: 6 shows you the options offered by this menu. Click on the third one down ' Save As... ' or hold down the ' Task ' key and press the ' A ' key. You will then move onto the ' Save Document As ' menu (Fig: 9).

FIG: 9.

From this menu select where you want to store your imported document. It defaults to ' Cabinet ' and in my opinion this is the best place to save it, as should you need to make changes to the document then it is easier to call it up from here. Your can always transfer it to a disc later. Go to the ' Folder: ' box and pick which folder, by clicking on it, that you wish to use from the 16 folders available. Then click ' OKa ' or press the ' Green ' key ---- JOB DONE!

FIG: 10.

If importing a CP/M or Locoscript document you would have arrived at Fig: 7 but the information displayed would be as Fig: 10. From the ' Group: ' box, click on the arrow for a listing of all the 16 groups (Fig: 11).

FIG: 11.

Select the group (by clicking on it) which you know contains your document, these groups can have either a name or a number, and a list of all the files in that group will appear in the large central box. Either double click on the file you want to open, or select it by clicking on it and then pressing the ' Green ' key or by clicking on the ' OKa ' button.

FIG: 12.

The above document was imported from a PcW10 system disc as a CP/M file and then saved in the PcW16 cabinet. Saving a CP/M document is identical to saving a DOS document.

A NOTE FOR LOCOSCRIPT 4 USERS. (From Paul Toghill).
It would seem that Locoscript 4 documents can not be imported into the PcW16, therefore it would be wise to save them as Locoscript 3 documents (your Locoscript 4 User Manual tells you how!) prior to attempting the transfer.

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© John R.P. King. Updated 20th April 2003.