Word Processors Keeping Pace With Scientists' Needs

processors and earlier versions is that now they have so much built-in functionality that users rarely need to go to another program to prepare documents. In the past, users would have generated text and tables in the word processor, then called up a separate program to prepare graphs and perhaps a third to create equations. Each part would have been printed separately, and the user would assemble the document by hand. Today's high-end packages--priced at about $500--not only include tools for creating graphs, tables, and equations, but also give the user the ability to position these elements anywhere in a document. And, while it's true that it's now possible to create an entire document without leaving the word processor, for those who use other programs for their primary data handling--spreadsheets to create graphs, for example--it is also much easier to import and manipulate material from other software. No more scissors and paste. Along these lines, one of the software developments of the 1980s was the advent of page-layout programs. These are programs expressly designed to pull together into one document material from different originating software sources. And some scientists have used such programs--like Pagemaker from Seattle-based Aldus Corp., Quark Express from Quark Inc. of Aurora, Calif., and Publisher from Microsoft Corp.--to import different elements of a document and arrange them on a page. But, given the functionality built into advanced word processors now, page-layout programs are necessary only for the most complex or lengthy scientific publishing jobs--those involving digitized images or a self-published book, for example. once available, current offerings have boiled down to just a handful. Of these, two of the best-selling packages--Word from Microsoft Corp. and WordPerfect from WordPerfect Corp. in Orem, Utah-- also demonstrate the advanced functionality now available. VENDORS OF WORD-PROCESSING AND RELATED SOFTWARE The following companies supply word-processing, page-layout, or third-party supplemental software mentioned in the accompanying story. Aldus Corp. 411 First Ave., S. Seattle, Wash. 98104 (800) 274-7243 Product: Pagemaker (page-layout) Alki Software Corp. 300 Queen Anne Ave., N. Suite 410 Seattle, Wash. 98109 (800) NOW-WORD Products: Dictionary of medical terms for use with Word; other dictionaries Data-Cal Corp. 531 E. Elliot Rd. Chandler, Ariz. 85225-1152 (602) 545-1234 Product: Symbol library for Windows-based programs Design Science Inc. 4028 Broadway Long Beach, Calif. 90803 (800) 827-0685 Product: Equation editor/symbol library for Word and WordPerfect Microsoft Corp. One Microsoft Way Redmond, Wash. 98052-6399 (206) 882-8080 Products: Word (word processor); Publisher (page-layout) Quark Inc. 10251 E. First Ave. Aurora, Colo. 80010 (800) 788-7835 Product: Quark Express (page-layout) WordPerfect Corp. 1555 N. Technology Way Orem, Utah 84057-2399 (800) 451-5151 Product: WordPerfect (word processor) "These are the most popular as far as scientists are concerned," says Cynthia Rogerson, marketing and sales manager for Design Science Inc. of Long Beach, Calif., which develops third-party application software compatible with word processors. Both of these packages are available in versions that will run on one of the three personal-computer operating systems discussed previously. Current versions are: Word 6.0 (DOS), Word 5.1 (Macintosh), and Word 2.0 (Windows); and Word-Perfect 6.0 (DOS), WordPerfect 2.1 (Macintosh), and WordPerfect 5.2 (Windows). The list price for each is $495. The tools built into these word processors for making graphs, tables, and equations range in capability from surprisingly good to barely adequate. Scientists whose needs will focus on a particular feature might have to weight that capability more heavily in comparing packages. The graph-making tool in Word, for example, is sophisticated enough to produce three-dimensional graphs from spreadsheet data or data entered by hand. By contrast, this function in WordPerfect is somewhat less versatile. Nonetheless, graduate student Terry Jones, in the department of biological sciences of Humboldt State University, Arcata, Calif., praises the table-making tool in WordPerfect. "It sure beats the old way of making a table, setting up all those columns using tabs," Jones says. "You just tell the software how many rows and how many columns you want, and it sets up a table for you." Both packages have built-in equation editors that can generate Greek symbols and arrange equations attractively on a page. Students preparing a thesis or dissertation will appreciate these programs' ability to automatically generate a table of contents or an index. Also, a "sort" feature can alphabetize a reference list with a few keystrokes. Regardless of how well these word processors' built-in tools work, scientists may prefer to use other applications for some of their document-preparation tasks. The best example of this, according to Susan Weaver, product marketing manager at Microsoft Corp., is the use of spreadsheets to create graphs and charts. This can be important for scientists, because spreadsheets have the ability to manipulate the potentially huge data sets resulting from experiments. Flexible Importation Both Word and WordPerfect can import information from a host of programs. Macintosh users have always had the ability to do this, using the system's "cut" and "paste" menu commands. Now, however, those who use DOS-based personal computers also have this capability. The makers of Word and Word-Perfect have seen to it that the DOS versions of their packages can import files from many popular software applications. And once the material is imported, the word processor allows users considerable control over the resulting image--including choosing its placement on the page, cropping it, and scaling it up or down. For those who have upgraded their DOS systems to run under the Windows operating system, however, the integration between a word processor and other programs has additional advantages, based on the Windows features called Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) and Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE). OLE establishes an active link between two programs. In other words, suppose Microsoft Corp.'s Excel spreadsheet program was used to create a pie chart from experimental data, and that chart was then placed into a Word manuscript. Later, when editing the manuscript, the author realizes the chart needs updating. Using the mouse, he or she simply double-clicks on the chart while in Word. The system automatically launches the spreadsheet, returning the user to the original chart so that it can be changed. "Once you've made your changes, it asks if you want to update the chart in your Word document," explains Weaver. "If you say yes, it automatically puts the new chart back into your document." DDE links two applications so that when one is updated the other is also automatically updated. Again using the example of Word and Excel, an author could create a table in a Word document based on data from an Excel file. Using DDE, the user can establish a link between the Excel file and Word document so that, when changes are made in the Excel data, the table in the manuscript will automatically be updated, also. Although most of the needs of scientists have been well addressed by Word and WordPerfect, users can still expect a few problems. These come from the fact that the primary market for word processors remains businesspeople, not scientists. As a result, the programs' built-in spelling checkers don't recognize many scientific terms and identify them as errors. There are ways around this, such as adding frequently used scientific terms to the dictionary provided by the word processor. But supplemental specialty dictionaries are also available that contain scientific terms. Alki Software Corp. of Seattle, for instance, offers a medical dictionary compatible with Word. A scientist may also find that the equation editor supplied with the word processor doesn't contain scientific symbols commonly used in his or her field. Here, too, third-party software can help solve the problem. Mathtype from Design Science Inc., for example, works with both Word and WordPerfect and provides a comprehensive set of symbols. Another source of symbols is Data-Cal Corp. of Chandler, Ariz. Even with these limitations, it's clear that word processing has come a long way from the days when the main features were text justification and the option of single, double, or triple spacing. For scientists, the ability to create or import all the elements of a scientific document and to arrange them elegantly on the page makes this technology an essential lab tool. Caren D. Potter is a freelance science writer based in McKinleyville, Calif.

Word Processors Keeping Pace With Scientists' Needs

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Caren Potter

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September 1993

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