Electronic Author has been around for some time now and as far as word-processors are concerned it has had things pretty much its own way. When I found out that Orange software were bringing out a new wordprocessor called Visitext-Plus, I was quite keen to do a comparison. I was even more keen when I found out that Orange were about the put out Electronic Author 2.0. What follows is, I hope, a well balanced comparison.

Ron Sibthorpe's original idea was to write a program that would allow him to write letters on his Dragon. However, like many a good idea it grew and grew. The end result is a WYSIWYG (nearly) word processor that uses a 64-column screen and can handle 308 lines, about three pages of text, at a time.

Visitext is certainly one of the easiest systems to learn that I have ever seen. All that is necessary is to load the disc and type BOOT and away you go. The program is predominantly menu-driven and, rather surprisingly, is a mixture of Basic and machine code. In the past Basic wordprocessors have been criticised for being painfully slow. This is where the machine code routines come in. Where speed is necessary, machine code is used; elsewhere, Basic rules. This makes the system easy to modify or debug where necessary.

In order to conserve space, Ron has produced a modular program which keeps its routines on disc and only loads them when ihey are required, leaving a useful space for text even on the Dragon 32. The 64-column screen is a real gem. Those of us who use monochrome monitors or televisions will appreciate the flicker free, black on white display. By using an unusual font for this screen Ron has produced probably the most readable 64-column screen ever to be seen on the Dragon. The characters do not merge, and apart from a slight confusion with capitals S and W, it was no problem to read.

For the uninitiated I should explain that WYSIWYG is an acronym meaning What You See Is What You Get. This is what makes Visitext easy to use. It is possible to load the system, write a letter and print it correctly, without learning a single control code. If it is right on the screen, it will be right on paper. Where the system fails is where almost all other systems go wrong, namely on non-standard characters like bold or enlarged. These only appear as standard characters, sandwiched between two little graphic characters which indicate control codes. Now, I will never be able to look at a vertical squiggle and know that it means bold type, or that sideways "e" means that bold has been cancelled. Still, as I said before, this failing is shared by many other so-called WYSIWYG systems. However, a more serious problem is that no matter what typeface you use, you are still stuck with 64 characters per line, nothing more, nothing less.

Regularly used lines and phrases can be stored as quick texts, which can be called using only two keys. These can be up to 64 characters ling and may contain control codes, such as new line or enlarged print. They can be held as temporary files or saved to disc. In this way it is possible to create and store an address block, which can be called up whenever it is needed. Pressing the BREAK key forces a return to the main menu, while the CLEAR key acts as a control key which when followed by any other key will enter either a printer control code or a 'quick text'. Although auto-repeat, on all keys, is used the speed can be adjusted or the feature switched off using the configure option. Unfortunately, holding down the SHIFT key forces a repeat of the character types, until the SHIFT is released. For this reason it is best to use the shift lock (SHIFT-I-O) to write even a short word in capitals. The program comes ready set up for an Epson FX100, or compatible, printer. However, it can be reconfigured to suit whatever machine you used. Any program claiming to be WYSIWYG would have to feature word wrap and Visitext is no exception: words are never split over two lines, and unnecessary leading spaces are ignored.

Text can be stored on, or loaded from, disc and printed in whole or in part. My review copy had a bug in the SAVE/LOAD routines which resulted in an error message and failure of the routine if the directory was accessed before saving a program. A quick call to Orange Software soon effected a cure. Similar problems occurred when using the save routine for the 'quick texts'. Although I managed to cure the problem, the curious thing is that I could not see anything wrong with the original routine. Perhaps it just did not agree with my SuperDOS.

A Move Text routine is included for either a block of text or a screen window. However, the procedure necessary to achieve this is somewhat cumbersome, and if the original is deleted the existing text is notoved up to fill the gap. The result is a hole in the text that has to be removed manually, The find and change string procedure is slightly easier to use, but subject to the same limitations. The replacement string must be the same length or shorter than the string to be replaced; if it is shorter, then gaps are left. Both these routines are of questionable usefulness, and I must admit that I teel that their inclusion is little more than window dressing. No word count or page numbering is available, and it would have been nice to have the paper wound out of the printer once the run was finished.

Documentation was quite good and well presented in its bright orange folder. However, it did tend to be a bit vague in places, especially the parts dealing with the Move Text routine and also the saving of 'quick texts'.

The ease of use offsets these idiosyncracies to a fair degree, and with a price tag of only £3.99 it seems good value. The bugs are a different matter. Graham Smith assures me that all new copies will be bug-free, and in the meantime anyone who experiences problems of a similar nature should contact Orange Software.

Being, an all-machine code program Electronic Author occupied only 6K with another 6K allocated to the high resolution screen. There is still space for over 17K of text, even when running on a Dragon 32. It is supplied with a program called Config, which is used to set up the program to whatever printer you care to use. This will set up all the commonly used codes, the no-so-common ones being catered for in a different way.

My first impression of this system was somewhat mixed. Being both impatient and lazy, I expected to just RUN "AUTHOR.BIN", but it did not work like that. Even a Basic loader program corrupted the program. I ended having to stick to the instructions and LOAD, then EXEC the program. In fact, this is the only difference I could find between my original Smithson Computing copy and the V2.0 version supplied by Orange Software, The V2.0 version loads and runs via the BOOT command. THe main display is on the high resolution screen and prints black on green, either 51 or 64 columns wide, with a command window at the bottom of the screen. This screen display is beginning to look pretty dated now, with many people, like myself, using monochrome monitors or black and white televisions, and it would have been better to use a black on white screen which gives a much clearer display. To achieve the 64-column screen, Wayne Smithson just removed the space between the letters. This means that you have to teach your eyes to read a new type of joined-up writing. Because it has so many capabilities, it is necessary to read the manual supplied pretty throughly before starting to use the system.

Not being WYSIWYG the screen width sets no limitation on the printed width. For instance, if it is put into condensed mode the printer will print 132 columns wide and the system wiil handle it. What is more, if, say. a word of enlarged text is included, the program will adjust the line accordingly. Printer codes are shown as initials prefixed by the control character. Unless otherwise defined, this is normally a hash sign, so #dw sets double width. Such a format makes it easier to trace faults when it doesn't print correctly. A fill and justify command is available which gives nice even margins or a literal mode which allows tabulations to be achieved.

Text can be copied or deleted. Both routines either create space for the new text or close up the space if text is deleted.

No separate move routine is included because if text is copied to a new location and then the original deleted, then the original text has effectively been moved. A separate routine to do the job would just be a waste of space. Both page numbering and word count are supported by the program, SAVE and LOAD routines are included and, in general, work very well. There is even a facility to tag another file from disc on to the end of the text curretnly in memory, which can then be edited or moved around to form an integral part of the original article. One slight disappointment is that the DIR command does not work with SuperDOS, though a two byte patch will cure this. Also, there is no capability to KILL a text file without leaving the program.

Well, the key question is, which program should you buy? The answser (as so often) depends on what you want to do with it. Visitext lacks the versatility and overall ability of Electronic Author. Electronic Author, on the other hand lacks the ease of use and the outstanding screen display of Visitext.

In writing this review, I used each system and discovered that their text files are compatible, so I will probably use both. The best advice I can give is that, if you want a word processor mainly to write letters and shorter texts, then Visitext is for you. If you intend to go into competition with Leo Tolstoy, or write your thesis, then Electronic Author is a better bet.

Both programs are obtainable in DragonDOS format from Orange Software for £19.95 (Electronic Author) or £3.99 (Visitext Plus).