Re: Model/view design for text editor
On Saturday, December 28, 2002, 3:21:19 PM, M. wrote [snipped]: There are over a thousand projects in the text editor category at SourceForge.net. Many of these also support things far beyond Bat's present capability -- like HTML editing, Linux, and collapsible tree views. (I hope for a Linux version of Bat someday, though it is unlikely.) Some of the projects have GPL licensing but others have commercial-friendly licensing. Bat could use this third-party code, modify it, wrap it with ActiveX, whatever they need to do. Just a suggestion, not a demand here. My personal preference is that The Bat! should allow editing of messages in the editor of your choice. I would use Vim, which has many features geared towards, or useful for, email editing. The way I see it, TB! editor is never going to be as good an editor as some others, and nor should it be: developers' resources should be spent on email tasks, not (just) editing tasks. My preferred interface would be to have a hotkey open *the current message* in an external editor. When the editor quits, the text of the message is updated. I see no need to have every single message open up immediately in an external editor, because not every message needs advanced editing. Sorry if this has been discussed before; I'm new and it's not in the FAQ. This was just the right time to jump in, in this case. Cheers, Gavin Current version is 1.62 | Using TBUDL information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re: Expanding threads - revisited
On Sunday, December 29, 2002, 5:03:14 AM, Bruno wrote: Searching the menus and help file threads section I also can't find any thread navigation commands (menu or keyboard). Don't know why I can't find a command to take me to the first unread message in the current thread. It also gets a little confusing and tiring having all messages in the thread marked in the unread font/colour when there is only a single new message. I can understand that when the thread is collapsed, but when expanded it would be much nicer (for me) to have only the actual new message marked this way. This has struck me as well. I know the moderators discourage me too remarks, but both paragraphs hit the nail on the head for me. Gavin Current version is 1.62 | Using TBUDL information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re: Expanding threads - revisited
On Sunday, December 29, 2002, 5:33:42 AM, Bruno wrote: Saturday, December 28, 2002, 1:12:02 PM, Gavin wrote: This has struck me as well. I know the moderators discourage me too remarks, but both paragraphs hit the nail on the head for me. Of course, after Allie wrote that reply, I saw that the navigation commands were also in the context menu when clicking on a threaded message. I could have sworn I looked in there before (i's the first place I would assume to look). Two issues remain: first unread message in current thread, and the over-enthusiastic highlighting of messages when only one is actually unread. (This second issue may be just a matter of getting used to it, though...) Navigating to the first undread message in the current thread would be helpful in some circumstances, IIRC, and it would probably make sense to mark the current message unread before moving. Gavin Current version is 1.62 | Using TBUDL information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re: [Feature request] Check mail every ... when offline.
On Monday, December 30, 2002, 1:23:36 AM, Giamma wrote: Hello, this is a old question: when I`m offline and TB is configured to check mail every x minutes, i get a `beep` error every `x` minutes. An offline-mode? workarounds? (maybe I`ve lost something in MLs) tnx! You can prevent TB! from trying too hard to make a connection. That's what I do. Gavin Current version is 1.62 | Using TBUDL information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
The Bat! feature requests
Some observations: When you create a new address book, an appropriate storage file should be suggested (based on the name). I shouldn't have to naviage through TB! dungeons and define my own file. I love being able to scroll one line or one page of a message when the focus is on the message list. Being able to scroll *half* a page would be the icing for me. And, as always, having the ability to edit emails in an external editor... Regards, Gavin Current version is 1.62 | Using TBUDL information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re: The Bat! feature requests
On Monday, December 30, 2002, 12:16:16 PM, Thomas wrote: Hello Gavin, On Mon, 30 Dec 2002 10:10:46 +1100 GMT (30/12/02, 06:10 +0700 GMT), Gavin Sinclair wrote: I love being able to scroll one line or one page of a message when the focus is on the message list. Being able to scroll *half* a page would be the icing for me. One line: alt-up or alt-down One page: space bar. I'm enthusiastically aware of these keyboard commands. However, scrolling *half* a page (instead of a full one) is something I would really like to see. I find that scrolling a page at a time makes it difficult to maintain context. Gavin Current version is 1.62 | Using TBUDL information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re: The Bat! feature requests
On Tuesday, December 31, 2002, 5:01:46 AM, Peter wrote: One line: alt-up or alt-down One page: space bar. GS I'm enthusiastically aware of these keyboard commands. However, GS scrolling *half* a page (instead of a full one) is something I would GS really like to see. I find that scrolling a page at a time makes it GS difficult to maintain context. You're right. But didn't Thomas give the answer (above)? Far from it. Hold alt and press arrowdown as long as you like. That's the answer you give when you don't have an answer. In what other apsects of operation is 10+ key-hits considered a substitute for one? Gavin Current version is 1.62 | Using TBUDL information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
PGP signature removal?
Hi all, A lot of messages on this list, and some on others I frequent, use PGP signatures that hide the actual message in a forest of crap. The Bat! being the powerful program it is, there must be a way to view the message without the noise, but the help and the FAQ mention nothing. Do you guys have any approach? Cheers, Gavin (Also from Sydney, Australia.) Current version is 1.62 | Using TBUDL information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re: PGP signature removal?
