Add-In Menus to Help Perfect WordPerfect

A couple of software publishers are betting that WordPerfect isn’t perfect.

They have introduced add-in programs that make it easier to use WordPerfect, the best-selling word processing software that is both powerful and difficult to learn.

Ko-Pilot, $90, from Insight Resource Inc., Tarrytown, N.Y., (914) 332-1589, and Perfectly Simple, $130, from GR Technology Inc., Memphis, Tenn., (800) 525-4423, each seeks to improve upon the command menu that comes with WordPerfect’s latest edition, version 5.1.

Unlike many other word processing software publishers, WordPerfect makes the display of a menu of program choices optional. That, at least, is an improvement over earlier versions, which had no menu.

The menu that you get is fairly complete and follows the common pull-down format. You highlight a keyword at the top of the screen with the cursor keys and press the enter key to see a list of choices under that topic. Once the choice is made, the list disappears with only the keywords remaining across the top of the screen.

WordPerfect also has on-screen help, reached with the F3 key. If you are in the middle of making command choices and press F3, you see an explanation of the options. Otherwise you get an alphabetical list of commands and the keystrokes to invoke them.

It’s not a bad system right out of the box, once you get used to it.

Ko-Pilot is a nice improvement, however. Perfectly Simple is not as helpful, and it doesn’t cover all of WordPerfect’s features. It’s also overpriced compared to Ko-Pilot, even taking into consideration Perfectly Simple’s current $77 introductory price.

Ko-Pilot is a memory-resident program that coexists along with WordPerfect. Installation is simple, and all of the Ko-Pilot files are placed in a separate subdirectory on your hard disk. There they cannot get lost among the WordPerfect program files or replaced by some subsequent upgrade of WordPerfect.

To use Ko-Pilot you type the command “KO” instead of the “WP” you usually type to use WordPerfect. That causes Ko-Pilot to be loaded into memory and that starts WordPerfect.

Thereafter, pressing the F3 key displays Ko-Pilot’s more elaborate and more extensive menu set across the top of the screen. Like WordPerfect, Ko-Pilot divides the menu into nine basic topics, but they are organized differently. The categories--Help, Document, Edit, Format, Settings, Print, Tables, Advanced and Quit--are grouped more logically than WordPerfect’s File, Edit, Search, Layout, Mark, Tools, Font, Graphics and Help.

The pull-down menus are more detailed too. A short version is initially shown and pressing the Tab key reveals the longer listings.

Context-sensitive help is built into the menu structure so that, as you make choices, a description of what you are doing automatically appears in a box superimposed over your text on the screen.

There are two ways to use Ko-Pilot. In its normal mode, you simply select commands from Ko-Pilot menus and the associated WordPerfect actions are automatically executed. This is the easiest way to use the program and it really makes some of WordPerfect’s more complex tasks easier.

The second mode teaches you the real WordPerfect keystrokes to accomplish each task. It is the way to go if your goal is to learn how to use WordPerfect unassisted, which is ultimately the fastest way for a full-time user.

But you pay a penalty while you are learning because it takes twice as many steps to do anything. The reason is that Ko-Pilot explains the WordPerfect command for each action and then forces you to hit the appropriate keys. It is probably easier than going through WordPerfect’s tutorial program. But easiest of all is to forget about the underlying WordPerfect commands and let Ko-Pilot run the program for you from its menus.

Actually, you can do a combination of both, reserving Ko-Pilot for the seldom-used and complicated tasks you can’t remember, while issuing the basic WordPerfect keystroke commands to do the more frequent editing, formatting and printing tasks. You also can see WordPerfect’s own menus and all of its help screens at any time, if you wish.

Ko-Pilot is not perfect, however. The authors would have eliminated spelling errors in their help screens if they had run them through WordPerfect’s spelling checker before shipping their product.

Perfectly Simple takes a different approach. Instead of using an unobtrusive menu line across the top of the screen, it plops a big menu box in the middle of your screen when you start it up. From this menu you can do basic file management, editing, formatting and printing tasks.

This auxiliary program is less sanitary in its installation process. It copies its files into the WordPerfect directory, where they are difficult to distinguish from the regular WordPerfect files should you ever need to.

To run Perfectly Simple, you type “PS” instead of “WP” and it calls up WordPerfect after it loads itself into memory. Even though its files share the same directory with WordPerfect, you can bypass Perfectly Simple merely by using the standard “WP” command to start WordPerfect.

There is no training mode, but some on-screen explanations are provided. Performance is noticeably slower than Ko-Pilot, and that was on a fast 20-megahertz 386 computer. Some of WordPerfect’s more advanced features cannot be reached from Perfectly Simple’s menus, such as creation of tables of text and numbers, tables of contents, indexes or formatting text into multiple columns of type.

There are 10 major choices on the Perfectly Simple main menu, some branching into additional choices. They cover the basics for using WordPerfect and are easily understood. The choices are: Paper Size, Begin/Resume Typing, Manage Files, Format, Edit, Comment/Search/Cursor, Dictionary/Thesaurus, Print/View File, Erase Working File and Exit Word Processor.

But I question whether Perfectly Simple really makes using WordPerfect 5.1 much easier than that version’s own menus. If you don’t have version 5.1, you’re probably better off spending your money upgrading to the current version before deciding to buy Perfectly Simple--or even Ko-Pilot for that matter.

Computer File welcomes readers’ comments but regrets that the author cannot respond individually to letters. Write to Richard O’Reilly, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, Calif. 90053.

KO-PILOT, PERFECTLY SIMPLE

Auxiliary menu programs, at $80 and $130, respectively, for WordPerfect word processing software.

Features: Substitute menus to help users work with WordPerfect without memorizing complex keystroke routines. Ko-Pilot utilizes all program features and has a mode to teach WordPerfect keystrokes. Perfectly Simple controls only basic functions.

Requirements: Any IBM PC or compatible computer with a hard disk containing WordPerfect 5.0 or 5.1.

Publishers: Ko-Pilot, Insight Resource Inc., 175 Prospect Ave., Tarrytown, N.Y. 10591. Phone: (914) 332-1589. Perfectly Simple, GR Technology Inc., 3565 Ridge Meadow Parkway, Suite 101, Memphis, Tenn. 38115. Phone: (800) 525-4423.