Frequently Asked Questions

If you have a question which is not listed then please contact me.
You can also check these websites - The Ultimate TI Calculator FAQ and The Squalenet FAQ (in French only).

General

Installation

Calculator viewers&Viewing text files

Editing with WordRider

Technical

Troubleshooting

Misc

General

Why WordRider?

WordRider is a successor of applications such as RidEdit, MadCoder's Text Editor or Okin's Word. WordRider brings full support of TxtRider view-tags and more user convenience with working TI-89text format. I created it because I needed an application for creating text files for my favorite calculator fast and easily. I decided to share WordRider because it can be useful to the others.

Does WordRider work with TI-89 Titanium?

Yes. WordRider produces TI-89 Titanium compatible files.
If you encouter any problem with compatibility, please feel free to contact us via forum.

Installation

What are system requirements - recommended configuration?

Recommended configuration:

  • Windows 9x/2000/XP/Linux (core 2.4) * or higher operating system
  • Pentium 500MHz processor
  • 35 MB of free RAM
  • 5 MB free disk space
  • min 1024x768 screen resolution
  • Java 2 Platform - version at least 1.5 installed (Java SE 5 or SE 6)

* Other operating systems were not tested although I expect it will work fine elsewhere as well.

How to run WordRider?

Please make sure that you have Java platform (at least version Java SE 5 or Java SE 6) installed.
You can also obtain it here.

  • Windows users
    Unpack zipped file into chosen directory. Run wordrider.exe in main folder. Java binaries will be detected automatically and WordRider will start.
  • Linux users
    Unpack gzipped file into chosen directory. Java binaries should be registered in /etc/bashrc. Start Wordrider by using launch.sh.
  • For all operating systems
    You can start WordRider manually by using command line and call java binaries directly.
    java -jar wordrider.jar

How do I register java binaries globally on Linux?

You must place the correct path to the installed binaries in your /etc/bashrc configuration file.
for example:
PATH=/jdk1.6.0/bin:/jdk1.6.0/jre/bin:$PATH

Can I run WordRider on Microsoft's Virtual Machine?

The latest version of WordRider requires at least version 1.5 of the Java 2 platform, and therefore will not be compatible with Microsoft's Virtual Machine.

Calculator viewers&Viewing text files

How it works?

WordRider produces text variables (=files 89t, 9xt...) for TI calculator. Each variable in the calculator contains a short information about itself in its header (folder name, variable name, variable type, comment, check sum) + body (=content). It helps to calculator's operating system to recognize a file type and makes a work with it easier (you can sort them). This is a content of your 89t, which is generated by WordRider and it's stored in the calc - for example here is a part of code sample file distributed with WordRider (some characters may not be viewed correctly because of font):

&\#3#UVExamples :#U#2

&, There are some examples of what TxtRider can do :

#N* An example of the vector style :#N

#Vrot#V #VB#V = µ0(#Vi#V+†0.Ľ#VE#V/Ľt)

#N* What is pprider for ?#N

A nice example is very talkative :
&-
&Ptxtrider\pppic
&-
&,Here, I have used pprider in order to convert the formula in a TI picture. Then, I have manually modified the picture in order to add arrows and the vector product symbol.

#N* Can we combine formats?#N
Answer :

#3#N#VY#1#Ees#E#2#I !Is i#It #Sobvious #S n#Vo#Uw#U#N ?

#N* The Pretty Print support :#N
&E·(Ž(1/fi(x)^2,i,0,n),x,0,¸)
&,
#N* A nice picture example:#N
&-
&Ptxtrider\expic
&-
&,
#UN.B.#U : the best example is this text file, try to edit it with the TI editor and you will understand every option !#W

You can see that the functionality is similar to HTML :-). Text viewers (TxtRider, Hibview) read these tags to distinguish styles and format content (like web browsers do). Paragraph tag (&P) contains an absolut path to the pictures inside(!) calculator (foldername\variablename). Therefore WordRider looks for expic.89i or expic.92i when opens this file (it has no other information about the pictures) and that's why editor has to generate such paths (why variable names are used) during saving process.
When you upload your files into calc via TI Connect, TiLP or TI Graph link so this software stores your file/variable in the calc folder (doesn't matter what the name of file is), which is specified in file's header.

How to view text file in calculator?

For viewing generated text files you will have to install PreOS(kernel OS) and Hibview and/or TxtRider(text viewers - one of them) into your calculator.
You can intall them easily. For beginners - see tutorials.

What is TxtRider?

TxtRider is a text reader for Ti-89/92 written by Marc Teyssier. It views text files created in text editor (e.g. Ti-OS editor or WordRider), but is faster and allows text formats such as: underline, vector, the insertion of picture, pretty-print expression etc.

What is Hibview?

Hibview is a succesor of TxtRider and adds new features like variable margin and suffix, which are supported by WordRider as well.

Is WordRider compatible with Hibview (the successor of TxtRider)?

I can say : Yes. Unfortunately, there are several differences between TxtRider and Hibview (such as a different way of processing &/# tags) so the resulting text styles might be different. Better support for Hibview is planned for future versions.

