Introduction
Welcome, dear student, to the next installment of Brailliance! We are going to discuss a menu item on your smart braille display that is a pretty good basic word processor. This, is the editor! All that we teach you in this article applies to BOTH editors, so no need to worry! Also, we’ll divide the editor section into two parts. This installment will contain the basics of creating, opening, and saving files. On the next installment, we’ll teach you all about text selection, and changing settings. So, with that being said, let’s begin!
Diferences in Editors
If you have navigated your main menu, you would have seen two editors. One was called just “Editor,” and another one is called “Braille Editor.” Essentially, they both work the exact same way. However, the braille editor creates raw braille files. That is, whatever you type, only you can read. You would have to use a braille translation software on your computer to be able to export that into something that can be read by a sighted person. If you are using the voice with your braille keyboard models, that will turn off when the braille editor is launched, since this editor will create raw braille files, so the voice cannot translate those vocally. If you are a Mantis user, when launching the braille editor, your keyboard is also limited. Rather than using a QWERTY layout, you will need to use your home row as your input, very similar to a braille keyboard. Use “S, D, and F” keys for dots “3, 2, and 1” on your left hand, while “J, k, and L” are dots “4, 5, and 6” on your right. Use the space bar as usual to insert a space, and use the usual “Enter” key as a new line.
Editor Menu
Once you move to your editor you wish to use, you have the following options available once you press “Enter” to open it.
- Create File
- Open File
- Recently Saved
- Editor Settings
- Close
These options are quite self explanatory. Right now, we just want to create a file to start off. Let’s press Enter on that option, and you should be presented with a blank braille display, except for a small box looking indicator on the left side, telling you that you can edit.
Creating and Saving a file
As mentioned above, once you press “Enter” on create, you will be presented with that box indicator. As you type, you will notice the right side of this small box will move across the braille display. No need to worry, this indicator will not get in your way. You can disable this function to just display a standard braille cursor. We will discuss how to do that, on the advanced article.
Mantis Braille Keyboard
If you wish to type in braille on your Mantis as we described above when using the standard editor, you can alternate between the QWERTY and braille keyboard layout by pressing (F12) on your Mantis. You should read, “Braille Keyboard.” You can then type in braille into your document! This is perfect if you want to keep those braille keyboarding skills sharp.
Saving A File
When you’re happy with creating the file, you can press an “S Chord (Control+s)” to save your document. It will ask for a File name. You can then type the name of your file, and press “Enter” to save said document. We will cover saving documents to different places on the next editors article.
Opening a File
There are a few ways to open a file when using the editor. You can press “Enter+O (Control+o) to get a list of files to open. Navigate in the usual methods to get to the file you want and press “Enter.” Alternatively, you can either use the “Open File” or “Recently Saved” options in the editor menu to do the exact same thing. Keep in mind the “Recently Saved” option only gives you a small number of documents, so you may want to use “Open File” to find the file you need, especially if it’s an older file.
Conclusion
These editors may seem like they’re very basic, but they do serve their purpose and very well! Remember, you can also press “Backspace+n”(Alt+Control+n) from ANYWHERE on your unit to create a quick note. No matter what you are doing, those 2 editors are to the rescue! Happy editing!