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Windows Forum / Outlook Express / OE 6.x / May 2008Character wrapping in posts
I have noticed that, on my computer, when I post to an NG and my post is repeated in the reply, the lines of text I sent are all over the place and not as they appear when I first post. At present, I have set character wrapping at 75 characters, and have tried using other line lengths, but it makes no difference. Is there a "standard" wrap length? Other people`s posts always appear properly wrapped, so can someone tell me what I am doing wrong, please? Thank you Kate 76 is the default setting, but 75 should be fine. If the original post you send shows correctly, then it is probably not on your end. Do check however, that you are using the correct resolution setting your monitor is designed for.  SignatureBruce Hagen MS-MVP Outlook Express Imperial Beach, CA >I have noticed that, on my computer, when I post to an NG and my post > is repeated in the reply, the lines of text I sent are all over the [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Thank you > Kate >I have noticed that, on my computer, when I post to an NG and my post > is repeated in the reply, the lines of text I sent are all over the [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > length? Other people`s posts always appear properly wrapped, so can > someone tell me what I am doing wrong, please? That doesn't seem to be the case this time. SignatureFrank Saunders MS-MVP IE,OE/WM Do not reply with email What you are seeing is a common problem. It's not limited to you. If you are using Uuencode (non-MIME) format, as is common in newsgroups, and the replier does as well, a "> " is inserted in front of every line from the original post. That makes the line 2 characters longer. Unless the replier has his line wrap set at least 2 higher than yours, then the lines may get broken. And the next replier needs his set 2 higher and so on. Some news readers reflow the lines in order to avoid the alternating long/short lines. If you use MIME quoted-printable format (which HTML does by default), then the wrapping is handled differently (not necessarily better). And if in a thread different people use different news readers with different options, things can end up all over the place. Personally, I don't worry about it as long as I can make out what the message says. SignatureMike - http://pages.prodigy.net/michael_santovec/techhelp.htm > I have noticed that, on my computer, when I post to an NG and my post > is repeated in the reply, the lines of text I sent are all over the [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Thank you > Kate >I have noticed that, on my computer, when I post to an NG > and my post is repeated in the reply, Don't worry about what your post looks like when quoted by someone else. That's their line wrapping and Format=Flowed options at work (or not.) All you can be concerned about is what *your* post looks like. I use a line length of 132 and manually "flow" my paragraphs. Then when I send them to the Outbox or save them in Drafts I have to do Ctrl-a,Ctrl-c and reopen and paste them there or the Format=Flowed "feechur" will reflow any quoted lines which end with a trailing space at my maximal line size. To show you the effect of this I will let Format=Flowed do its thing. ; ) FYI Robert Aldwinckle --- > the lines of text I sent are all over the > place and not as they appear when I first post. At present, I have [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Thank you > Kate Looks fine to me in this reply, Kate, but then I have OE set to wrap at 76. > I have noticed that, on my computer, when I post to an NG and my post > is repeated in the reply, the lines of text I sent are all over the [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Thank you > Kate > Looks fine to me in this reply, Kate, but then I have OE set to wrap > at 76. [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >> Thank you >> Kate Interestingly, my quoted post is showing as in the original in all of your replies, with a slight hiccup in Robert`s. However, now that I am replying, my quoted first post has failed to wrap properly - possibly to do with the >> in front of the lines, as Michael mentioned? I see from Tools/Options/Send that my posts are set in MIME format, with no encoding, but have now changed to Uuencode to see if that makes a difference. It is only a very minor thing, I know, but has been niggling me for a long time. Bruce : I have always made sure that my screen res is in the same ratio as my monitor, in particular to avoid distortion of photos and graphics. Thank you for the reminder, though... ...and thank you all for your advice. Kate >>> I have noticed that, on my computer, when I post to an NG and my >>> post [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > possibly to do with the >> in front of the lines, as Michael > mentioned?... Quoting of quoting [think about it] has always been like that, especially it seems if one of the posters is using OE-QuoteFix (like I am). Nothing to worry about IMHO. Signature~Robear Dyer (PA Bear) MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Desktop Experience - since 2002 AumHa VSOP & Admin http://aumha.net DTS-L http://dts-l.net/ >>>> I have noticed that, on my computer, when I post to an NG and my >>>> post [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > it seems if one of the posters is using OE-QuoteFix (like I am). Nothing > to worry about IMHO. I know there are very much worse things that can happen in OE, and if this is all that I have to put up with, I should count myself blessed! It`s just that I do not notice it in other people`s threads and wondered why it happened in mine. Oh well... (Hmm, since I changed the setting to Uuencode, I see that this time my double-indented post hasn`t changed.) Thanks Kate >>>>> I have noticed that, on my computer, when I post to an NG and my >>>>> post [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > Thanks > Kate >>>>>> I have noticed that, on my computer, when I post to an NG and my >>>>>> post [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] >> Thanks >> Kate > [X-RFC2646: Format=Flowed; Original] ... > Interestingly, my quoted post is showing as in the original in all of > your replies, with a slight hiccup in Robert`s. Whatever it is you're seeing was probably just me editing to reformat where I inserted a comment. ; ) > However, now that I > am replying, my quoted first post has failed to wrap properly - > possibly to do with the >> in front of the lines, as Michael > mentioned? All of your lines are terminated without a trailing space which suggests that you are doing your own formatting which defeats the Format=Flowed feature you are using. Essentially, each of your lines is treated as a paragraph; so if someone else wants to quote it and their linesize is smaller than yours (or the quote characters cause your lines to grow bigger than theirs) each of your lines have to be written