What is PreOS and what is good for?

PreOS is neccessary OS kernel to run Hibview.

Which text viewer should I use?

It's your choice :-). This table should help you.

Features TxtRider Hibview uView WordRider
Font (Little, Medium, Big) • • • •
Underlined text • • • •
Dotted underlined text • • • •
Vector • •
Conjugate • • • •
Inversed color • • • •
Exponent • • • •
Strike • • • •
Suffix • •
Italic text •
Bold text • •
Alignment (Left, Center, Right) • • • •
Variable margin • •
Word Wrap • •
Math expression • • • •
Bookmarks • • • •
Pictures • • • •
Separator (Simple, Double) • • • •
Hyper links •
Numbered titles •
Horizontal scroll • •
File compression • •
Requires PreOS Yes Yes No -
Stability 4/5 3/5 5/5 -

How to send a text file to TI calculator?

You can use both TI Connect™ Software (officialy distributed on CD with calculator) and TiLP (open source, working on Linux). For TI Connect™ Software you can watch a short tutorial in Adobe Flash in the documentation section.
WordRider is able to send a file with using one of tool metioned above (you can select which to use).

How to install TxtRider/Hibview/PreOS?

Please see documentation section for tutorials in flash.

Editing with WordRider

Why doesn't WordRider support all of TxtRider's characters?

WordRider is written Java which has no support for bitmap fonts (*.fon) so I had to use True Type Font. It's almost impossible to create your own True Type Font (it's really hard) so I selected TI92PlusPC (ti-92p.ttf) which is included in every installation of TI-Connect or TI-GraphLink software (distributed with every calculator). Unfortunately this font doesn't fully support all TI-89 characters (usually characters with a code < 20). Therefore if you use an unsupported character (file is saved from another application) you will see empty rectangles instead of special characters.

How to write math expressions?

It's very simple. Press Ctrl+M (or Format->'Math expression' from main menu). Type expression like at the HOME screen of calculator.
If you mispell, expression won't be viewed (you get an error 'Bad expr' or 'Wrong Pic'). If you want to be sure with viewing your expression, check it at HOME screen.

Math expression demo.
See also Cris's tutorial.

How to write subscript or exponent in math expressions?

See Cris's tutorial.

What is 'word-wrap'?

This feature allows automatic line returns without splitting words.

Wordwrap demo

How to import image?

Since version 0.7 you can use an integrated importer for creating 89i, 92i, 9xi images. You can easily convert JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP (+ WBMP on JDK 1.5 only).
Note: This convertor is not intended to use with big files. You should resize them before using the importer.

What are image filters and how they work?

Image filters are used to import color image into calculator image (black&white).
Here is a complete list of supported filters with their comparison.

What file types are supported?

TI Text files: 89t, 9xt, 92t
TI Image files: 89i, 9xi, 92i
Importing images: JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, PNG, WBMP
TI Notefolio™ Creator: 89y, 9xy (import only)

Technical

What is a binary structure (format) of TI files?

See Romain Liévin's and Tim Singer's TI Link Protocol & File Format Guide for more details.

Troubleshooting

I see empty rectangles instead of special characters. Is it a bug?

No, it isn't.See question "Why WordRider doesn't support all TxtRider's characters?"

Math expressions aren't viewed. I get error 'Bad expr' or 'Wrong Pic'.

Please see question "How to write math expression?"

Misc

What are supported languages?

English, French, Spanish, German, Polish and Czech are currently the supported languages. These languages are already included in this release. After starting the application you can easily change languages in the main menu - WordRider->Language. More languages will be supported in the future. If you want to help with translation into your language, please contact us.

What is 'Java Look&Feel'?

Java Look&Feel is a "skin" for Java Swing desktop applications. Its architecture allows seamless changes in the appearance of an application and the way an application interacts with the user.
WordRider supports them.

I installed TI Notefolio Creator and I get an error 'TI Connect is either un-installed or missing...'. How to fix it?

Simple answer - use WordRider :-). WordRider has much more formating functions and has a support for images!
Your files created in TI Notefolio™ Creator are not lost. You can simply import them into WordRider.

Why not to use TI Notefolio?

With TI Notefolio you can write plain text only. WordRider supports many formatting styles, pictures and math expressions! WordRider can also speed up your typing, because it has tons shortcuts, which increase productivity.

Where can I find more pre-made text files?

Please see the links sections.

To-do list is large. When will a new version be released?

It depends on many things. I have many ideas on how to enhance WordRider. Unfortunately I am very busy. I also work on other Java/PHP/C++ projects and my free time is VERY limited (yeah, I make it in my free time ;-) ). I need motivation for creating a new version, so if I get enough positive responses from users I will make WordRider a higher priority ;-)... I promise that I will correct all reported bugs.

I like WordRider. Can I donate money for development?

Yes, of course! :o) We are students and we must pay for domain, webhosting, bills for our girlfriends etc... so if you want to donate to WordRider please donate via Paypal.

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