On Wednesday, January 1, 2003, 5:03:07 PM, Melissa wrote: A lot of messages on this list, and some on others I frequent, use PGP signatures that hide the actual message in a forest of crap. :-) One person's forest of crap might be another's wondrous choreography of sparkling ciphertext! Well, at least it could mean something to those who understand its reason for being. True :) I understand their meaning and still think it's a forest of crap. Even if I thought signing messages in a public forum were a brilliant idea, I'd still think it's noise, because it's metadata, not actual message. It belongs in the same category as all the header information that we care about, but don't really need to see. Thanks for the tips. I don't understand that template you gave me very well, but I'm sure I won't remain ignorant for long. (That's not a cry for help, I'm off to the documenation now.) BTW I'm pretty sure some other mailers (Mozilla? KMail?) hide the PGP/GnuPG/OpenPGP metadata from view (which is all I want, not to see it removed), and it seems like a pretty good idea for TB! Cheers, Gavin Current version is 1.62 | Using TBUDL information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re: PGP signature removal?
On Wednesday, January 1, 2003, 5:03:07 PM, Melissa wrote: I'll sign this one just for you. ;-) Melissa Heh, no manual deforestation required. Thanks again! Gavin Current version is 1.62 | Using TBUDL information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re: PGP signature removal?
On Wednesday, January 1, 2003, 3:27:37 PM, Gavin wrote: Hi all, [PGP signatures argably shouldn't be displayed in emails,] but the help and the FAQ mention nothing. Now that one or two reply templates have been published, could all this info be shoehorned into the FAQ somewhere? Cheers, Gavin Current version is 1.62 | Using TBUDL information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Chagning word-wrap margin for a single message?
Hi all, I'm communicating with one particular person who wraps everything at about 50 characters, it seems, so her quotations of my replies (at 70 characters) get ugly. The simplest way to prevent this is to wrap my stuff at about 50 characters also. Can I do this for a single message? If, as I suspect, the answer is no, then here's one more reason to allow editing in an external editor. Cheers, Gavin Current version is 1.62 | Using TBUDL information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Bug importing from Outlook Express
I just thought I'd let the list know that when I imported my messages from Outlook Express, two characters were missing from the end of each message! Fortunately, the last two characters of any given message are usually predicatable sign-off material, but still... Gavin Current version is 1.62 | Using TBUDL information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re: Chagning word-wrap margin for a single message?
On Friday, January 3, 2003, 5:52:20 AM, Mary wrote: Hello Roelof, and Gavin, On Thursday, January 02, 2003, 12:23 PM, you wrote: GS The simplest way to prevent this is to wrap my stuff at about 50 GS characters also. Can I do this for a single message? Gavin, if I'm not misunderstanding you, it's the appearance of the message in your Reply text editor window that is bothering you. If that's not it, you should just ignore the rest of what I'm saying here. Thanks a lot, Mary. I've been happily using ALT-L to format my own blocks (even quoted replies). It just never occurred to me that it might work for a doubly-quoted block. Excellent software indeed. Regards, Gavin Current version is 1.62 | Using TBUDL information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
ALT-L strips spaces?
Hi folks, I noticed something funny. As you can see from this post, I use the old-fashioned convention of sticking two spaces at the start of a sentence. However, if I were to reformat this paragraph with ALT-L, those spaces would be reduced to one each. Why is this so? Must I surrender my beloved sentence layout? Regards, Gavin Current version is 1.62 | Using TBUDL information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re: ALT-L strips spaces?
On Tuesday, January 7, 2003, 8:57:36 PM, Markus wrote: Hi, Gavin Sinclair wrote in msgid:[EMAIL PROTECTED] : Why is this so? Must I surrender my beloved sentence layout? The habit of putting two spaces after every sentence dates back to the era of the typewriter. Whether one should stick to it is debatable. Since I use Courier New to write and view emails, I feel right at home with typewriter-era habits :) (Sources: http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/archives/9602/techwhirl-9602-00470.html http://www.webword.com/reports/period.html http://desktoppub.about.com/library/weekly/blrules-spaces.htm http://www.evolt.org/article/Two_Spaces_After_a_Period_Isn_t_Dead_Yet/25/213/) Interesting; thanks. As far as the word wrapping of the Bat is concerned: it is just harder (impossible?) to come up with an algorithm that takes two spaces at the end of sentences into account. How should this algorithm distinguish between abbreviations and sentence ending periods (full stops)? I find it surprising that the ALT-L command modifies spaces. I expect it to only modify newlines, leaving no problem of taking anything into account. Regards, Markus Thanks again, Gavin Current version is 1.62 | Using TBUDL information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re: ALT-L strips spaces?
