Re: Nota Bene files

[Dorothy Day day@xxxxxxxx]

On Fri, 13 Nov 1998, Pam Upton wrote:

>
> I work regularly with a freelance editor who uses Nota Bene (not sure which
> version, but it's fairly recent--I believe she's upgraded within the last
> couple of years). We send her files that have been converted to XyWrite 3+,
> and she has no trouble opening them up in NB. The same for when she returns
> the edited files--I'm able to open them right up in XyWrite (3+ or Windows,
> either one). The only things we've found that don't translate well between
> the two programs are the reverse and bold reverse modes; NB can't read the
> MDRV, and it doesn't have an MDBR (at least not in this recent version our
> editor uses--mode 6 is now MDIT, which of course can be read easily by Xy4 or
> XyWin).

The current usage for MDBR is MDBI (to correspond with MDIT for MBRV) in
NB4.x. Another possible quirk is that what was formerly RM (right
margin) is now TW (text width), which still refers to the width in
(tenths of) inches or cm from the left margin or offset. NB generally
doesn't require LM if you have OF in your defaults or document.

We've found that high-ASCII characters (if by that you mean things
> like accented characters) translate just fine. As long as your files don't
> contain either of these modes, there shouldn't be a translation problem,
> though I can't speak with certainty about some special formatting
> things--snaking columns, for example.
>

All column formatting remains pretty much the same as XyIII+. Just as
some NB4.x accretions don't translate directly into Xy, some Xy4.x
additions also don't read well in NB. The two started diverging a bit
more with v. 4, but both can save as XyIII+ without huge losses.

> Nota Bene was originally developed using the XyWrite engine, and although
> its keyboards are a bit different (and it has added a number of functions
> not included in XyWrite), the underlying file structure is the same as
> far as we can tell. But there are others on this list far more
> knowledgeable about NB--are you out there, Dorothy?
>

The main differences are in daily operation (keyboard layout, overlay
routines etc.), not so much in files produced, which remain pretty much
the same.

Robert Holmgren has speculated on how compatible the forthcoming NBWin
will be with Xy4.x/XyWin/SW. I can't really say either without
speculating, since we haven't seen a full list of completed features.
But it will be more similar, since (to my best knowledge) it builds on
XyWin's engine. (I don't know if any of SmartWord's features are
incorporated.)

	Dorothy


*****
Dorothy Day			
School of Library and Information Science
Indiana University
day@xxxxxxxx	
*****
	"He also surfs who only sits and waits."