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Conference vaxuum::document_ft

Title:DOCUMENT T1.0
Notice:**New notesfile (DOCUMENT.NOTE) now available (see note 897)**
Moderator:CLOSET::ADLER
Created:Mon Feb 09 1987
Last Modified:Thu Oct 31 1991
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:897
Total number of notes:4397

465.0. "BL8 - commas bug" by FNYFS::WYNFORD (The Rented Loony) Thu Jun 04 1987 09:32

    Another mini-bug to worry you...
    
    Some people here seem to be having fun with the positioning of commas.
    It seems that for some reason the French writers are putting a space
    before the comma and not after it. DOCUMENT keeps this comma attached
    to the subsequent word instead of positioning it correctly.
    
    Example:
    
    I would type: blah, blah, blah...
    
    They type:  blah ,blah ,blah as this is French usage apparently.
    
    I find the result looks yuk. I have spotted a similar effect if
    you type space comma space; the spaces are not removed.
    
    Gavin
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465.1Where bug?CUPOLA::HAKKARAINENwith hasty reverenceThu Jun 04 1987 12:304
    Could you elaborate on what you expect Document to do? If Document
    is keeping the <space>,word sequence intact, I can't fault it for
    that. The output may look strange, but only because Document is
    doing what the writer told it to do.
465.2ClarificationFNYFS::WYNFORDThe Rented LoonyThu Jun 04 1987 13:2814
    Re: .1
    
    Sure. DOCUMENT should be correcting faulty usage in this case -
    it removes unwanted space elsewhere automatically. Punctuation rules
    should be part of the functionality, just as hyphenation rules are.
    A lot of people have little or no idea of where to put these spaces
    so when you produce a nice-looking document with the spaces wrongly
    placed you diminish the impact of the document and may even create
    an adverse impression.
    
    Therefore, words and punctuation "elements" should be separated,
    processed and put back together.
    
    Gavin
465.3Thanks, but no thanksCUPOLA::HAKKARAINENwith hasty reverenceThu Jun 04 1987 14:0311
    I'd rather not have Document spend the time checking commas. Instead,
    perhaps this could be a part of the editing environment. Just as we
    can call a spelling checker to verify that we've written our words
    correctly, so, too, could we have a TPU routine that corrects the
    <space>,word construction. 
    
    Hyphenation is a different matter. The rules and exceptions are
    applied only when it is necessary to hyphenate, which is not every
    time that a word is encountered. It's a judgment best left to the
    composition system, on that particular run.
    
465.4MARTY::FRIEDMANThu Jun 04 1987 14:066
    The next step would be to have DOCUMENT/AUTOPILOT to write books
    all by itself. 
    
    Just kidding...
    
    Marty
465.5Please add to wishlist - here or elsewhereFNYFS::WYNFORDThe Rented LoonyThu Jun 04 1987 15:4415
    Given that the apparent aim of DOCUMENT is to allow the author to
    write and not have to concentrate on the layout down to the minutae
    then requiring him/her to remember these things goes contrary to
    this aim.
    
    Maybe we should only give DOCUMENT to people who know how to write.
    :-)
    
    BTW, the computerised composition at the Times had no problems doing
    this and that ran on HP1000s from the dark ages!
    
    Gavin
    (I seem to be having a "let's attack DOCUMENT" week - sorry... I
    must be getting heightened expectations as each release becomes
    better and better. :-) )
465.6addedCLOSET::ANKLAMThu Jun 04 1987 17:4116
    
    DOCUMENT has been undergoing an audit for internationalization,
    and we've already received a number of requirements. I expect that
    the ability to handle commas using the French Convention will be
    on the list. How we do it, I'm not yet sure. It is something that
    could (possibly) be handled in the local strings translation file,
    i.e. you would change
    
    ' ,'  to '~,' (where ~ is TeX's tie character which prohibits line
    breaks).
    
    I haven't tried this and I don't guarantee it; it's just one way
    I might choose to look at the problem.
    
    patti
    
465.7CLOSET::ADLERFri Jun 05 1987 18:025
There are really two problems in the case of "word<space>,word". 
The first is getting rid of the space before the comma, and the second is
adding space after the comma. We'd have to look at both.

--Brian
465.8Before you get carried away with mods..FNYFS::WYNFORDThe Rented LoonyTue Jun 09 1987 12:5910
    It seems, upon further investigation, that the French *printed*
    style is like the US/UK style: word, <space>word. It is only some
    French people who *type* in the other manner.
    
    Given that DOCUMENT already removes spaces at some point, could
    the punctuation adjustment not take place at the same time?
    
    I think I've laboured the point enough... :-)
    
    Gavin