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Making Your "Travels" Easier with MaxThink
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I'm about to explain a type of technology that can make the
creation and organization of Traveller material easier and much
more effective, and which can give you easy access to all of your
Traveller files, notes, and developments you have on computer,
better than any librarian ever could...
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M a x T h i n k
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Description:
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MaxThink is a heirarchical outliner. With it, you arrange
information exactly as you would in a standard outline written on
paper -- With a main-topic, indented sub-topics, and
sub-sub-topics indented still further, etc. The difference is
that in MaxThink, you can rearrange the structure and content of
the outline so much faster and easier, which is ideal for
organizing knowledge, whether you are writing a book (or many
books), writing a report, catalogging or building your expertise,
or running a TRAVELLER campaign. The information used in most
RPG's fits nicely into MaxThink's hierarchical structure.
Topics consist of text. They may contain whatever text you want
to include, from a single character to reams of jibbering. Below
are excerpts from a printout of a sample Traveller-related
MaxThink outline:
Traveller Outline
I. My Traveller Campaign. Branches:
A. Voyages of the Viper
1. Viper Branch Timeline:
a. 1100-023 - Mustered out on Ruie
i. Deserted Jasper's Brigade with
hand-picked crew
ii. Hijacked the Viper, a Fiery Class
Close Escort
iii. Firefight with 3 SDB's
b. 1100-025 - Departed Ruie system
c. 1100-032 - Arrived Djinni system
[etc.]
2. The Viper's Crew:
a. Captain Jay Montosa
b. Chief Engineer Jessip Fordin, ("Fixx")
c. Jr. Engineer Nordik Mantonne
d. Navigator Boris Ultersh
e. Doctor Lexxus Gore, Ship's Medic
f. Merkwook Dymanx, Gig Pilot (Tharian)
g. Chief Gunner Gvurrdon "Growls" Gakghang (Vargr)
h. Maximillian Von Snuffenbuefuer, 2nd Gunner
i. Jacques Reuter, 3rd Gunner
j. Ex-crew:
i. Duord Lintil, Junior engineer --- DESERTED
1100-143
ii. Simsil Leech, Gig pilot --- DESERTED
1100-143
iii. Crom Deletun, 2nd Gunner --- DESERTED
1100-143
iv. Porifir Singtril, 3rd Gunner --- DESERTED
1100-143
v. Nodgi Lornimur, 4th Gunner --- DESERTED
1100-143
vi. Grutone Shilimm, Ship's Thug --- DESERTED
1100-43
vii. Molo Bingham, Chief Gunner --- Assassinated
at Tremous Dex 1100-289, laid dead too long to
be revived. Jetisoned his remains into space
-- may he rest in peace.
viii. Jack Millax, Chief Gunner --- FATALLY
WOUNDED 1100-342 by Gvurrdon under the
influence of mindcontrol during Zhodani
confrontation; placed in crionics; lost in
Battle of Talos when power to emergency
crionic berth #1 was severed (1101-035).
ix. Lingtu Manchu, 2nd Gunner --- FATALLY
WOUNDED 1100-342 by Gvurrdon under the
influence of mindcontrol during Zhodani
confrontation; placed in crionics; lost in
Battle of Talos when power to emergency
crionic berth #1 was severed (1101-035).
x. Jim G. Stragic -- Ship Trooper ---
Vaporized in Battle of Talos, 1101-035
xi. Purcivel Marquann, 1st Mate --- Fatally
wounded in Battle of Talos, 1101-035 --
placed in crionic storage, emergency berth
#2.
3. The Viper's Passenger List:
a. Prisoners
i. Leari Molatav --- In crionic detention
in the Gig's emergency low berth
ii. Jessip Noribii -- Fatally wounded; in
crionic storage in Gig's emergency low
berth
[etc.]
Notes concerning the above printout: You may control the
formatting of printouts, including defining the numbering system
to be used (if any), how many levels are to be shown, margins,
subtopic indentation, and line spacing. The outline above is
truncated both in its length and depth -- in the outline from
which this printout was generated, each timeline entry has an
action-by-action account of the event, and each character has
subtopics beneath it which fully define that character.
