NAMEGRAM Users' Guide page ii ===================== TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION TO ANAGRAMS . . . . . . . . . . . 1 NAMEGRAM FEATURES AND REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . 2 NAMEGRAM VERSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 QUICK START . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 TIPS ON USING NAMEGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 OPERATION OF THE PROGRAM -- THE MENU . . . . . 5 NAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 ACTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Pick one . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Unpick last . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Generate anagrams . . . . . . . . . . 5 Type a word . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Clear choices . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Show statistics . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Write words . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 SETTINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Alphabetic order/Length order . . . . 6 Quiet (sound OFF)/Sound ON . . . . . 6 Minimum word . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Greatest length . . . . . . . . . . . 6 RESTART . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 QUIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 PRINTING NAMEGRAM'S OUTPUT . . . . . . . . . . 7 WHAT IS SHAREWARE? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 SUPPORT POLICIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Technical support . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 ASP Ombudsman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 NAMEGRAM Users' Guide page 1 ===================== INTRODUCTION TO ANAGRAMS ======================== Playing with anagrams has been a popular pastime throughout history. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (better known as Lewis Carroll) was fond of anagrams -- he rearranged politician WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE's name to spell "WILD AGITATOR! MEANS WELL". Vladimir Nabokov used the name "VIVIAN DARKBLOOM" for a character in _Lolita_ -- naturally it's an anagram of his name. Jim Morrison, poet and one-time leader of The Doors, referred to himself as "MR. MOJO RISIN'". In the movie _Rosemary's Baby_, an anagram is an important clue -- "Roman Castevet" is spelled with the exact same letters as "Steven Marcato". A proper anagram is a series of recognizable words that uses every letter in the original name exactly once. "HORS BUGGEE" is _almost_ an anagram for George Bush, but since those words aren't in the dictionary, NAMEGRAM would never generate it. It _would_ produce "EH! GRUB'S EGO" or "HERE GO BUGS". Some more examples: TURBO PASCAL LABORS AT CPU SALMAN RUSHDIE H'ISLAM ASUNDER COLONEL OLIVER NORTH I CONTROL HONOR LEVEL RONALD WILSON REAGAN REAL WAR LANDING SOON JOHN CHARLES DVORAK LORD JOHN HAVERSACK ARISTOTLE ORATES LIT PATRICK HENRY PERT RICH YANK NEIL JOHN RUBENKING JOHNNIE BURNING ELK In the past, playing with anagrams required immense patience, a dictionary, and a set of letters on wooden tiles, like those in a Scrabble set. But NAMEGRAM makes anagrams a breeze. You can pick and choose from a list of words, or you can let the program generate anagrams for you. NAMEGRAM Users' Guide page 2 ===================== NAMEGRAM FEATURES AND REQUIREMENTS ================================== NAMEGRAM runs on any IBM PC or compatible with at least 256K RAM and two disk drives. A hard disk is advisable if you want to save the output files -- they can be immense. And the more RAM you have, the longer the names you can work with. NAMEGRAM is completely menu-driven and supports the mouse. If your system is capable of text modes with more rows or columns than the standard 80x25, NAMEGRAM will use them. The program has been tested in 80x25, 80x34, 80x43, 80x60, 108x25, 108x43, 120x25, 120x43, 132x25, and 132x43 modes. At 132 columns by 43 rows, you can get an _amazing_ number of words on the screen at once. NAMEGRAM will _not_ run in 40-column modes. NAMEGRAM VERSIONS ================= The full NAMEGRAM package comes on two disks. One disk holds only the 100,000+ word dictionary file. The other contains the NAMEGRAM program, this document, and the DICTMGR dictionary manager program with its documentation. For those who don't want to pay for two diskettes when evaluating NAMEGRAM, I offer a one-disk version. This version omits the dictionary manager and strips the words over 11 letters from the dictionary. Naturally anyone who _registers_ the program receives the full two-disk