Re: <q> and commas

HI Philip and Justin,

Please keep in mind that the discussion here surrounding the Q element  
has nothing to do with magic or intelligent behavior. The issue is not  
(as in the MS Word case) for editing software to try to anticipate the  
author is trying to convey, but rather for there to be a separation of  
concerns so that when an author marks up a document with specific  
semantics, the presentation is easily altered by the presentational  
layer of a UA. This is quite the opposite of the MS Word case in that  
we want the meaning in the document as the author intended and not the  
meaning that some later software tries to anticipate was the author's  
meaning (like heuristically deciding which phrases enclosed in  
quotation marks are quotations and which are titles, etc.).

Take care,
Rob

On Oct 29, 2008, at 12:34 PM, Philip TAYLOR (Ret'd) wrote:

>
>
>
> Justin James wrote:
>
>> Given enough engineering resources and a detailed
>> enough spec, it is eminently possible to make a UA magically add  
>> all of the
>> correct punctuation; Microsoft Word, for example, is capable of  
>> this. But no
>> one in their right mind wants this.
>
> I certainly don't.  Microsoft Word drives me insane,
> trying to second-guess what I am trying to accomplish.
> If I hit <return>, I want to start a new line : I do
> /not/ want to start a new sentence, nor do I want the
> next word leading-capitalised.  If I end a group of
> letters with a period, I want a period.  I am not
> (necessarily) trying to indicate "end of sentence",
> nor do I want the next word leading-capitalised.
> If I click half-way through a word, then drag to the
> end of the next word, I want a word and a part-word
> selected, not both words in full.  Just three of
> Word's "intelligent" behaviours that drive me insane.
> So let's agree (if we can) that "intelligent"
> behaviour is best left to sentient beings (humans),
> whilst computers should stick to doing /exactly/
> what they are told to do !
>
> Philip TAYLOR
>

Received on Wednesday, 29 October 2008 19:52:37 UTC