MaxThink's Display
- ------------------
Below is an approximation of what MaxThink looks like on the
screen. I've shortened it a bit so you could see the whole thing
without scrolling (the actual display takes up the entire
computer screen, so there are generally 19 topics showing rather
than just 8). Also, the menu includes a highlighted pointer, but
I couldn't depict it in ASCII -- in the display below, imagine
that the Brainstorm menu item is highlighted -- I've used
brackets [] to signify highlighting. Also, the numeral at the
top of the screen is always highlighted, as can be any of the
numbers in the list. To depict the text cursor in later screens
when I show you the Edit Mode, I shall use the * sign.
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0] TITLE
1
[2]
3
4
-> [5]
6
[7]
8
================================================================================
MAIN:[Brainstorm] Copy Delete Edit Files Get Insert Lock
Jump Move Options Put Quit X Undo Ref Z V A
Displays menu of BRAINSTORM commands
TEXT 2 PATH: 0.5 155 Kbytes FILENAME.MT
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is an explanation of the above display:
Note that I've used square brackets where the program uses
highlighting (reverse video), so topics #2, #5, and #7, and the
Brainstorm menu selection are highlighted.
Since there is no cursor present on the screen, this means you
are in TOPIC MODE. See the arrow to the left of topic #5? That
is your TOPIC POINTER. It signifies which TOPIC you desire to
work on. While in topic mode, it can be moved with the cursor
keys: Up, Down, Right, Left, Home, End, PgUp, and PgDn. The
Right Arrow key takes you one level deeper into the outline (to
the sub-topics of the currently selected topic), and the Left
Arrow key takes you one level higher in the outline (to the
parent of the currently displayed topics).
The Ins key, and the function keys F7, F8, F9, and F10 are your
one-key TOPIC CREATION commands. F10 and Ins both create a topic
after the one you are currently pointing at (a sibling), F9
creates a topic before the currently selected one (a sibling), F7
creates a topic one level higher (an uncle), and F8 creates a
topic one level deeper (a subtopic, or child).
Now, lets take a look at the outline from which the printout
above was taken:
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0] Traveller Outline
-> [1] My Traveller Campaign. Branches:
[2] Charted Space (campaign setting)
[3] Adventures/Scenarios
[4] Encounters
[5] NPC Resource
[6] Starships
[7] Starport Control -- Protocols and Procedures
[8] Technology/Equipment
================================================================================
MAIN:[Brainstorm] Copy Delete Edit Files Get Insert Lock
Jump Move Options Put Quit X Undo Ref Z V A
Displays menu of BRAINSTORM commands
TEXT 2 PATH: 0.1 155 Kbytes DEVEL.TRV
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The list shown in the above display is the top level of a
Traveller outline from a Traveller hypernet (a hypernet is a
system of interlinked files, each of which may be an outline or
any other kind of file). The list is actually much longer -- to
see the rest of the topics on the list, use the Down Arrow key or
the PgDn key to scroll down the list. To quickly jump to a
specific topic on the list, press "J" to activate the Jump
command from the command menu, then the number of the topic, then
Enter; or you can select the Jump command by moving the command
highlight by pressing the Space bar until Jump is highlighted,
and then press Enter. To activate any command, all you have to
do is press the first letter of that command while in TOPIC MODE.
When a topic's number is highlighted, it means that the topic has
children (sub-topics) below it in the outline tree. To go to and
see those sub-topics, move the topic pointer to the topic you
wish to see the children of, and then press the Right Arrow key
once.
Here is how the above display changes after pressing the Right
Arrow key once:
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] My Traveller Campaign. Branches:
-> [1] Voyages of the Viper
[2] Cruising the Abyss Rift aboard the Star Hopper (subsidized liner)
[3] Venejen branch (Research Station Gamma)
[4] They Live
[5] They Came From Beyond -- Junidy (backdated to 1053) branch
(adapted from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers")
[6] Reidan/Foreven branch (The Chamax Plague / Horde)
[7] Asshole of the Universe (the Horde spreads to Roget)
================================================================================
MAIN:[Brainstorm] Copy Delete Edit Files Get Insert Lock
Jump Move Options Put Quit X Undo Ref Z V A
Displays menu of BRAINSTORM commands
TEXT 2 PATH: 0.1.1 155 Kbytes DEVEL.TRV
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You've moved 1 level deeper into the outline and are now looking
(see above) at the subtopics of the first topic from the previous
level. Notice the "PATH" indicator on the STATUS line (bottom
line of the display) above. It shows the path to the currently
selected topic. Also on the status line is the amount of free
memory space left, the name of the file currently loaded, the
text/heading indicator and the display depth indicator. The F2
key toggles from full-text to 1st-line viewing only, and vice
versa (I'll demonstrate this later). The "2" on the status line
above means that 2 levels are shown on the screen at once. To
increase this press the Ctrl and the Right Arrow key.
