Re: NB filter question

["Richard A. Sherer" rasherer@xxxxxxxx]

At 10:22 AM 12/02/99 -0500, Leslie Bailler wrote:

>
>Indeed. You've probably noticed that WordPerfect works in a way similar to
>XyWrite, in that there are obvious codes that can be seen if you open the
file as
>ASCII text. But, of course, a Word file has garbage at the top and at the
bottom
>with the text in between. Again, this provides some insight into Gates's
mind. He
>doesn't like to reveal.

I've also noticed that Word's market share is huge multiples of the
combined shares of both XyWrite and WordPerfect, which tells you the
ultimate truth about software: It's marketing, not quality, that counts. As
a perennial backer of losing horses (Desqview, Managing Your Money, Quattro
Pro, Ecco, among others), I've come to believe that better mousetraps don't
always result in paths leading up to the door, especially when the
competition can afford to build a superhighway.

>> I just tried opening the RTF file in Wordpad, which is a standard feature
>> of the Windows operating systems. I then copied it to the clipboard and
>> transferred it to Nota Bene, formatting intact with no coding showing.
>> Works like a charm.
>
>Really??!! I will try that.

Wordpad also allows you to save a file in Word 6.0, which may do a better
job of transferring RTF formatting.

[snip]

>Yeah. I have those old WFW filters. They worked reasonably well although the
>converted file is always full of redundant codes. But: I have macros to
take care
>of that situation.

Which is the point I was making earlier. We've all developed work-arounds
for things that even XyWrite wouldn't do. Since the software developers
haven't yet learned to listen to the users, we have to do those things. To
condemn Nota Bene because it doesn't have one filter misses the ultimate
point: It will do much of what XyWrite did as well as adding nice touches
like support for long file names (hooray!). And, like XyWrite, it can be
customized. It may not be our ideal, but at least it is a step in the right
direction. As long as the programmers at TTG seem intent on thwarting Ken
Frank's will, it's the compromise we'll have to accept.

Richard A. Sherer
rasherer@xxxxxxxx