DOS ain't dead

> What exactly is an outliner program? I don't think I've ever heard that
> term before.

Hi bretjohn!

An outliner is a type of text editor which allows you to format your text in an outline format with topics, sub-topics, sub-sub-topics, etc.

You can hide or display the text of the various sub-topics while you work.

It greatly simplifies the task of editing long text files.

Here's a Wikipedia article that explains it a lot better than I can:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outliner

---
Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Clueless"
Running MS-DOS 6.21

> ThinkTank and MORE are available from http://outliners.scripting.com/

Thanks, rr!

I downloaded ThinkTank, but when I tried to run it I got a message saying something like "This program will not run in MS-DOS."

I suspect that I unzipped the archive incorrectly. I think the archive had subfolders in it, so I'm going to try again. Maybe if I unzip it properly it will work.

---
Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Clueless"
Running MS-DOS 6.21

> Look for a title called PC Outline by Brown Bag Software. You should be
> able to find it on Simtel.net or in any old shareware archive.

Hi mbbrutman!

I've been hunting online for a DOS version of PC-Outline, but haven't been able to find it. All I can find are the Windows version.

However I did find an article that mentioned that: "...in the late 1980s WordStar 5 came bundled with PC-Outline, a popular DOS outliner then available from Brown Bag Software, Inc. in California. PC-Outline text had to be exported to a WordStar-format file, as the programs were not developed to be internally compatible."

Reading that article jogged my memory and I seem to recall trying PC-Outline back when I bought WS 5.5. But I didn't care for it then because it didn't incorporate the WordStar editing commands, if I remember rightly. But, I wondered if I might still have my original WS 5.5 floppies. So I dug around in the boxes of old disks in my back room and I'll be danged if I didn't dig out an old 5.25" floppy disk labeled PC-Outline.

Then I dug out my old 286 PC that has both 3.5" and 5.25" floppy drives. But the 5.25" floppy drive doesn't seem to work anymore :o(. I checked my neighborhood PC Recycling Shop, and he does have a 5.25" drive he'll sell me for $13. So if I can't get the drive in that old machine to work by Monday, I'm going to ride my bike down there and buy that drive.

> This program was so good and it still holds up reasonably well. A few
> years ago I dug it up again to use it to study for a large test I was
> taking. The modern versions Microsoft Word pale in comparison when used
> for outlining.

I don't suppose you still have that program lying around now do you?

---
Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Clueless"
Running MS-DOS 6.21