Here is the display after Ctrl-Right is pressed once:
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] My Traveller Campaign. Branches:
-> [1] Voyages of the Viper
[1] Viper Branch Timeline
[2] The Viper's Crew
[3] The Viper's Passenger List
[4] The Viper, a Fiery Class Close Escort
[5] Enemies and Allies
[6] Tasks for this branch
[2] Cruising the Abyss Rift aboard the Star Hopper (subsidized liner)
================================================================================
MAIN:[Brainstorm] Copy Delete Edit Files Get Insert Lock
Jump Move Options Put Quit X Undo Ref Z V A
Displays menu of BRAINSTORM commands
TEXT 3 PATH: 0.1.1 155 Kbytes DEVEL.TRV
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notice that the topic pointer is still on the same level as it
was, and that the status-line has changed slightly. The display
is now 3 levels deep. To decrease it back to 2, press Ctrl and
the Left Arrow key; to increase it further, press Ctrl-Right up
to 7 more times.
Here is the display after pressing Ctrl-Left (collapses the
display back to 2 levels), then Left (moves up one level), then
Down 4 times (moves down the list), and finally the Right Arrow
key (moves down one level):
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[5] Junidy (backdated to 1053) branch -- Invasion of the Body Snatchers
-> [1] The PC's
[2] The timeline
3 The adventure <c:\rpg\trav\invasion.adv>
4 The timeline told in story form (for TML) <c:\rpg\trav\came.sto>
================================================================================
MAIN:[Brainstorm] Copy Delete Edit Files Get Insert Lock
Jump Move Options Put Quit X Undo Ref Z V A
Displays menu of BRAINSTORM commands
TEXT 2 PATH: 0.1.5.1 155 Kbytes DEVEL.TRV
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I stopped at the above location so that you wouldn't get lost.
Take a look at the path, and compare that with the path in
previously shown displays in this article, and you will know
precisely where you are in the outline. When in the program, you
can always move back up levels to see where you are.
Notice the angle-bracketed entry <c:\rpg\trav\invasion.adv>.
That is a link-out to another outline (the one that contains the
adventure). By having the adventure in a seperate outline, you
can access it from multiple places (such as from here, and from a
subtopic of the Adventures/Scenarios topic you saw earlier on the
top level) within the presently viewed outline or from a larger
hypernet (the above adventure could be accessed from any number
of linked outlines, or from within one or more text files). The
topic number isn't highlighted because there is nothing "under"
this topic in the current outline (i.e., it has no sub-topics).
Now, we shall jump to topic #4 on the list above, which is
another link-out, so we press J, 4, Enter, and then Right -- 3
Downs and a Right would do the same thing. Then, MaxThink
automatically saves the outline we are leaping out of (if any
changes have been made to it), and loads the outline specified in
the angle brackets.
Here it is, showing the entire screen:
(Actual-size of MaxThink's display):
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0] THEY CAME FROM BEYOND
-> 1 (inspired by INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS)
2 Junidy/Aramis/Spinward Marches, backdated to the year 1053, was the
location of this scenario. I've embellished the story as enacted by
myself and my players for the sake of reading enjoyability. However,
the plot-line is essentially the same as the way it unfolded during
our playing session.
[3] The Player Characters were:
4 World Background:
5 Excerpts from IISS survey records, on file at Junidy Down Starport,
205/1105:
6 Junidy/Aramis/Spinward Marches (B434ABD-9 S) -- Junidy is a showcase
of the adaptability of sophonts. It is but a small world, with an
atmosphere too thin to support most life, yet it is home to more than
28 billion citizens. Two species of intelligent being make Junidy
their home: Humans, and Llellewyloly, dividing the world's population
roughly in half between them.
