Tempus-Word in a Flash

Created: 06.10.2021  Reading Time 9 - 10 Min.

Texts and images on this page were taken unchanged from the original website. There they were only structured a little differently. Contentwise the text was last edited on 04.05.2004.

What makes Tempus Word different from other text processors?

It is not easy to find the text processor that best matches individual needs. To help you make your decision you will find a list of the relevant differences between Tempus-Word NG and other text processors try our tour. We have reduced it to the major concepts, several details are not mentioned here for clearness.

Top of Page

Minimum Hardware Requirements

Symbolbild Tempus-Word NG needs no installation and requires - including extensive dictionaries - only 3-10 MB hard disk space. The additional hardware requirements are very low; if your operating system runs properly, usually Tempus-Word NG works as well. Your personal minimum is given by the used dictionaries, document size and other options (databases, number of graphics, ...). In other words: if your processor has minimum (Atari) 8 MHz (better 16 Mhz) speed (PC: 300 MHz) and at least 8 MB (PC 64 MB) memory free for Tempus-Word NG, every byte or Hz more will improve the basic operations. In comparison with the currently available GHz and GB machines nothing much to talk about...

Top of Page

Hardware independent WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get)

Symbolbild Tempus-Word NG calculates during printing the best result that can be achieved with the currently available hardware. It will never change text formatting, page breaks or whatever. The text will be placed onto the paper just like the way you see it on the screen and it is not transformed in any way by changing the printer driver. You see the difference?

Background Information: Most common text processors try to compromise between graphics card, printer, screen resolution, and more.

Opening a document always forces a reformatting of the text. If you are working on a huge document, i.e. with more than 500 pages, this may change the page count from 556 to 562 or 523. Neither result is acceptable, because your manually coded page breaks and finely controlled positioning of images, text, and so on is destroyed.

Top of Page

Huge Documents - Who Cares?

Symbolbild Tempus-Word NG uses a generally different data structure than other text processing applications. Because of this, Tempus-Word NG can handle documents with more than 1000 pages with almost the same speed that it does with one with ten pages. The number of pages and speed are only limited by the available memory and processor speed. To achieve good results, you should use an ATARI with minimum 8 MB memory and 16 MHz, PC with 300 MHz and 64 MB, or comparable Mac. If you want to use huge dictionaries or many images, more memory is always useful.

If you smile about these requirements, reading this on your 3 MHz 1GB memory machine: please remember those who are working in places running old PC´s, with no chance of updating their software, because there is not enough money to also buy the new hardware and operating system that the software update requires. We do not believe that this has to be a must for a text processor.

Top of Page

Frame Orientated Layout

Symbolbild Tempus-Word NG is based on a frame orientated layout similar to DTP programs. But contrasted to the usual method of “draw frame - connect frames - flow text” you create a general frame layout that is used automatically during text input. The positions of all layed-out frames is repeated automatically on all pages with this layout. You can create as many layouts as you want. Every layout contains individual definitions for left and right pages.

Free frames offer the ability to vary the layout. These frames are anchored “logically” within the document. If you add text, these elements are re-formatted automatically in such a way that context and relative placement to the accompanying text is kept. This saves you time if you change the length of the main text as there is no need to reorganize frames by hand, as is usually necessary in DTP applications.

Seitenanfang

Real Time Typing Control

Symbolbild If Tempus-Word NG encounters a typing error you will not be bothered by red wavey lines: if there is only one option to correct the word this correction is done directly for you. If there are more spelling possibilities you can choose one, or - last option - you can directly add the new word to one of the (up to nine simultaneously used) dictionaries. Automatic correction of transposed, missing, mis-typed, superfluous and capital/lowercase initial letters will improve your typing speed tremendously. You do not need to go back, click on a marked word, select a possibility and replace the correction by hand. With Tempus-Word NG it is done automatically while you are typing the next word.

Sometimes it might be necessary to work without these helpful functions. In this case you can check the text of a document with a post-processing correction, based on huge word lists and algorithms, collected and refined over the years for the best correction results with maximum speed.

Top of Page

Integrated Database

Symbolbild The plain-looking Tempus-Word NG database reveals its power on huge data files that can be searched, sorted and filtered by operators. With an integrated mask generator you can create your own databases. This integration gives easy access to database content any time when working with documents. This simplifies serial letters, bills, or fast access to head words or background information gathered in a personal database.