version. COMMAND LINE OPTIONS ==================== Many mouse drivers won't handle screen modes other than 80x25 or 80x43. By default, NAMEGRAM disables the mouse if it detects other modes. However, some drivers (e.g. Logitech's version 4.00) _do_ work in other modes. If you have such a mouse driver, and want to use it with extended text screen sizes, start NAMEGRAM with "M" on the command line, e.g. "NAMEGRAM M". If you don't _know_ whether your mouse driver is "smart", just try the "M" option with an extended text screen size. If the driver isn't "smart", the mouse won't be able to reach all areas of the screen, and you may even crash the NAMEGRAM program. NAMEGRAM makes use of color if a color adaptor is detected. However, it's not always possible to detect whether the current _monitor_ handles color. To force NAMEGRAM into black-and-white mode, put "BW" on the command line, e.g. "NAMEGRAM BW". To force it into color mode, put "CO" on the command line. INSTALLATION ============ To install NAMEGRAM on a hard disk or a high-capacity floppy disk (720K or more), simply create a directory for it and copy the files DICTNARY.MSH and NAMEGRAM.EXE into that directory. If you have the dictionary manager, copy DICTMGR.EXE to the directory as well. That's it -- you're ready to run. Do note that when you run NAMEGRAM, the dictionary file must be either in the current directory or in a directory that's on your PATH. To install NAMEGRAM on a system with two 360K floppy drives, copy the DICTNARY.MSH file onto one diskette and the NAMEGRAM.EXE file onto NAMEGRAM Users' Guide page 3 ===================== another. Put away the original diskette in a safe place. When you want to run NAMEGRAM, put the dictionary diskette in drive A: and the program diskette in drive B:. At the A:> prompt, type "B:NAMEGRAM". When you see the main menu, remove the program disk and replace it with a blank disk to receive your output files. QUICK START =========== Just run NAMEGRAM and tap a key to get to the main menu. Select "Name" and fill in your name on the line near the bottom of the screen. NAMEGRAM now scans its dictionary and selects all words that can be made from the letters in your name. You can see them scrolling by, and if you want to list them in a file, you can do that afterward. But first lets make some anagrams. When NAMEGRAM finishes with the dictionary, it will buzz and close the window. Select "Action", then "Pick one". Using the arrow keys or mouse, you can move around through a complete list of all the words that can be made from your name. If you have a particular word in mind, type its first few letters. NAMEGRAM will jump to the first word that starts with those letters. Found an interesting one? Hit (or double-click) to select it. NAMEGRAM places your chosen word on the _GRAM_ line at the bottom of the screen and lists the remaining letters on the line below, labelled _LEFT_. It reprocesses the word list to only include words that can be made from those _remaining_ letters. Keep picking until you either make a complete anagram or run into a spot where there aren't any more words. To remove the words you chose, select "Unpick last" as many times as needed. Or, to get rid of _all_ your choices, select "Clear choices". Now it's time to see the real power of NAMEGRAM. At the main menu, select "Generate". Since this is just a quick look, choose "Screen output". NAMEGRAM will start combining the words it found, and whenever it makes a complete anagram it will print it to the screen. Watch this for a while, then hit a key to stop the process. Now select "Restart" from the main menu. NAMEGRAM will generate anagrams again, but it will start where you stopped it and pick up from there. If you were directing output to a file, NAMEGRAM would append the additional anagrams to that same file. NAMEGRAM Users' Guide page 4 ===================== TIPS ON USING NAMEGRAM ====================== The output from NAMEGRAM can range from nothing to multi-megabytes of anagrams. For example, enter JOHN C DVORAK and choose "Generate" -- you get no words at all. On the other hand, a name like RONALD WILSON REAGAN will run all night, churn out 100,000 anagrams, and still not be finished. If you're prepared to LOOK at that many anagrams, you may find some real gems. But in general you'll probably want to avoid extremes. If you get no anagrams, or very few, try adding a middle name, or a title. If you get TOO many, either use less of the name (e.g. RONALD REAGAN, RONNIE REAGAN) or Pick one or more words before starting to generate anagrams. The most amusing anagrams will have some topical reference to the person. Scan the Pick List for interesting