as two lines, independently of any other of your lines being quoted. > I see from Tools/Options/Send that my posts are set in > MIME format, with no encoding, but have now changed to Uuencode to see > if that makes a difference. It is only a very minor thing, I know, > but has been niggling me for a long time. If you don't mind the arbitrary chopping of your sentences into lines by your linesize try to get into the habit of writing paragraphs. Then your sentences will be chopped into lines with a trailing space, so then when someone who is using Format=Flowed quotes you, your paragraphs (or sets of lines from one) can also be reformatted (once the quoter saves or posts.) And BTW if you ever have to start re-editing a message from Drafts or the Outbox you may still have to open your composition window maximized and reflow the paragraph. (I'm not sure how well Format=Flowed recovers from that though. I suppose it would be nice not to have to worry about line size after restarting from Drafts. Certainly without Format=Flowed you do have to have that concern or risk the embarrassment of posting malformed paragraphs. Good luck Robert --- > Bruce : I have always made sure that my screen res is in the same > ratio as my monitor, in particular to avoid distortion of photos and [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Kate >> [X-RFC2646: Format=Flowed; Original] > ... [quoted text clipped - 45 lines] > Robert > --- When I type a post, I let the computer "carriage return" automatically* and I thought that I did paragraph properly. However, I have just noticed that my compose window was not fully-maximised - stretched to almost fill the screen, but not maximised. Maybe that hasn`t helped, although it can only be two or three characters short. Also, I see that when I compose or reply to a post, the default font for Plain Text in NGs seems to be Times New Roman. But, if I select Read All Message in Plain Text, they come up in 9pt Arial, which is the default font for Mail and News in Tools/Options/Compose. Would that make a difference? I have looked in Tools/Options in the main Menu, and also under Format in the compose window, but cannot find a check box for Format=Flowed. Could you tell me where to find it, please? Anyway, I have now reduced my line length to 70 characters, maximised the compose Window, and selected Uuencode. If that doesn`t work, well, I give up! Thank you for all the info Kate *I used to be a secretary in ye olden days when you had to wait for the `ting` when the typewriter carriage reached the righthand margin and then slam the carriage back. Such bliss not to have to do that with a computer,especially when it was a long carriage that would take brief size paper :-) > When I type a post, I let the computer "carriage return" > automatically* and I thought that I did paragraph properly. However, > I have just noticed that my compose window was not fully-maximised - > stretched to almost fill the screen, but not maximised. Maybe that > hasn`t helped, although it can only be two or three characters short. If you already have your normal mode window maximally sized you won't get any of the benefit of maximizing it. The point is that once lines are chopped to your line size the parargraphs they are a part of will stop wrapping in the window and just show you the lines of the formatted paragraph. If you continue editing the already formatted lines you could create some which are too long (in which case when you save or send them they will be chopped) or shorter than your line size (which will not be combined with what follows unless you make it flow in your composition window.) It's in order to see if you have to do some extra edits to make already formatted text flow that I make the suggestion of maximizing the composition window. > Also, I see that when I compose or reply to a post, the default font > for Plain Text in NGs seems to be Times New Roman. But, if I select > Read All Message in Plain Text, they come up in 9pt Arial, which is > the default font for Mail and News in Tools/Options/Compose. Would > that make a difference? Not really. You might notice a difference in formatting with them but it would only be due to a difference in proportional spacing between the two fonts. > I have looked in Tools/Options in the main Menu, and also under Format > in the compose window, but cannot find a check box for Format=Flowed. > Could you tell me where to find it, please? Unfortunately, it is an undocumented default from a certain level of maintenance. However, you may find a registry hack which could be used to disable it. > Anyway, I have now reduced my line length to 70 characters, maximised the compose Window, and selected Uuencode. If that doesn`t > work, well, I give up! In that case, if you are really flowing paragraphs then something has changed in OE that I wasn't aware of which breaks the Format=Flowed feature. AFAIK you must have those trailing spaces on any lines which are to be flowable otherwise as I said each line may be treated as a separate paragraph. Just to check that that still works as I understand it I have added spaces after the last words in the preceding paragraph. Let's see what happens when I send it to the Outbox... QED. Reflowed to fit *my* line size (132) but only seen that way *after* the message is in the Outbox. This comment was added from the Outbox. > Thank you for all the info > Kate [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > with a computer,especially when it was a long carriage that would take > brief size paper :-) You mean you missed working with CRTs and their line editing too? <eg> Robert --- >> When I type a post, I let the computer "carriage return" >> automatically* and I thought that I did paragraph properly. [quoted text clipped - 81 lines] > Robert > --- Could you explain "trailing spaces", please? Does it mean that each line should end with a space? If so, I would have to watch where the cursor is and hit Enter after a space and before the line automatically wraps. Is that correct? The most advanced method of producing copy that I ever used at work was recording on to a floppy disc. It really was floppy, too, not sandwiched between two bits of stiff plastic. There was a screen but it was like an MS DOS window - white on black. It wasn`t very good and I don`t think it caught on. I certainly didn`t like it. Another machine used magnetic tape but you still had to use paper in the typewriter, or you couldn`t see what you had typed. You then put another sheet of paper in the same machine and printed it again from the tape! Unsurprisingly, that didn`t do well, either. [After putting this in the Outbox, I opened it again and my new settings have made things worse. Even some paragraphs in your reply are being chopped up. Something else I noticed : in the compose window, under Format>Encoding, the setting is Western European (ISO). Should I try changing that to Western European (Windows), do you think?] Kate |
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