Re: [WMASTERS] Re: 8-Bit font Doesn't Work across platforms!!

[George Hart <ghart@socrates.berkeley.edu>]

Yes, exactly.  There's nothing inherently wrong with an 8-bit font, and
there's a lot in its favor.  BUT, as I mentioned, many applications take it
upon themselves to remap the upper 128 characters to fit the quirks of
standard fonts on various machines.  The programs (e.g. Eudora) never tell
you they are doing this, and they give you no ability to change it.  I
spent hours talking at the people who produce Lasso, and finally discovered
that yes, all the upper 128 characters are remapped whenever they are sent
out onto the Net.  No, they said, there is no way to turn off this
"feature."  Maybe, just maybe, they may provide such a tool in their next
release.

Yes, I would like to shoot these programmers (figuratively, at least) --
what they have done is irresponsible and patronizing.  AND, unfortunately,
it makes it extremely difficult for us to work with 8-bit fonts.  GH

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>I'm sorry if i've sound too harsh in the last email
>
>But i think these problems with file formats transfer across different
>platforms can be resolved, unless it's due to faults in software
>applications.
>
>On Wed, 17 Sep 1997, George Hart wrote:
>
>> >I'm sorry to say that this is totally wrong!
>> I'm sorry to say this is not totally wrong -- the fact is, different
>> encodings are a can of worms.  For your information, I am using screen
>> fonts.  And some programs do mapping, others do not, so what will work with
>> one set of programs will break with another.  Lasso, which Claris has now
>> incorporated into Filemaker 4, automatically remaps all the upper 128
>> before sending text out on the net, while WEB FM, which I use, does not.
>> George Hart
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
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