Using Styles in askSam PART 1

Styles are a great way to quickly apply formatting and paragraph settings to text inside askSam. Styles can be considered complicated until you get to know them better. Over the next few issues of the Surf Report I hope to familiarize you with styles and show you the advantages of using them. The first tip is an introduction to styles. Future Surf Reports will include tips on creating styles, using styles, styles in an entry form and more. Styles are a very powerful askSam feature.

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What is a Style?

A style is a set of pre-defined formatting instructions that can be used repeatedly throughout an askSam file. Furthermore, a Style is a set of formats (fonts, colors, tabs, margins, etc.) that you set up once and are then able to apply them to words or sections of text to quickly change its appearance. When you use a Style, you apply a whole group of formats with just a couple clicks of the mouse.

For example, you may want to format every title in your file to be centered, bold, and a larger font size than the regular text. Each time you need to apply this formatting to a title in your file you have to go through the entire process to format the text the way you want it. But, if you use a style, you simply highlight your title and apply the style - without having to to do each individual formatting command.

For example, if you set up a database where the field names are bold, blue with a grey background and do not use styles there is no way to change that format throughout the entire database without doing it manually - one document at a time, one field at a time. However, if you use a style you can simply edit the style and any changes you make will be reflected on all fields in all documents that are using that style

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Each new file you create is based on a template (Normal). This template has some basic styles already set up. When you create a new file in askSam you are using the Normal template. So, when you start typing, askSam uses the font, font size, line spacing, text alignment, and other formats currently defined for the Normal Style. The Normal Style is the base Style for the Normal template, meaning that it's a building block for other Styles in the template.

If you create an entry form in askSam using the Entry Form wizard your entry form is set up using styles. This means if you have created a database and have already added a number of documents you can edit the Field style and change the appearance of all fields in your file.

See, you are using styles already and may not have even realized it.

There are a number of other Styles besides Normal. These are listed in the Style list on the Formatting toolbar.

 You can modify, create, delete, and preview Styles by choosing FORMAT -> STYLE.

There are several reasons to use styles in askSam

1. Consistency - If you use styles to format your documents each document section or section of fields will be formatted the same. This will make all your files more clean and professional looking

2. Easier to Modify - If you use styles you only have to update the style once instead of updating individual documents, fields, words, or sections of text.

3. Efficiency - Create a style and apply it to any section in a document with only a couple of keystrokes.

Style Types

There are two types of styles in askSam...

1. Character Styles - Formatting that effects the appearance of individual words.

Character styles are applied to individual words or groups of words and contain font formatting only. Character styles can be set on individual words or phrases inside a paragraph that has a paragraph style. Character styles can include:

·     Fonts

·     Font Attributes - bold, italic, underline, strike through, etc.

·     Font Size

·     Color - foreground and background

2. Paragraph Styles - Formatting that effects the appearance of paragraphs

Paragraph styles effect the entire paragraph and can contain both font and paragraph formatting. When you apply a paragraph style it sets the appearance for the entire paragraph not individual words or phrases. Paragraph styles can include the same items as character styles plus:

·     Alignment - left, center, right

·     Line Spacing - single, double, etc.

·     Indents - left or right, hanging, etc.

·     Spacing before and after a paragraph

·     Tabs

I hope this introduction gives you a better understanding of styles. To learn more about styles please visit Chapter 6 of the askSam Users Guide. Also, styles in askSam are based on styles in Microsoft Word. You will see a lot of similarities between the two. If you learn more about styles in Microsoft Word you will have a better understanding of how to use them in askSam. Tune in next month for -- Creating and Applying Styles.

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