Editing PC-Write (section)

==Overview==
PC-Write is a [[modeless]] editor, using [[control character]]s and special [[function key]]s to perform various editing operations. By default it aaccepts many of the same control key commands as [[WordStar]] while adding many of its own features. It can produce plain [[ASCII text]] files, but there are also features that embedded control characters in a document to support automatic section renumbering, bold and italic fonts, and other such. A feature that is useful in [[LISP|list processing]] (as used in Auto LISP) is its ability to find matching open and closed [[parenthesis]] "( )"; this [[Brace matching|matching operation]] also worked for the other paired characters: { }, [ ] and < >.

Lines beginning with particular control characters n
<!-- Note: (check into what they are) -->
and/or a period (.) contain commands that are evaluated when the document was printed, e.g. to specify margin sizes, select elite or pica type, or to specify the number of lines of text that would fit on a page,<ref name = "InfoWorld Dec 22, 1986">{{cite magazine | last = King | first = Steve | title = Bargain Shareware Has Power Of High-Priced Competition |magazine= InfoWorld | volume = 8 | issue = 51 | page =42 | date = December 22, 1986 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=UjwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA44 | issn = 0199-6649}}</ref> such as in [[escape sequences]].

PC-Write's implementation of free form editing can [[copy and paste]] a block of text anywhere. For instance, if one has a block of information, one per line, in the format Name (spaces) Address, one can highlight only the addresses section and paste that into the right-hand part of a page. Today, [[Emacs]] and [[jEdit]] are also capable of performing this function.

While Quicksoft distributed copies of PC-Write for $10, the company encouraged users to make copies of the program for others in an early example of [[shareware]]. Quicksoft asked those who liked PC-Write to send it $75. The sum provided a printed manual (notable for its many pictures of cats, drawn by Megan Dana-Wallace), telephone [[technical support]], [[source code]], and a registration number that the user entered into his copy of the program. If anyone else paid the company $75 to purchase an already-registered copy of the software, the company paid a $25 commission back to the original registrant, and then issued a new number to the new buyer, thereby giving a financial incentive for buyers to distribute and promote the software. {{r|InfoWorld Sep 1983}}{{r|shapiro198807}}

A configuration file allows customizing PC-Write, including [[Keyboard layout|remapping the keyboard]]. Later versions of the registered (paid for) version of the program include a [[thesaurus]] (which was not shareware) along with the editor. In addition, there is vocabulary available in other languages, such as in German. Utilities are provided to convert PC-Write files to and from other contemporary file formats. One limitation of the software is its inability to print directly from memory; because the print function was a separate [[subprogram]], a document must be saved to a file before it can be printed.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/Whole_Earth_Software_Catalog_for_1986_1985_Point/Whole_Earth_Software_Catalog_for_1986_1985_Point_djvu.txt|title=Whole Earth Software Catalog|year=1989 |isbn=9780385233019 |last1=Brand |first1=Stewart |publisher=Quantum Press/Doubleday }}</ref>

PC-Write was reportedly still selling well in 1988.<ref name="shapiro198807">{{Cite magazine |last=Shapiro |first=Ezra |date=July 1988 |title=From Shareware to Hyperware |url=https://archive.org/details/byte-1988-07_202104/page/213/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=2025-04-12 |magazine=[[Byte (magazine)|Byte]] |pages=211-213}}</ref> Bob Wallace found that running Quicksoft used so much of his time he could not improve the PC-Write software. In early 1991, he sold the firm to another [[Microsoft]] alumnus, Leo Nikora, the original product manager for [[Windows 1.0]] (1983–1985).<ref name = "Seattle Times Jan 1991">{{cite news | last = Andrews | first = Paul | title = Software Company Is Sold | newspaper = [[The Seattle Times]] | date = January 23, 1991 | url = https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19910123/1262096/software-company-is-sold}} Leo Nikora purchases Quicksoft, Bob Wallace stays as lead programmer.</ref> Wallace returned to full programming and an updated version of PC-Write was released in June 1991.<ref name = "Seattle Times Jun 19913">{{cite news | last = Andrews | first = Paul | title = Quicksoft Is Updating Shareware Pioneer PC-Write | newspaper = The Seattle Times | date = June 25, 1991 | url = https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19910625/1291033/quicksoft-is-updating-shareware-pioneer-pc-write}}</ref>

When the market changed to multi-program software ([[office suite]]s combining [[word processor|word processing]], [[spreadsheet]], and [[database]] programs), Quicksoft went out of business in 1993.<ref name = "InfoWorld Nov 15, 1993">{{cite magazine | last = Johnston | first = Stuart | title = PC-Write publisher Quicksoft fails to find partner, closes |magazine= [[InfoWorld]] | volume = 15 | issue = 46 | page = 27 | date = November 15, 1993 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=DDsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA27 | issn = 0199-6649}}</ref><ref name = "Seattle Times Nov 1993">{{cite news | last = Andrews | first = Paul | title = Software Firm Quicksoft Closes Doors -- Maker Of PC-Write Failed In Efforts To Find A Partner | newspaper = [[The Seattle Times]] | date = November 8, 1993 | url = https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19931108/1730657/software-firm-quicksoft-closes-doors----maker-of-pc-write-failed-in-efforts-to-find-a-partner}}</ref>

The first [[Trojan horse (computing)|Trojan horse]] (appearing in 1986), PC-Write Trojan, masqueraded as "version 2.72" of the shareware word processor PC-Write. Quicksoft did not release a version 2.72.

PC-Write had one of the first "as you type", in "real-time mode" [[spell checker]]; earlier spell checkers only work in "batch mode".<ref name="bb" /><ref>
Steve King.
[https://books.google.com/books?id=UjwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA45 "Bargain Shareware Has Power Of High-Priced Competition"].
InfoWorld.
1986 Dec 22.
p. 44 - 45.
</ref><ref>
Charles Spezzano.
"Professional Word Processing Packages".
Section
[https://books.google.com/books?id=HDwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA42 "PC-Write Version 2.71"].
InfoWorld.
1987 April 13.
p. 42.
</ref>

The '''Brown Bag Word Processor'''
is based on 
PC-Write's source code,
licensed by Brown Bag Software,
with some minor modifications.<ref name="bb">{{Cite magazine |last=Sagman |first=Stephen |date=1987-02-24 |title=Brown Bag Word Processor |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=phxlBt4dX3oC&pg=PA131 |access-date=2025-04-15 |magazine=PC Magazine |page=131}}</ref>