words, and try generating after picking one. For example, enter COLONEL OLIVER NORTH and pick CONTROL. NAMEGRAM will generate 700-odd anagrams all using the word CONTROL, and you might choose "OH NO, EVER I'LL CONTROL!". If you like, use the "Write words" selection to save all the words to a file for browsing at leisure. If you can't get a topical reference with the words in the pick list, consider "bending" the rules of spelling. As long as all of the letters are available, you can type in _any_ word with the "Type a Word" selection. If you anagram the name of a sports figure and use AKSHUN for ACTION, the meaning will be clear. Above all, have fun with NAMEGRAM! Anagram the names of your friends and relatives. Give NAMEGRAM printouts as gifts. Devise your new company name by anagramming your own name. NAMEGRAM Users' Guide page 5 ===================== OPERATION OF THE PROGRAM -- THE MENU ==================================== NAMEGRAM uses a standard pull-down menu system. You can make selections using either the keyboard or the mouse. A menu item that's not currently available will be dimmed on the screen and you won't be able to select it. For example, if you haven't entered a name yet, most of the options will be disabled. If sound is already off, "Quiet (sound OFF)" will be disabled. NAME ---- Enter a name for processing. After you enter the name, NAMEGRAM will read its dictionary and gather all the words that can be made from this name into a list. ACTION ------ DO something with the list of words. Pick one -- NAMEGRAM displays all the available words in a list. Use the arrow keys to move the highlight to a particular word, or single-click the mouse to highlight the word at the mouse cursor. The PgUp and PgDn keys jump forward and back by whole screenfuls, or you can drag the scroll bar at the right of the window with the mouse. To select the highlighted name, press or double- click. To exit without selecting, press . To see what letters would remain if you selected the highlighted word, press -- the letters that would remain will appear on the _LEFT_ line at the bottom of the screen. Unpick last -- If you've picked one or more words, this choice removes the most recent and puts its letters back on the _LEFT_ list. Generate anagrams -- NAMEGRAM starts matching up the available words to form as many complete anagrams as possible. You can direct output to the screen or to a file. If you direct it to a file, you can choose whether to have one anagram per line or let the program print multiple columns to fit 80-column, 132-column, or user-selected printing. (See "Printing your output" below for a discussion of these modes). You can stop generation at any time by pressing a key. NAMEGRAM will store the current status in a file called NAMEGRAM.$$$. Select RESTART from the main menu to pick up where you left off. Note that if NAMEGRAM fills up the current output disk, it will prompt you to insert another disk. Type a word -- Lets you type in any word that's made of the remaining letters, whether or not it's in the NAMEGRAM dictionary. Clear choices -- Clears all the picked words and lets you start afresh. Show statistics -- Shows how many words of each length were found in the name. NAMEGRAM Users' Guide page 6 ===================== Write words -- Writes _all_ the words that can be made from the letters in the input name to a file. If the disk fills up, it prompts for another and continues. SETTINGS -------- Set various characteristics of the program. Alphabetic order/Length order -- The NAMEGRAM dictionary has to be in alphabetic order because of the compression algorithm used. However, automatic generation of anagrams requires that the _longest_ words come first. Choose one of these options to re- sort the list. Quiet (sound OFF)/Sound ON -- NAMEGRAM uses sounds to signal various events. It makes a loud buzz when it finishes reading the dictionary, a "wow" sound when you complete an anagram, and an "awww" sound when it has trouble. You can turn these sounds on and off at will. Minimum word -- Some names have a _huge_ number of anagrams, and many may end in something like "...A A A I I O O O O". If you want to limit the number of anagrams created, you can choose a minimum word length. No anagrams with more than ONE word of this length or shorter will be generated. Greatest length -- If you don't have enough RAM to read the whole dictionary for a given name, you can limit yourself to words of a certain length or less. RESTART ------- This option lets you restart automatic anagram generation when it's been stopped by a keypress. NAMEGRAM wipes out any data currently in memory and sets itself up to continue generating anagrams. You can stop and restart as many times as needed. However, note that there only be one unfinished session pending. Each time you stop anagram generation, the old NAMEGRAM.