Hello Karin,
On Saturday, September 16, 2000 at 00:29:40 GMT +0200 (which was 3:29 PM
where I live) witnesses say Karin Spaink typed:
> I decided to try The Bat for a while.
Welcome.
> It looks very much like the mail client I might switch to, but after
> fiddling with it for a while - and checking the FAQ and the help
> files - I still have a couple of questions.
We'll take a crack at them. This is the place to ask.
> 1. If you move your cursor down in the window in which you are
> editing your mail (e.g. move it down to the next empty line), it
> goes down but stays in the same column (read: horizontal axis) and
> doesn't go to the beginning of the line or the last words in it,
Yes, this is because TB supports a free caret interface. With this
interface, you can use arrow keys or the mouse to put your cursor
anywhere and start typing. This really helps when you're doing tables
or lists. I might give an example later in this message, we'll see.
> as it should (since the space after the last words is empty and not
> filled with trailing spaces). Is this a bug, or a feature that can
> be turned off?
It's not a bug and it can not be turned off. If you get used to
hitting the home and end keys, I think you'll find it pretty
convenient. I'm at the point where editors that *don't* support free
caret interfaces are really annoying.
> 2. The tab. When I have "auto-format" on - I want to, I like it, I
> need it because I rewrite a lot - I can't seem to add a new
> parapraph to a section.
New paragraphs need a blank line between them. This makes your
message more readable. Also this is necessary due to the way TB
handles text editing. TB is a WYSIWYG text editor. What this means
is the end of a line within a paragraph is marked by the same
codes as any other end of line. So the auto-format tool looks for two
end of line markings in a row to denote a new paragraph.
> I can't seem to start on a new bit of the quoted conversation on a
> new line; only when I add a blank line.
This is as it should be given TB's implementation. See above for
details. To work around this, you might want to get familiar with the
<ctrl><shift><f> shortcut. This toggles the auto-format feature on
and off. I only turn on the auto-format feature when I'm going back
to rework a paragraph. But if I want to make a list, then I turn it
off. With the auto format feature on, you can't do the following.
1. Answer e-mail
2. Show off free caret power
3. Send mail
4. Enjoy.
> 3. The cookie file is a great feature and allows
> for rotating signatures. The help file is however
> not too helpful as to the format of the cookie
> file. After some experimenting, I discovered that
> each entry should have a line of its own, no
> line-breaks, and no empty lines between entries.
> But the cookies show up in one unbroken line
> whenever I start composing an e-mail or hit reply.
> How do you make your cookie-entries wrap?
In an individual cookie, you can tell TB to insert a line break by
using '\n'. If you put the following in your cookie file:
Personal Plan:\n To avoid lucidity, clarity and sanity at all costs.
It would be inserted as:
Personal Plan:
To avoid lucidity, clarity and sanity at all costs.
> 4. Although The Bat claims to have "HTML auto
> view" and while I have Options --> HTML auto view
> on, I get to see all the html-mail as plain text,
> tags included.
Is this mail that you imported from Eudora? I think Eudora does some
weird things to HTML mail so that it can not be imported correctly.
If you get new HTML mail, it should be presented correctly. Note that
TB will not go out onto the net to get image files for you. This is a
web browser's job, and so TB will only display images that are
sent along with the message. As a result, you may prefer to turn off
HTML auto-view. Then when you get HTML mail, just double click on the
icon in the message view pane. You'll be sent to your default browser
to view the HTML properly.
> 5. When will the developpers add proportional
> fonts? I _hate_ proportional. Suddenly my mail
> looks ugly.(Yes, I saw the workaround in the FAQ,
> and I might try it, but I like Arial best).
We're just going over this in another thread. From A. Curtis Martin's
message from Sat, 16 Sep 2000 06:22:51 -0500,
Subject: Re: Reasons why html mail shouldn't be used
ACM> Note however, that TB!'s editor cannot use a variable width font
ACM> even if you force it to via the registry hack. Everything looks like
ACM> gibberish. I'm quite sure that it has to do with the free caret
ACM> interface. You'll notice that with the editor, you may place your cursor
ACM> anywhere in the editor window and start typing. The character positions
ACM> seem to be already mapped out in a grid type fashion. A fixed width font
ACM> makes this possible.
> 6. Why isn't the "Find" utility listed under the
> Tools menu? As of now, one can only find it in the
> Icon toolbar.
It is, Tools -> Search
> 7. I'd like to be able to tell The Bat to
> automatically focus on my Inbox when new mail has
> arrived. yes, it's a Eudora habit ;-)
Can't be done at this time. Actually, this is a good thing, but I
won't explore these arguments at this time.
> For the rest, I am quite impressed. And I'm sure
> I'll have more questions while I proceed to
> explore The Bat.
Ask away, even some of the old timers still have to ask questions with
all the features in TB.
--
Thanks for writing,
Januk Aggarwal
See header for e-mail address
Using The Bat! 1.46
under Windows 98 4.10 Build 2222 A
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