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Word Processing

February 25th, 2001
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The most used application on a computer.

This lecture on Word Processors focuses on:

1. What a word processor is
2. What is word processing
3. Advantages to using a word processor
4. Users of word processors
5. What is WYSIWYG
6. Features of a Word Processor

Introduction

One of the first task to which a computer is put is word processing. Every business receives correspondence and must send out correspondence of its own. It is no surprise that word processing is the number one task to which an office computer is put. It is not necessary to be trained as a typist to use a computer keyboard but a trained typist will naturally be able to do a lot more in a shorter time than someone without proper training. There are tutorials to assist in developing typing skill and students are well advised to make use of them. The time spent on learning to type properly will be a useful investment.

WHAT IS A WORD PROCESSOR?

The term word processor was once used to refer to a specialist computer used to create, edit, format, store and print text documents.

Because personal computers are very widely available, whenever the term word processor is used it generally refers not to a specialist computer for producing documents but to a computer application which provide these functions. The modern word processor application does much more than manipulate text. It also handles graphics thus making it a very powerful tool in the hands of journalists, authors and novelists.

To qualify as a word processor the application must not only allow the users to edit and format text but users must be able to define their layout and print documents.

WHAT IS WORD PROCESSING?

Word processing in a computerized environment involve the creation and management of electronic documents. In many offices PCs with a word processor application have all but completely replaced the typewriter which was the primary word processing tool.

ADVANTAGES TO USING A WORD PROCESSOR

• The ability to store typed documents on a diskette or on a hard disk.
• The ability to view a document on screen before printing.
• The ability to correct mistakes.
• The ability to insert or delete words, sentences or paragraphs.
• The ability to move sections of text around in a document.
• The ability to incorporate other text without having to retype it.
• The ability to change layout of the document.
• The ability to print the document many times.

WYSIWYG

All powerful word processors claim to provide WYSIWYG. WYSIWYG stands for " What you see is what you get." This term means that the representation of the document on the screen is very close to how it will appear when printed.

The most common word processor application found on IBM compatible PCs is Microsoft Word. It is a very powerful application that is easy to use. Another powerful word processing application is Word Perfect. Word Perfect is not as common now as it was when most PC applications were written for DOS based machines.

FEATURES OF THE WORD PROCESSOR

Spell checker- Word processors check spelling and recommend changes as appropriate. Because most use the American English dictionary version computers may not be able to recognize many correctly spelt words according to the Oxford dictionary. It will also not recognize many proper names of places or animals. In spite of this drawback, spell checking is still a very useful feature.

Grammar checker - automatically examines sentence structure and alert the user of possible grammatical errors.

Thesaurus - offers synonyms for words.

Tables and Calculations - facilitate the easy construction of tables capable of having mathematical calculations done in the cells that make up these tables.

Header, Footer, Footnotes, Endnotes - these common features can be inserted into a document with minimal effort.

A header is a message that is repeated at the top of a number of pages. A footer is a message repeated at the bottom of pages in a document. A header message often contains the title of a document while a footer may carry the page number.

Columns - The layout of a document can be made to look like the columns of a newspaper or newsletter.

Graphics - Graphic images (pictures) can be created or imported from other programs and displayed along side text in a single word processing document.

Macros - small programs written to automate common tasks performed by users. This function is often abused by computer virus makers to create what is called macro viruses.

Mail Merge - A feature which allows one main document to be created and merged with data in a database of names and addresses. A copy of the main document is then dispatched to some or all of ones clients in a few easy steps. Each recipient would have a letter addressed in his or her own name thus giving the personal touch. Mail merge makes it unnecessary to create one document addressed To whom it may concern or Dear Customer ( a very unprofessional introduction ) and photocopy it for each client.

QUESTION TIME

1. Word processors are powerful tools in the hands an office secretaries. Name two other professions for whom word processors are particularly important.
2. Is a word processor a specialist computer, a computer application or both?
3. Will a modern word processor create text based documents only?
4. What is WYSIWYG and what does it mean?
5. What name is given to the feature in a word processor which provides a user with a list of synonyms?
6. What is a footer?
7. What is a Macros and why can they be potentially dangerous?
8. Which feature allows for the creation of a personalized letters to a large number of ones clients in a few easy steps?
9. Name two word processing application found on PCs.
10. Can a powerful Word processor display charts and graphs?

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