Subj : Fresh blood!
To   : Alexander Koryagin
From : Anton Shepelev
Date : Sun Oct 20 2019 01:31:30

Alexander Koryagin:

AK> Just  in case I remind people that long ago I had made a
AK> program for making good quoting in Fidonet echos, USENET
AK> group,  WEB  forums  etc.  Maybe it can be useful, or at
AK> least you can try it.

I have never heard of it before.

AK> The official page of the distributive is here:
AK> https://www.facebook.com/ReformatorQuoter
AK>
AK> or you can use the direct link to the zip at  my  google
AK> drive:
AK> https://drive.google.com/open?id=1zHjMdx2CUDWzsKH5YvhICjzxAd8cdXIT

This is not a direct link, but one that leads to a page with
a "Download" button.  I trow Google Drive does  not  support
direct links at all...

The program is named "ReformatorQuoter" -- is it an intended
pun with "refomrer"?  I believe "QuoteReformatter" would  be
the  proper  English  name,  but  yours  is  certainly  more
creative.

The program is made in the best traditions  of  Windows  95,
and  even  works  on my Windows XP machine, which is rare in
our days of bloated software written for  virtual  platforms
such as .NET or Java.  I was a little disappointed to see it
distributed in the form of an installer  that  modifies  the
Windows   registry,   but   found   out   that   two   files
`reformator.exe' and `reformator.md5' constitute  a  working
portable version that does not require any installation.

In  what  language  did you write and have you published the
source code?

Reformator supports only one font in only two sizes:  8  and
10 pt. Whereas using a fixed font, if it is available on all
versions of Windows, is understandable,  the  limitation  of
font   size   cannot  be  justified,  considering  different
resolutions, displays, and eyesight of the users.  I suggest
that you let them set an arbitrary integer font size.

What  is  your  justification  algorithm, how does it select
spaces for stretching -- always from the right  end  of  the
line?

A  lot  of  vertical space is wasted because of the "Quoter"
tab.  Since it is the *only* tab  in  the  window,  why  not
remove it altogether?  It does not perform any function.  Or
do you plan to add more tabs?

The "Format+level" button  ignores  the  checkbox  "A  space
after  quoter's  symbol"  if  the  initials  are empty.  For
example, I get this:

>quotation

and cannot get this:

> quotation

Would that be bug?

There is no "Format-level" button that  could  decrease  the
level of quotation, which I think would be very useful too.

When  the initials are not empty, Reformator adds a space at
the beginning of each line, e.g.

 AS> hey
instead of:
AS> hey

Is that the intended behavior?

I also have suggestions concerting  the  inteface,  such  as
using  postive  statements  ("Justify")  instead of negative
ones ("Do not justify"), and the English translation.  I can
share them too if you are interested.

By  and  large, Reformator is good program to supplement the
deficiencies of text editors  built  into  client  software.
Outlook,  for  example, is so defective that it cannot quote
at all and cannot be used without Reformator.

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 * Origin: nntps://fidonews.mine.nu - Lake Ylo - Finland (2:221/360.0)

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