$$$ file (if any) gets renamed to NAMEGRAM.BK$. If a NAMEGRAM.BK$ file exists, it gets erased. Then the new session is saved to NAMEGRAM.$$$. The Restart option is only available if NAMEGRAM.$$$ exists in the current directory. QUIT ---- End the program. NAMEGRAM Users' Guide page 7 ===================== PRINTING NAMEGRAM'S OUTPUT ========================== NAMEGRAM's output files can have one or many anagrams per line. One per line is best if you're going to load the output into a word processor that supports columns. Many per line is best if you're going to send the file directly to the printer. If you want multiple anagrams on a line, you have to tell NAMEGRAM how many characters your printer can fit on a line. Calculate this by multiplying the maximum _pitch_ (characters per inch) your printer supports by the width of the printing area on the page. For example, 10 pitch on 8" of paper gives 80 characters. 17 pitch gives a little over 132. If your calculation doesn't come out close to 80 or 132, pick the "user-selected" option and enter your result. NAMEGRAM output files can be _very_ large. You'll probably want to print them in the background using DOS's PRINT spooler. First set your printer to print in its maximum pitch. Make sure that the PRINT.COM program is available on your PATH. Now at the DOS command line type "PRINT filename", where "filename" is your anagram file. Press at the prompt "Name of list device [PRN]:". DOS will start printing the file, and you'll get the DOS prompt back. You can do other things with your computer during the time your anagram file is being printed. It _is_ possible to send NAMEGRAM's output _directly_ to the printer without saving it in a file first. To do so, you simply specify "PRN" as the output filename. However, this can cause problems. It's quite likely that your printer won't be able to keep up with NAMEGRAM. Eventually the printer's input buffer will fill up, and it will stop accepting characters. NAMEGRAM will interpret this as a disk error. You _may_ be able to wait for the printer to stop printing and then choose "Restart". However, unless you simply don't have disk space to store the output, it's best to print from a file using PRINT.COM. WHAT IS SHAREWARE? ================== (Definition supplied by the Association of Shareware Professionals) Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software before buying it. If you try a Shareware program and continue using it, you are expected to register. Individual programs differ on details -- some request registration while others require it, some specify a maximum trial period. With registration, you get anything from the simple right to continue using the software to an updated program with a printed manual. Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial software, and the copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific exceptions as stated below. Shareware authors are accomplished programmers, just like commercial authors, and the programs are of comparable quality. (In both cases, there are good programs and bad ones!) The main difference is in the method of distribution. The author specifically grants the right to copy and distribute the software, either to all and sundry or to a specific group. For example, some authors require written permission before a commercial disk vendor may copy their Shareware. SO, Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. You should find software that suits your needs and pocketbook, whether it's commercial or Shareware. The Shareware system makes fitting your needs easier, because you can try before you buy. And because the overhead is low, prices are low also. Shareware has the ultimate money-back guarantee -- if you don't use the product, you don't pay for it. SUPPORT POLICIES ================ Technical support ----------------- Registered NAMEGRAM users who need technical support or suspect a bug should contact the author by mail or electronic mail. Street address and electronic mail addresses appear at the start of this document. I will attempt to resolve the problem. If you registered within the past 90 days and I can't resolve your problem, I will refund your registration fee. ASP Ombudsman ------------- Neil J. Rubenking is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware- related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006 or send a Compuserve message via EASYPLEX to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536"