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|A ^0Brainware |A            ^1 Word Search Construction Kit |A            ^0 Brainware|A 
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^Cby
^CJohn Scott


    Construct your own custom made Word Search Puzzles.  Teachers and parents,
 enter spelling lists for your children, and make spelling homework fun! See
 who can circle all the words in the printed puzzle first!  New word search
 puzzles can be created in seconds.

    Word Search Puzzles are grids of letters that appear to be completely
 random.  Hidden within the letters, words can be found in the horizontal,
 vertical, or diagonal directions.  This program will help you construct many
 word search puzzles for use at home or in school.


^1Getting Started

    The MAIN MENU contains the following options:

             Choose an Existing Word List

             Create a New Word List

             Exit Word Search Kit

    To make a selection, move the up arrow or the down arrow to highlight the
 desired option and then press <ENTER>.


^1Choosing an Existing Word List^0

    Several word lists have been included with this issue that you may use to
 construct a word search puzzle.  They are the files with the .WSL extension.
 (WSL stands for Word Search List.)  A box will appear that displays all the
 word search list files.  The first file will be highlighted.  Use the arrow
 keys to highlight the file you wish to select and then press <ENTER>.


^1Creating a New Word List

    If you decide to create your own word list, you will first be prompted to
 supply a title for the word search.  For example, if you wanted to enter a
 list of birds, you might enter "Feathered Friends" as your word search title.
 The title you enter may be from 1 to 30 characters long.

    After you enter the title, you will be prompted to enter the words.  You
 may enter up to 30 words.  Each word may be from 3 to 20 letters long.  Enter
 a blank word to indicate that you are finished entering your word list.

    When you finish entering the words, you will be asked if you want to store
 the word list you just created.  If your response is "yes," then you will be
 prompted to supply a file name.  You may enter a file name from 1 to 8
 characters in length.  Your word list will be stored in a file called
 FileName.WSL, where FileName is the file name you just entered.


^1Designing the Word Search Grid^0

    After you have chosen an existing word list or created a new word list, you
 will be prompted to specify the number of rows and columns you want to have in
 the word search puzzle. The grid may have a maximum of 20 rows and 30 columns.
 The minimum number of rows and columns is equal to the length of the longest
 word in the list.

 NOTE: This minimum is just a guideline.  You may not specify a number that is
       LESS THAN the minimum, but you may need to specify a number that is
       GREATER THAN the minimum so that all the words in the list will fit
       into the grid.

 HINT: If you make the number of columns double the number of rows,
       then your word search puzzle will be roughly square in shape.

    Once you have entered the number of rows and columns, the words in the list
 will be randomly placed into a word search puzzle of the specified size.
 If all of the words will not fit, you will be asked to try a larger grid size.


^1Viewing the Word Search Puzzle^0

    When all of the words in the list are successfully placed, the word search
 puzzle and the word list will be displayed.  You may look for an individual
 word by highlighting it in the word list and pressing <ENTER>.  The selected
 word will then be highlighted on the puzzle.

    To see how ALL the words are distributed in the puzzle, highlight the
 option "All Words," which appears at the end of the word list, and press
 <ENTER>. Every word will be highlighted in the word search puzzle.

    Are you satisfied with the puzzle that was generated?  Are the words too
 spread out?  Is there enough word overlap?  If for some reason the puzzle is
 not to your liking, a new one can be generated in just seconds.  Simply press
 <ESC> (escape) to go to the previous screen where you can re-design the grid.


^1Printing the Word Search Puzzle^0

    Once you have a puzzle that you like, you can print it by pressing <F5>.
 You will be prompted to get your printer ready.  When it is ready, press any
 key and the word search puzzle, the word list, and the solution will all be
 printed.


^1Function Key Summary^0

 The following keys are active on the screens of Word Search Construction Kit:

     <F1>     - provides HELP from any screen
     <arrows> - highlight the NEXT item in a list
     <ENTER>  - selects a highlighted option or accepts text that is input
     <F5>     - PRINTS the word search puzzle and solution
     <F10>    - goes back to the MAIN MENU
     <ESC>    - goes back to the PREVIOUS screen


^1Creating a WORD SEARCH LIST File Outside this Program^0

    You may also create your own Word Search List files outside this program
 using a straight "text" file editor, such as the BlueLine editor published
 every three months on BIG BLUE DISK.  If a standard word-processing package
 is used, the resulting file MUST be passed through the "convert to ASCII
 format" program for that word-processor.  Word processing packages tend
 to use a format not easily decipherable outside the package.

    The file must have the .WSL extension.  The contents of the file must match
 the following format exactly:

       Line 1 - title of word search, from 1 to 30 characters
       Line 2 - number of words in the list, only the numbers 1 to 30 are valid
       Line 3 - the 1st word in the list, 1 to 20 alphabetic letters long
       Line 4 - the 2nd word in the list, 1 to 20 alphabetic letters long
       .
       .
       Line N - the Nth word in the list, 1 to 20 alphabetic letters long

    The Main Menu option to ^1Choose an Existing Word List^0 will automatically
 recognize all files with the .WSL extension and list them for selection.



^COutside BBD

    To run this program outside ^1Big Blue Disk^0, type: ^1WSCK^0.

 DISK FILES THIS PROGRAM USES:
^FWSCK.EXE
^FAll *.WSL   (Word Search Lists)