“On the fly” you can switch between databases, start queries, add, delete and modify entries and create a new database. Because the database corresponds directly to the field functions of Tempus-Word NG, there is no need to take recourse to an external database system or configure a complex transfer protocol before the first data can be in your documents. You can take the current selection of a database with one click directly into the current document and all without any fields or whatever.

Top of Page

Date Organizer

Symbolbild Besides event reminders, birthday greetings and holidays, the integrated date organizer offers the ability to print already done documents just in time. Example: a poem or funny idea for the next birthday greetings to a friend flashes into your mind. Prepare it with Tempus-Word NG and print it on a future date (perhaps birthday, minus time of postal delivery). Tempus-Word NG will print this document precisely at this date.

Top of Page

Macro Recorder

Symbolbild With no need to be a programmer, you can record and play sequences. If required, you can control the play speed step by step, i.e. to control layout changes. You can organize your macros in files to make them available whenever you need them.

Nützliche Makros können Sie in Makrosammlungen speichern und jederzeit wieder verwenden.

Top of Page

Keyboard Control

Symbolbild Usually your fingers are on the keyboard when you are using a text processor. Because of this nearly every function of Tempus-Word NG can be triggered via a keyboard shortcut. Without leaving the keyboard, you place paragraph formatting, character effects, integrate graphics, create cross-references or footnotes, preview the document, or run a personal macro.

If necessary you can configure your very personal keyboard by reorganizing letters on the keys, i.e. if you are using Greek or Russian fonts that are not placed correctly on your English keyboard.

Top of Page

Handy Tools

Symbolbild Tempus-Word NG offers all the tools that you may need during work on a document. A notepad, calculator, document manager, memory and hard disk statistics are always available.

Top of Page

Graphics

Symbolbild Tempus-Word NG usually includes images using a link to the original file. This preserves all options for later modifications to the original data with an application of your choice. If necessary you can embed the original file (!) into the document, for example to ease transport. You can extract the original data from the document at any time for post processing or for use in another context with no loss of quality. If you need a single graphic more than once in one document, you can alter size, resolution, etc. in every place as needed with one basic file that is never changed by Tempus-Word NG.

If you integrate this basic file into the document it is loaded only once. This saves memory and prevents the mis-matching of colours, contents, and do on that may happen if you have to create different graphics for (i.e.) black&white, grey-scale, coloured display or different resolutions from one basic file. And if you change this file in one place, all instances in the document are updated directly without time-consuming exchange operations.

Top of Page

Footnotes, Chapter-Notes, Final Notes

Symbolbild In many text processors you have to choose whether you want Footnotes, Chapter-notes or Final notes for additional information. Sometimes you may be able to choose two from three. Tempus-Word NG has no such restrictions. You can combine and use all annotation possibilities together in your documents, i.e. you can create cross-references from a Footnote to a Chapter-note and vice versa. Note numbering is always up to date; no need to update numbering manually.

Top of Page

Register and Index

Symbolbild Page numbering of Contents and Index listings are always up to date. New entries are added by repeating their creation. This is for a simple reason: you can change all listings by hand to alter the presentation to your personal needs. If Tempus-Word NG reordered automatically you would not be able to keep these changes.

Index listings can have up to nine (!) sub-divisions per main entry. To ease usage of this function, you will find all the existing index entries in a pull-down list when adding a new one. They are in alphabetical order to get fast access via auto locator (when typing, the next best matching word is highlighted). In the list you can see if you have a main entry, sub-entries, and so on to add to instead of creating a new entry.

Top of Page

Cross References

Symbolbild In addition to annotations (see previous headline) you can have five independent groups to implement individual cross referencing. All reference points can be accessed directly in a dialog and you can view in real time the text surrounding each of them. The five groups can be used and combined as you wish. All labels are always up to date, such as Footnotes, Index, Contents, etc.

Top of Page

Special Printing Abilities

Symbolbild With no further software Tempus-Word NG will print manuals, prospects, books, paper-saving outputs and much more without reformatting or changing the basic document.

Top of Page

Named Rulers

Symbolbild Rulers, containing indent and tabulators, are named in Tempus-Word NG and can be accessed by them. So you can easily synchronize tabulator positions between different paragraph formats or in a marked text area. If you change the position of a tabulator in a ruler the change is made directly to all paragraphs using it. If you wish to change only one paragraph, you can create a copy of a ruler for modifications.