Re: XyWin & bug vs. feature

[Harry Binswanger hb@xxxxxxxx]

Rick P wrote:

>But I don't feel
>stupid, because no matter how you look at it, there ARE many
>differences between the two versions. After having spent the
>last several days trying to get XY4 to work for me like XY3,
>I am glad that I've been fighting as hard as I have to keep
>XY3.
I'm sorry to hear that. Satan is in the details, huh?

> I will sit with the XY4 manuals this weekend and try to
>tweak XY4, but so far it has been an impossible task.
Send us your specific problems.

>Perhaps an XY3 user who left everything in default would
>have an easier go ...

The folks urging the transition to Xy4 are not that kind.

> but I--so far--have not been able to get
>the margins and the pages and the chapters and the page
>lengths to print out exactly the same.
Is it maybe an issue of equating a PT designation to a  and 
designation?
> And there is all this
>extra stuff--do i want the left margin to show on the
>screen, does the part of the page--top, bottom, and
>sides--that cannot be printed on count as part of the
>margins.
Well, I worked in Xy3 with default LM=2 and RM=66 and I still use that in Xy4.
All computer problems look hard until they're solved and then they look trivial.

> STARTUP.INT sure doesn't look the same. It has all
>sorts of weird looking codings.
A case in point! Those changes are all cosmetic. Just make up a startup.int
exactly as in Xy3 and it will work fine. (The two major changes are: 1. we
now have {hooray!} a "rem" facility, which is ;*;--anything after that is a
"comment" so it isn't read by the pgm. 2. we now have a alternative to the
BC-XC pair, which is BX (blind execute) and Q2 (execute too). Only real
difference is that BX-Q2 doesn't actually put the command up on your command
line, but does it "in background" as it were. Stick to BC-XC if you wish.)

> I've tried different
>printing tables and I cannot get Italics to work.
Printing tables? Printing tables? Xy4 doesn't use them. Use  and
 This may be your whole problem.

> If I bring
>documents over from 3 just to print in 4, I sure don't want
>to have to go into each file and redo the italicized words
>with menus and buttons.
Good ol'  and  are all you need if you have the right printer
driver loaded.
> The simplicity is gone......Even if
>I eventually find solutions to all of these quirks, it is
>important to state that going from XY3 to XY4 is nowhere
>near as simple as *hey, just make the switch already.* That
>is bull. And no one should believe it for a minute.
I hear you. But, may I presume to suggest: this is the despair of the moment.
I think I may presume since I am "the gentlemen" whom you praised for
spending hours trying to adapt Xy3 to your needs by doing the XPL work.
> There
>are many reasons why people have chosen to stay with 3+ and
>a fear of change is not at the top of the list.

No doubt, for some uses of Xy, the change is not trivial. Maybe even a
short-run headache. But I doubt your in that category. Please try my
suggestions above and see if they work. "Darkest just before dawn," and all
that.

For the record, I *didn't* change over right away. It is only in retrospect
that I found it not difficult. Maybe it's like forgetting the pain of
childbirth.

Regards,



Harry Binswanger
hb@xxxxxxxx