Re: Nota Bene files

[Pam Upton upton1@xxxxxxxx]

On Fri, 13 Nov 1998, Eric Van Tassel wrote:

> I'm about to submit copy to an editor I haven't worked with before. In this
> situation, I usually send a "universalized" XyDOS file in which "chevron"
> formatting features (e.g. MD+..) and high-ASCII characters have been
> globally converted to simple ad-hoc low-ASCII codes, which are listed at
> the beginning of the file; but in this instance I believe (for reasons
> irrelevant here) that procedure will not be welcomed.
>
> I've never used Nota Bene but understand that it's based on XyWrite. If
> this editor uses Nota Bene, can I send him a XyDOS file and be confident
> that he'll be able to open it in NB? Does it matter which version of NB
> he's using?
>

Eric,

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). 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.

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?

--Pam Upton
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Pam Upton
Univ. of N.C. Press
upton1@xxxxxxxx
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