StarWord Help

StarWord keeps WordStar's classic two-key command language (the control diamond, the ^K/^Q/^O/^P menus, and dot commands) while adding pull-down menus, mouse support, Unicode, the OS clipboard, and cross-platform output. Notation: ^K means hold Ctrl and press K; ^K S means press ^K, release, then press S.

Getting started top

StarWord opens at the WordStar Opening Menu. Press D to open a document, N for a new one, L to change directory, C to configure, or X to exit. Inside the editor, press Alt+a highlighted letter (e.g. Alt+F) to open a pull-down menu, or use the classic control commands below. If you have unsaved changes, leaving the program raises a confirmation dialog (S Save / A Abandon / Esc Cancel).

Cursor & scrolling top

Command	Action	Command	Action
`^E` / `↑`	Up a line	`^X` / `↓`	Down a line
`^S` / `←`	Left a character	`^D` / `→`	Right a character
`^A`	Word left	`^F`	Word right
`^R` / `PgUp`	Page up	`^C` / `PgDn`	Page down
`^W`	Scroll up a line	`^Z`	Scroll down a line
`Home`	Start of line	`End`	End of line

Editing top

Command	Action
`^V`	Toggle Insert / Overtype
`^G` / `Del`	Delete character at cursor
`Backspace` / `^H`	Delete character left
`^T`	Delete word right
`^Y`	Delete line
`^N`	Insert blank line
`^B`	Reformat (re-wrap) paragraph
`^L`	Find next / repeat find
Edit › Undo / Redo	Undo and redo edits

Blocks & files — `^K` menu top

Command	Action	Command	Action
`^K B`	Mark block begin	`^K K`	Mark block end
`^K C`	Copy block	`^K V`	Move block
`^K Y`	Delete block	`^K H`	Hide / show block
`^K N`	Column (rectangular) block mode	`^K M`	Block math (sum a column)
`^K W`	Write block to file	`^K R`	Read file into document
`^K S`	Save	`^K D`	Save & return to menu
`^K X`	Save & exit	`^K Q`	Abandon / quit (prompts if unsaved)
`^K 0`…`9`	Set place marker 0–9

Quick moves — `^Q` menu top

Command	Action	Command	Action
`^Q S`	Start of line	`^Q D`	End of line
`^Q E`	Top of screen	`^Q X`	Bottom of screen
`^Q R`	Top of document	`^Q C`	End of document
`^Q F`	Find	`^Q A`	Find & replace
`^Q 0`…`9`	Go to place marker	`^Q W`/`Z`	Continuous scroll up/down
`^Q P`	Previous cursor position	`^Q V`	Last find position
`^Q Q`	Repeat next command	`^Q Del`	Delete to start of line

On-screen format — `^O` menu top

Command	Action
`^O L` / `^O R`	Set left / right margin
`^O I` / `^O N`	Set / clear a tab stop
`^O C`	Center the current line
`^O J`	Toggle justification
`^O W`	Toggle word wrap
`^O S`	Line spacing

Print controls — `^P` menu top

Print toggles insert formatting markers into the text (shown on screen, applied when printing/previewing).

Command	Action	Command	Action
`^P B`	Bold	`^P S`	Underline
`^P Y`	Italic	`^P X`	Strikethrough
`^P T`	Superscript	`^P V`	Subscript

Dot commands top

A line beginning with a period in column 1 is a formatting command (document mode only).

Dot command	Meaning
`.pa`	Force a new page
`.pl n`	Page length (lines)
`.mt n` / `.mb n`	Top / bottom margin
`.he text` / `.fo text`	Header / footer text
`.pn n`	Set starting page number
`.po n`	Page offset (left indent)
`.ls n`	Line spacing
`.cp n`	Conditional page (keep n lines together)
`.fn`, `.ix`, `.tc`	Footnote, index entry, table-of-contents entry
`.df`, `.rv`, `&var&`	MailMerge: data file, read variables, field

Tools top

Menu	Tool
Utilities › Word Count	Words, lines and characters
Utilities › Spell Check	Hunspell dictionaries (with affix expansion)
Utilities › Thesaurus	MyThes synonym data
Utilities › Mail Merge	Merge a data file into a form letter
Utilities › Calculator	On-screen calculator
Utilities › Macros	Record / play keystroke macros
File / Layout › Print	On Windows, opens the standard print dialog to choose the printer, orientation, paper size and copies, then prints. Elsewhere, prints to the default printer.
File / Layout › Print to PDF	Writes a paginated PDF named after the document (`<name>.pdf`) and opens it — a print-ready export.
Layout › Print Preview	Paginated on-screen preview

Spell-check and thesaurus data files are configurable (local hunspell/MyThes files or an http(s) URL that StarWord downloads and caches). See the configuration screen (Opening Menu › C, or --config).

Mouse top

Click the menu bar (or hover) to open pull-down menus; click an item to run it.
Click in the text to position the cursor.
Double-click selects a word.
Drag selects text; drag a selection to move it (drag & drop).
The mouse wheel scrolls the document, preview, or file list.

OS clipboard top

In addition to WordStar's internal block commands, StarWord talks to your system clipboard:

Command	Action
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`X`	Cut to OS clipboard
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`C`	Copy to OS clipboard
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`V`	Paste from OS clipboard

Command line top

Both DOS-style /X switches and -/-- flags are accepted:

Option	Effect
`/D` `-d` `--document`	Document mode (word-wrap, justify) — default
`/N` `-n` `--nondocument`	Non-document mode (plain text)
`/P` `-p` `--print`	Print a clean copy to stdout and exit
`/M` `-m` `--merge`	MailMerge to stdout and exit
`/C` `-c` `--config`	Open the configuration screen
`/?` `-h` `--help`	Show command-line help

Terminal key conflicts top

A few WordStar control keys are also claimed by some terminals (notably Windows Terminal), which act on them before StarWord ever sees them. If a command seems to do the wrong thing, use the alternate key:

If this happens	Use instead
`^V` pastes (or says nothing) instead of toggling Insert/Overtype — the terminal grabbed `Ctrl`+`V` for “paste”	Press the `Insert` key (it toggles too), or unbind `Ctrl`+`V` in your terminal settings
`^C` copies a selection instead of paging down — the terminal grabbed `Ctrl`+`C` while text was selected	Click to clear the selection, or press `PgDn`

All cursor and navigation commands have a non-control alternative — the arrow keys, PgUp/PgDn, Home/End, Insert, Delete and Backspace — so you can always get the job done even when a terminal claims a Ctrl key.