7 Llillewyloly are quintupedal (i.e., they have 5 legs), each leg
ending in a tripod of digits. The being's legs protrude from its
central hairy body which resembles a big fuzz-ball or the blossom of a
================================================================================
MAIN:[Brainstorm] Copy Delete Edit Files Get Insert Lock
Jump Move Options Put Quit X Undo Ref Z V A
Displays menu of BRAINSTORM commands
TEXT 2 PATH: 0.1 132 Kbytes CAME.STO
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To get a better bird's eye view of the material, press the F2
key, which toggles the display from showing the full text of each
topic to showing just the first line of each, and vice versa --
it has no noticeable effect if none of your topics are longer
than one line, but comes in very handy when viewing outlines with
verbose paragraphs, as in the display above.
Here is the same outline showing only the first line of each
topic (after pressing the F2 key):
(Actual-size of MaxThink's display):
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0] THEY CAME FROM BEYOND
-> 1 (inspired by INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS)
2 Junidy/Aramis/Spinward Marches, backdated to the year 1053, was the
[3] The Player Characters were:
4 World Background:
5 Excerpts from IISS survey records, on file at Junidy Down Starport,
6 Junidy/Aramis/Spinward Marches (B434ABD-9 S) -- Junidy is a showcase
7 Llillewyloly are quintupedal (i.e., they have 5 legs), each leg
8 A llillewyloly's toes serve equally well as fingers, being only
9 Llellewyloly (pronounced "yeah-yeah-wee-lolly") are fully adapted
10 The cities of Junidy provide the primary shelter for the humans
11 Junidy is within but a hex or two of the Imperium's coreward
12 For backdating purposes, as of the year 1053, I estimate the
13 The Adventure:
14 Baraka slammed his bony fist down onto his apartment's control
15 It was funny how much information he got from the stringy
16 Baraka lived in the Astoria Whaldorf, a run down housing complex
17 The irritating grating sound of the door buzzer broke the
18 Big Eddy was a local crime lord, his men regulary shook down
19 With the fight-or-flight response twisting his gut into knots,
================================================================================
MAIN:[Brainstorm] Copy Delete Edit Files Get Insert Lock
Jump Move Options Put Quit X Undo Ref Z V A
Displays menu of BRAINSTORM commands
HEAD 2 PATH: 0.1 132 Kbytes CAME.STO
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notice that the word TEXT has changed to HEAD on the Status line.
To get back to the outline you linked-out from, simply press the
Left arrow key to move up to the Main Topic (the title of the
outline), and then press the Left arrow again.
So far I've covered many of MaxThink's display features. Now it
is time to show you the real power of the program...
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IMPORTANT -- IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE, READ THIS!
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The commands in MaxThink allow you to manipulate text in ways far
beyond what word processors are capable of. That is primarily
because blocks of text in MaxThink are PREDEFINED -- each topic
is a defacto block of text which you can DO THINGS TO. In a word
processor, you have to mark a block of text before you can do
anything to it, but not in MaxThink. Even more significant than
this is that, by having blocks of text predefined (they are
defined the instant they are created), the relationships between
these blocks/topics are also predefined, being implicit to the
very tree structure of outlines. This allows you TO MANAGE
BLOCKS OF TEXT BASED UPON THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THEM.
Because the (sibling, parent, uncle, and offspring) relationships
between topics are known, this makes possible many commands that
can manipulate text based upon these relationships, and also
gives added power to standard block copy/move commands in that
they can refer to these relationships by referring to locations
in the outline's tree. This allows for the creation of commands
that are far more effective in ORGANIZING TEXT AS PIECES OF
KNOWLEDGE. In word-processed documents, your pieces of knowledge
are organized in a linear fashion, and are therefore much more
difficult to manage well.
Therefore, in MaxThink, moving through your documents is much
easier, as is copying, moving, sorting (alphabetically sorting or
interactively rearranging), categorizing, and in general
reorganizing the text (or any portion thereof) contained therein.
For typical routine word processing, since paragraphs are
predefined blocks of text in MaxThink, this allows you to create
and manipulate conventional documents more effectively in
MaxThink, even if you want to retain their conventional linear
format.
Editing complex documents becomes easier and faster, because
MaxThink allows you to work with text in ways that are closer to
your patterns of thinking.
