Re: DW function

["Olson, Timothy" timothy_olson@xxxxxxxx]

Thanks to Robert & Carl for the code for this situation. I was pretty
much assuming I'd have to rewrite the programs, but, not being familiar
enough (yet) with Xy4 I thought there was an off-chance that this was a
default setting somewhere--or perhaps something along the lines of a
sortfile (tho' not actually *that,* of course), where one can have
several characters on the same line that are alphabetized with equal
weight. But no. The new code gives me a couple of approaches on how to
redo these. Thanks, gentlemen.

> It's not a "feature", or a "non-feature" -- it's
>simply behavior, and I fail to see a principled argument one way or the
other.

Consistency, that's all. I thought it was ironic that Leslie had just
been criticizing this concept--all the things that have been added to
word processors to try to help us along. In my case that addition (in our
beloved XyWrite, no less) created an inconsistency that was actually
slowing me down. I prefer to have my word processor's functions do the
same thing in all cases, then let *me* figure out how to adapt them to
special cases. (One of the annoying things in Word is that it treats
*any* punctuation as the start of a new word!) Oh well--it just depends
on the direction one wants to go with the adaptations. As Robert said,
"To each his own."

Side note: Actually, I just played around with this a little more, and I
can see how it would be very helpful in writing and editing (as opposed
to the process of entering changes, which was the perspective I was
coming from). Entering changes tends to be more mechanical, so I prefer
things to behave more consistently. Why are we entering changes? It's
part of our editorial process: copy editors don't do editing online; an
editor looks over the changes and queries on hard copy first. (Aren't you
glad you asked.) Scithers and Van Tassel, who in an off-topic thread
recently commented on the copy editing process, will be glad to know that
it's still alive and well here at *this* publishing house!

>Or you could stick it in U2 -- probably easier. Try it, you'll like it.
Robert--
I am finally going to heed your reminders. I downloaded the new U2 when
you (and Carl) did the recent revision, and I'm setting aside a day next
week to get acquainted with it. I realized that your constant reminders
are indicative of the situation I face here--I (1) put a lot of work into
(2) things that will really help people, but (3) they never even bother
to even *try* them. What a waste. I'll let you know how much I love it.
Of my 50+ programs, about half of them are used regularly, and calling
them through U2 should be easier. Of the other half that *aren't* used
regularly, most people forget they exist, so having them on some sort of
menu or list will be nice.

Timothy Olson
Editorial/Technical Assistant
Tyndale House Publishers
(630) 668-8310
(630) 668-8311(FAX)
Timothy_Olson@xxxxxxxx