Although Wordwise and Wordwise Plus are fine word processors, they do tend to look a bit outdated when compared to the facilities that are available with the likes of InterWord. The Word-Ex ROM from Norwich Computer Services enables such facilities to be incorporated into Wordwise or Wordwise Plus. It operates as an extension to Wordwise, offering many utilities and functions.

An alternative upgrade path is offered by IFEL, who in co-operation with Computer Concepts have produced a complete replacement ROM for Wordwise, the new version being called Wordwise Plus II.

Both products offer an upgrade route for Wordwise and Wordwise Plus users. This review looks at what both products have to offer.

Word-Ex consists of a 16K EPROM, a 32 page A5 instruction manual, and a reference card. The ROM may be fitted into any vacant sideways ROM socket. Word-Ex claims three pages of memory for workspace. If you are not using Word-Ex at any time, then this memory can be released. This will not be necessary on the Master or Compact as the memory claimed will be in private RAM, and not user RAM.

To activate Word-Ex, the command *EWORDWISE should be entered. This will select Wordwise (Plus) as the current language, and enable Word-Ex. Alternatively, if one is already in the Wordwise (Plus) environment, the command *EON should be used.

When loading or saving text files, Word-Ex makes the whole process easier by displaying a list of files on the screen. Any of these may be loaded by moving a cursor to its position on the screen, or by typing in its name.

One extremely useful function is the "quick save". When editing text, pressing Shift-Ctrl-Q will cause the current text to be saved to disc. The filename to be used should be stored in the first line of your text file.

The editing facilities provided by Word-Ex are accessed by a series of Ctrl key combinations. A fast find routine ("Goto") enables you to go direct to any piece of selected text.

One of the most common typing errors is that of transposition of characters. Word-Ex can swap two adjacent characters (Ctrl-\) or two adjacent words (Ctrl-"), to correct such typing errors. Commands such as delete line (Ctrl-L), and delete at character (Copy), that are found on Inter-Word, are now provided thanks to Word-Ex.

The remainder of Word-Ex's facilities are accessed by pressing Ctrl-@ which produces a further selection menu. One option allows paragraphs to be sorted either alphabetically or numerically, in either ascending or descending order. This sort can be over the whole of the text, or restricted to a specific marked section.

The 'case change' function allows the case of the text to be changed in a more convenient manner than does the Ctrl-S 'swap case' facility. There are also options to change the text so that words may be forced to lower case or upper case, 'all set as titles', and set 'intelligently'. For the "All Set As Titles" option, words have their initial letter converted to upper case. For "Intelligent" case change, all text is converted to lower case, except for letters at the beginning of new sentences, which are changed to upper case.

This option offers a variety of additional functions. To enable the red function keys to be programmed easily, a function key editor is provided. When you have selected which key to edit, you simply press the key actions desired. You don't, for example, have to remember that "[!" is cursor down, you simply press the cursor down key, etc. Simplicity itself!

Word-Ex comes equipped with a host of star commands - twenty-seven of them. These are use to invoke Word-Ex's various functions without having to go through its drop-down menus, and also to use them from within segment programs. They can of course be programmed into the function keys to allow repeated operations to be executed at the press of a key.

All-in-all, Word-Ex has much to offer the Wordwise> enthusiast looking for more features, and the star commands are an added bonus.

Unlike the Word-Ex ROM, Wordwise Plus II is a re-write of Wordwise Plus (with Computer Concepts' blessing), and not an extension ROM for Wordwise (Plus). The software is supplied as a 32K ROM mounted on a small carrier board for insertion in a single sideways ROM socket, and works on all BBC micros (except, of course, the Archimedes).

A 102 page A5 instruction manual details the additional facilities offered by Wordwise Plus II, and an accompanying disc contains various segment programs, and other utilities. You will, however, need to refer to the original Wordwise Plus manual if you are new to Wordwise Plus, and this is supplied as part of the package.

The only immediate difference from Wordwise is the presence of an "information window" showing the current availability of free memory, current wildcard setting, and whether searches are case sensitive or not.

Loading and saving of text can be performed using the familiar options 1 and 2 from the main menu. If, however, Shift-1 or Shift-2 is pressed, an Inter-Word style menu for selecting a filename is produced, making the whole operation much easier.

The system is quite sophisticated and copes with any Acorn compatible DFS and ADFS systems. It will also cope with Watford 62-file DFS discs, and even Solidisk multiple catalogue DFS discs.

When editing text, a host of additional Ctrl-key facilities is available. You can set markers around a single word, or paragraph, and remove it completely. If you then press Ctrl-M, a pop-up menu appears so that you can choose to move, delete, or copy the marked section of text.

Setting up the a layout is now simply a matter of pressing Ctrl-O. A pop-up menu is displayed and you can select the options required. Even the text for headers and footers can be entered from here. It's a lot easier to remember than all those embedded commands.

Similarly, Ctrl-E selects the "Enter Print Codes" menu, allowing easy selection of different printer styles. When the desired option has been selected, the correct embedded command is automatically entered into the text. To configure Wordwise Plus II for your printer, the Printer Definer menu can be used with Ctrl-I. It comes complete with the various RPS (Redefine Printer Sequence) codes for Epson or Brother printers, or you can load them from a disc file which you have to create.

With Wordwise Plus you can only access the search and replace facility from the main menu. With Wordwise Plus II in edit mode, if you press Ctrl-X, & pop-up menu appears for you to select the search and replace strings. It operates in the same manner as the search and replace in Inter-Word, in that you can then select case sensitivity, and global or selective operation.

A "Find String" facility can be called upon with Ctrl-G (for Goto). A small pop-up window appears and the text to be searched for is entered there. After the first find of the text, Ctrl-Q will then take the cursor to subsequent occurrences of the text.

In addition to the familiar Ctrl-S to swap between upper and lower case, two new case change functions are provided. Pressing Ctrl-U forces the character under the cursor into upper case, whereas Ctrl-Y forces the text to lower case. Character transposition errors can also be corrected by pressing Ctrl-@.

A utilities disc is supplied with the package containing a number of segment programs, and other useful items. One of the more useful programs will compact a Wordwise Plus segment program. This has two advantages; the program will be shorter, and it will execute faster. Another useful program on the disc will strip out all the embedded commands from a piece of text, which could be useful when transferring text to another word processor.

This is similar in operation to the EDIT function provided by Basic IV on the Master, where a Basic program is de-tokenised and placed in the Master's Editor. In this case, a small machine code program is loaded, and when f0 is pressed, any resident Basic program is de-tokenised and loaded into Wordwise Plus II. When you've finished editing the program, it can be re-tokenised and returned to Basic.

If you wish to upgrade your Wordwise or Wordwise Plus, you could go for one of the above ROMs, or change to Inter-Word. The choice is up to you. If you like the Wordwise style and programming language, upgrade with either Word-Ex or Wordwise Plus II, otherwise, particularly if you want a WYSIWYG style edit screen choose Inter-Word.

Of the two packages, I felt that Wordwise Plus II was the better. The pop-up windows were nicely presented, and it performed very well. It has the feel of Inter-Word, yet the style of Wordwise, making a great combination.

Word-Ex, though, offers all of those utility star commands, and if you need to use such facilities often, then undoubtedly these would be useful.