On top of the text-manipulation abilities, MaxThink can also LINK
files together, allowing for the organization of entire knowledge
nets. It has several very powerful commands designed for
managing not only the relationships between the topics contained
in the currently loaded outline, but also the relationships of
many individual outlines (and other files) to each other!
Creating a Traveller Outline from Scratch
Here's what a new outline looks like:
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-> [0] TITLE
================================================================================
MAIN:[Brainstorm] Copy Delete Edit Files Get Insert Lock
Jump Move Options Put Quit X Undo Ref Z V A
Displays menu of BRAINSTORM commands
TEXT 2 PATH: 0 194 Kbytes
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To edit the topic currently being pointed at (in this case, the TITLE),
activate the Edit command by pressing "E". Then you will see a cursor
within the body of the topic. (I've used an asterisk * to depict the
cursor). Now you can start typing...
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-> [0] *ITLE
================================================================================
Enter text, press ESC when entry complete
TEXT 2 PATH: 0 194 Kbytes
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notice that the menu disappeared. To exit EDIT MODE and return to TOPIC
MODE, simply press the escape key (ESC).
I recommend you keep the title to a mere line or two. Elaboration should
be reserved for the body of the outline.
Your outline after typing the title:
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-> [0] Traveller from scratch*
================================================================================
Enter text, press ESC when entry complete
TEXT 2 PATH: 0 194 Kbytes
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Once you have entered the Title, press the F8 key, and start typing to your
heart's content. F8 creates a subtopic, and works from either TOPIC MODE
or EDIT MODE.
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0] Traveller from scratch
-> 1 My Traveller Collection*
================================================================================
Enter text, press ESC when entry complete
TEXT 2 PATH: 0 194 Kbytes
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Next, you can press F8 again and type in the first item in your collection,
or you could press F10 to create the next topic on this level. Here is the
outline after pressing F10 and entering the text of several items:
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0] Traveller from scratch
1 My Traveller Collection
2 Traveller Product List
3 Traveller Wish List
4 Traveller Bibliography
5 Traveller Index
-> 6 Traveller Campaign and Background*
================================================================================
Enter text, press ESC when entry complete
TEXT 2 PATH: 0 194 Kbytes
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note that you can move the cursor with the cursor control keys. UP and
DOWN will traverse the text of topics. Using LEFT or RIGHT off of the end
of a topic will move to the parent (LEFT) or to the first child (RIGHT).
In addition, most of the WORDSTAR cursor control key combinations work as
well (move right one word, etc.)
Let's say that once you type in the above, you decide to rearrange the
order of the topics. There are many ways to do this. First, press the
ESC key to return to TOPIC MODE.
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0] Traveller from scratch
1 My Traveller Collection
2 Traveller Product List
3 Traveller Wish List
4 Traveller Bibliography
5 Traveller Index
-> 6 Traveller Campaign and Background
================================================================================
MAIN:[Brainstorm] Copy Delete Edit Files Get Insert Lock
Jump Move Options Put Quit X Undo Ref Z V A
Displays menu of BRAINSTORM commands
TEXT 2 PATH: 0 194 Kbytes
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The MAIN Menu includes commands and 3 submenus. The submenus are the
BRAINSTORM menu, the FILES menu, and the OPTIONS MENU. All the other
entries are commands. To activate a command move the command highlight
with the Space bar or Backspace key, and press Enter. Or just type the
first letter of the command to instantly activate it while in TOPIC MODE.
Here is what each of the commands do:
C = Copy -- Copies the current topic or selected range of topics to a
specified location in the outline (see also Get and Put). The vairous
methods of copying in MaxThink are ideal for creating new characters,
ships, planets, or equipment in TRAVELLER, because you can copy an
existing entry and type over it, or you can use a dummy entry (complete
with subtopics) which includes only the text that remains the same from
entry to entry -- the content descriptors (such as Strength __,
Dexterity __, Endurance __, etc.) -- then you can just fill in the
blanks. Saves a lot of work, especially when designing planets.
D = Delete -- Deletes the current topic or selected range of topics. The
DEL key on the cursor control pad does the same thing when in TOPIC
MODE. Actually, this command sends the current topic to the topic
buffer, from where it can be relocated if desired, but be careful,
since only one deletion is held in the buffer. Each deletion clears
the material already in the buffer before placing the text of the
current deletion there. To get text out of the topic buffer and back
into your outline, use the Put or Undo commands.
