Re: v3-4 dual use gotcha

[OkAnnie@xxxxxxxx]

Leslie writes: "I wouldn't set 1a=0 permanently--doing so creates some other
problems, especially having to do with embedded footnotes."

Leslie: Did you perchance mean 1a=1? 1A=0 is the zap-what-follows-eof
hard-coded in previous versions. I've never done anything with y3, so no prob
there. ...

Don't know why I should encounter more my share of xyW eof conflicts, but I
seem to, going back to the '80s. I've used a stripper ever since for
crossplatform files. So I was excited to see the v4 1A option, but noted the
documentation's warnings: Don't set it to 1 (ignore midfile eofs) if you have
Document Info turned on. I've had Doc Info turned off from the start, but
suspect that Robert hasn't, and that that accounts for:
"I remember two specific problems with 1A=1. I would often find that files
imported from outside or else edited earlier with 1A=0 suddenly acquired a
tail of Document Information (the IO=1 stuff) as a constituent part of the
document. [...]"

When 1A is set at 1 and you open a loaded config file (.mnu, .dlg, etc.), a
lot of binary garbage is displayed at the end. If you work on one and save
while it's loaded, presumably the garbage is saved too as if it were text. So
I work on a copy, and to test I overwrite the loaded file and reload the new
version--which probably should be done in any event.

In a discussion of xyW's eof a few months ago, someone asked asked why xyW
still uses what the doubter characterized as the archaic eof convention. I
think this situation explains why. Previous versions haven't let you see the
memory data that xyW appends to a loaded config file, and if you save one
that's loaded, the 1A zaps the binary stuff that follows. v4 lets you see
that stuff if you set 1A at 1, but you must take the binary stuff into
account.

I've complained about v4 taking choices that were present before out of
users' hands, but in this case v4 gives you a new chance to hang yourself if
you're not careful. I'm glad it does, just wish the documentation were more
thorough. 	--A

========================== annie fisher  nyc