On Wednesday, January 8, 2003, 12:10:44 AM, Peter wrote: Gavin, On 07-01-2003 13:40, you [G] wrote in [EMAIL PROTECTED]">mid:[EMAIL PROTECTED]: G I find it surprising that the ALT-L command modifies spaces. Sometimes people don't use the proper spaces (e.g. use 2 after full stop :) so ALT+L should fix this! (Left|Right|Center|Full)-justification has little to do with spaces and everything to do with newlines. For those who want to tamper with spaces, perhaps another function should be available. You can probably use a template. Gavin Current version is 1.62 | Using TBUDL information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re: ALT-L strips spaces?
On Wednesday, January 8, 2003, 12:25:25 AM, Gavin wrote: (Left|Right|Center|Full)-justification has little to do with spaces and everything to do with newlines. Silly me, of course full justification has a lot to do with spaces, but discrepancies would be easily fixed IMO. Gavin Current version is 1.62 | Using TBUDL information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re: ALT-L strips spaces?
On Wednesday, January 8, 2003, 5:18:57 PM, Dave wrote: An excellent performer would be Yo Yo Ma. Note that MA. is an abbreviation for Master of Arts. And lest you note the case difference on the A, what if there were a spelling error? Making semantic choices based on capitalization choices is yet-another dangerous path to travel. Good general points; I'll just make one comment. It is unusual to see MA. in a sentence like you used. The normal abbreviation would be MA, would it not? Gavin Current version is 1.62 | Using TBUDL information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re: ALT-L strips spaces?
On Thursday, January 9, 2003, 2:13:30 AM, Mary wrote: A (Er isn't this getting a little OT now? Looking sideways in case A of flying fish.) Gavin, we might as well give up! We are outnumbered. And this entire discussion really ought to move to TBOT (The Bat Off-Topic list). Are you subscribed there yet? I have really enjoyed seeing your questions and replies here, ever since you arrived as a new subscriber. Fair enough. Thanks for the kind words. And I will subscribe to the OT list. BTW, Gavin, (tongue-in-cheek, but telling the truth): I have a 1985 IBM Selectric typewriter with a little green display window that I will be glad to give to you, if you want to return to typewriter days! Works fine--would just have to be modified a bit to access the Internet and E-mail. Thanks but no thanks! :) I've never actually used a typewriter, nor read a style guide. I gained my sentence structure by observation, and reasoning that any effort to properly demarcate a sentence is, well, sensible. Right, topic closed I suppose. See you in TBOT. Cheers, Gavin Current version is 1.62 | Using TBUDL information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Indent a section of text?
Folks, Is it possible to indent an existing section of text in TB! editor? It's pretty much a rhetorical question, so I can again point out the necessity of a powerful email program allowing you to edit emails in an external editor. Of course, I *love* being proven wrong in these matters :) Cheers, Gavin Current version is 1.62 | Using TBUDL information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re: Indent a section of text?
On Thursday, January 9, 2003, 8:00:37 PM, Richard wrote: Hello Gavin, On Thu, 9 Jan 2003 at 19:43:49[GMT +1100](which was 08:43 where I live) you wrote: Is it possible to indent an existing section of text in TB! editor? It's pretty much a rhetorical question, so I can again point out the necessity of a powerful email program allowing you to edit emails in an external editor. Interesting. Never had need to do that so just tried it and it appears not so :-( Yes, I doubt many people find a regular need for it. I, OTOH, participate in some quite technical forums, and post code, which appears much better indented. Different strokes for different fols, I guess. Like the reply template, BTW (with the two times). Can you email it to me? Cheers, Gavin Current version is 1.62 | Using TBUDL information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re: Indent a section of text?
On Thursday, January 9, 2003, 8:05:34 PM, Peter wrote: GS Is it possible to indent an existing section of text in TB! editor? Select the block, press Ctrl+K,I (that means: Ctrl+K, release 'K' hold Ctrl, press I) and repeat as much as you need it. Thank you very much. I wonder how you found that out? My investigation only consisted of all editor menus and the help index (no indent), but I thought that might be enough. You can even rewrap this selected block by pressing Alt+L (for left justification) or however you want it to be aligned, the indentation will be preserved. Of course, despite my persistant complaints, the editor is very good :) GS the necessity of a powerful email program allowing you to edit GS emails in an external editor. It would be sufficient to embed ViM *SCNR* ;-))) It would be sufficient, but not popular ;] Gavin Current version is 1.62 | Using TBUDL information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re: Indent a section of text?
On Friday, January 10, 2003, 12:31:07 AM, Marck wrote: Hi Gavin, @9-Jan-2003, 19:43 +1100 (08:43 UK time) Gavin Sinclair [GS] in [EMAIL PROTECTED]">mid:[EMAIL PROTECTED] said: GS Is it possible to indent an existing section of text in TB! GS editor? Yes. Two ways. First, as Peter P said using Ctrl-Q, I. I don't see anything happen with that keyboard command. Second, using Column mode cut and paste. In the editor status line is the legend Stream. Press Ctrl-O, C and it changes to Column. Mark the paragraph - you'll see that it is marking in column mode. Cut the paragraph to the clipboard with Ctrl-X. Now move the caret to the offset column you want to indent the paragraph to (and in the first line) and paste it back with Ctrl-V. Instant indent! Tasty tip, thanks! Current version is 1.62 | Using TBUDL information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