E = Edit -- Changes to EDIT MODE, placing the cursor at the beginning of
the current topic. The menu disappears, and can't be accessed again
until you press the Esc key. In edit mode, your keyboard is converted
into a typewriter for entering text (in Topic Mode the keyboard is a
control console or sorts). The cursor control keypad can be used to
move the text cursor.
G = Get -- Sends a copy of the topic or selected range of topics to the
topic buffer. For use with the Put command. Note that the topic
buffer isn't usually cleared before a link-out, therefore the GET and
PUT commands can be used to transfer material between outlines, and
between MaxThink's two windows (see the Z command).
I = Insert -- Creates a topic after the current topic (on the same level),
and automatically puts you in EDIT MODE. The F10 key and the Ins key do
the same thing, though the F10 key will also do this while in EDIT
MODE.
L = Lock -- Locks the current topic or range of topics to the topic pointer
so that it can be dragged to a new location in the outline. The
standard cursor control keys work in dragging UP, DOWN, LEFT (up a
level), RIGHT (down a level), PgUp, PgDn, Home (to the top of a list),
and End. The power in the Lock command lies in the fact that all
subtopics are dragged along with their parent topic, thus entire
branches (or groups of branches) of your knowledge tree can be moved
with ease. To release the dragged text to the topic pointer's present
location, press the Esc key. The Lock command is the most
fundamentally basic of the interactive sorting commands. The
lock-drag-release sequence can allow you to rearrange a list or
restructure an entire outline in a matter of minutes or even seconds.
J = Jump -- Allows you to teleport to anywhere in your outline. Just enter
the path of the topic you want to teleport to. A number entered with
no dots within it will teleport you to that entry on the currently
displayed level. This is tech-level 16 transportation at your
fingertips!
M = Move -- Allows you to to teleport text from anywhere in your outline
to anywhere else in your outline. You may enter the path as in the
Jump command, or you may point to the end destination with the TOPIC
POINTER.
P = Put -- Copies everything in the topic buffer to the specified location,
by entering the path, or by moving the topic pointer. Get and Put used
in conjunction are another way to teleport text from one location to
another within your outline. Get and Put are the only commands that
can transfer text directly between outlines and across MaxThink's two
windows.
Q = Quit -- Exits the program. Allows you to save the currently outline
before quitting. Also hesitates if there is something in the second
window.
X = The "X marks the spot" command. This command jumps to your X-list,
which is a seperate screen that can hold up to 20 shortcuts in the
current outline. When you press "X" for the first time, the shortcut
screen is empty. To enter the current topic for jumping to it more
easily later, press the Ins key. You can move through the shortcut
list with the topic pointer, selecting which topic to jump to with the
RIGHT ARROW key. To remove an entry from the shortcut list, simply
point to it and press the DEL key. The "X" command essentially allows
you to predefine your teleports.
U = Undo -- Undoes the last command. If the last thing you did was create
a topic, then this command will uncreate it (delete it). You can also
undo deletions in this way -- but only the last one you did. Some
complex commands in the BRAINSTORM menu can't be undone.
R = Ref -- This command will come in very handily when MaxThink's memory
limits are removed in future versions, but is of limited usefulness
now. It creates a word reference list of all the words that appear in
the current outline. You can then scroll through the list with the
topic pointer, and jump to the occurance in the outline itself of any
word desired (with the Right Arrow key). This command takes up a lot
of memory, so it only works on relatively small outlines -- it
overloads on outlines larger than about 10K. I expect this will become
one of Maxthink's most powerful features in the future.
Z = Z -- MaxThink has two windows. That is, you can have two outlines
loaded in MaxThink at the same time. To toggle back and forth between
the two windows, simply press Z while in TOPIC MODE. The 2nd window is
always there, even if you've only loaded one outline -- the 2nd window
comes in handy for jotting down notes that you want to transfer to
several different outlines later, or as a temporary holding facility
for transferring material with the Get and Put commands, or for holding
an extra outline.
V = V -- Shows the version number of MaxThink being used.
A = A -- Copies the current topic or a range of topics to the file
CLIP.TXT. CLIP.TXT can then be converted into another outline, or into
a document of some other sort. A useful research tool, ideal for
selecting info to be printed out for your players.
continued...