nancree wrote:

> "I know before I post this that this is a losing battle, but could we
> please, please, please learn to trim posts?" Terry Pulliam Byrd"
>
> While we're on the subject, how about dropping those tiresome "sigs"
> that have been repeated endlessly for years. Sorry, Terry, but I'm so
> tired of your sig--"If the bird had been as tender as the waitress'
> breast, etc, etc." --it has been repeated for several years now. And
> Default User/Brian's "tv is a babysitter", and Wayne's "Ok,Ok, I take
> it back". There are many of them. I'm tired of them, and I'm sure
> others are. Tell a joke once and let it go, please?? Even Sheldon
> finally! after years and years of "I try to be open-minded, but not so
> open that my brains fall out" , finally gave it up.
>
> Sorry if I offend, but someone had to say it.

Also important IMO would be that folks with big honking
sigs should use a sig delimiter.

A sig delimiter is a line that starts with "--" and contains nothing
else.

When someone replies, everything after the "--" will be left out
of the reply. It's automatic, and almost all newsreaders will
function this way.

So, put a sig delimiter *before* your big honking sigs.

In theory everyone should snip off all the trailing stuff in
their replies anyway, but you know how that goes.

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot) com

writes:

>Also important IMO would be that folks with big honking
>sigs should use a sig delimiter.
>
>A sig delimiter is a line that starts with "--" and contains nothing
>else.

nope - it's two dashes followed by a whitespace character: "-- "

Blatt Mack wrote:

> writes:
>
>
>>Also important IMO would be that folks with big honking
>>sigs should use a sig delimiter.
>>
>>A sig delimiter is a line that starts with "--" and contains nothing
>>else.
>
>
> nope - it's two dashes followed by a whitespace character: "-- "
>

Interesting. Mine doesn't contain a ws char in the sig file
and it works fine.

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot) com

In article > ,
Reg > wrote:


> > nope - it's two dashes followed by a whitespace character: "-- "
> >
>
> Interesting. Mine doesn't contain a ws char in the sig file
> and it works fine.

Interesting, because it's there. Perhaps your newsreader is smart
enough to know that you intended the "--" to be a delimiter and changed
it to "-- ".

--
Dan Abel

Petaluma, California, USA

Dan Abel wrote:

> In article > ,
> Reg > wrote:
>
>>>nope - it's two dashes followed by a whitespace character: "-- "
>>>
>>
>>Interesting. Mine doesn't contain a ws char in the sig file
>>and it works fine.
>
>
> Interesting, because it's there. Perhaps your newsreader is smart
> enough to know that you intended the "--" to be a delimiter and changed
> it to "-- ".
>

Precisely. Software developers have learned over the years to
make things as easy as possible. You wouldn't want setting up
a newsreader to be like configuring sendmail or something.
Forcing a user to include the space isn't necessary.

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot) com

writes:
>Dan Abel wrote:
>
>> In article > ,
>> Reg > wrote:
>>
>>>>nope - it's two dashes followed by a whitespace character: "-- "
>>>>
>>>
>>>Interesting. Mine doesn't contain a ws char in the sig file
>>>and it works fine.
>>
>>
>> Interesting, because it's there. Perhaps your newsreader is smart
>> enough to know that you intended the "--" to be a delimiter and changed
>> it to "-- ".
>>
>
>Precisely. Software developers have learned over the years to
>make things as easy as possible. You wouldn't want setting up
>a newsreader to be like configuring sendmail or something.
>Forcing a user to include the space isn't necessary.


what have we learned from this lesson boys & girls?

A. reg has never used a Microsoft product
B. reg has had indigestion all day
C. A whitespace character is kind of like a McGuffin - nothing at all
D. all of the above
E. ob food: when making a roux you may substitute whole wheat flour
but it is not recommended

tert in seattle wrote:

> what have we learned from this lesson boys & girls?
>
> A. reg has never used a Microsoft product
> B. reg has had indigestion all day
> C. A whitespace character is kind of like a McGuffin - nothing at all
> D. all of the above

Thanks for the laugh. It helped brighten up a rather dull
day at the keyboard.

I admit I don't know what a McGuffen is, though.

> E. ob food: when making a roux you may substitute whole wheat flour
> but it is not recommended

Tried it. Didn't like it.

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot) com

tert in seattle wrote:
> [snip]
> C. A whitespace character is kind of like a McGuffin - nothing at all

A nerdy blast from the past. In the old DOS - Basic days you could
distinguish between the regular whitespace created by the spacebar and
the whitespace created by the ASCII code. I used to use the latter in
passwords and attempts to use the other would fail. Or was it the
underscore character? Senior moment, I can't remember. -aem

Reg wrote:

> Also important IMO would be that folks with big honking
> sigs should use a sig delimiter.
>
> A sig delimiter is a line that starts with "--" and contains nothing
> else.
>
> When someone replies, everything after the "--" will be left out
> of the reply. It's automatic, and almost all newsreaders will
> function this way.

Which still ignores that one should trim up (and out!) all that
extraneous stuff. Why just assume a machine will do enough?
Goomba

Goomba38 wrote:

> Reg wrote:
>
>> Also important IMO would be that folks with big honking
>> sigs should use a sig delimiter.
>>
>> A sig delimiter is a line that starts with "--" and contains nothing
>> else.
>>
>> When someone replies, everything after the "--" will be left out
>> of the reply. It's automatic, and almost all newsreaders will
>> function this way.
>
>
> Which still ignores that one should trim up (and out!) all that
> extraneous stuff. Why just assume a machine will do enough?

It doesn't ignore anything. It's a single datapoint in
what is a fairly broad subject.

None of this stuff ever worries me, however. If I ever speak
to the issue of "how to post", it's always in the spirit of
offering advice where it might be welcome and/or useful. Trying
to exert control is pointless.

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot) com

On Thu, 26 Jan 2006 21:03:03 GMT, Reg >
wrote:

>A sig delimiter is a line that starts with "--" and contains nothing
>else.

Howdy,

Actually, it is "-- " (that is dash-dash-space).

All the best,
--
Kenneth

If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."

On Thu, 26 Jan 2006 21:03:03 GMT, Reg > wrote:

>A sig delimiter is a line that starts with "--" and contains nothing
>else.

Wrong. It starts with "-- " (note that it's two hyphens and a space,
not just two hyphens).

serene

serene wrote:

> On Thu, 26 Jan 2006 21:03:03 GMT, Reg > wrote:
>
>
>>A sig delimiter is a line that starts with "--" and contains nothing
>>else.
>
>
> Wrong. It starts with "-- " (note that it's two hyphens and a space,
> not just two hyphens).
>
> serene

As I said before, my newsreader doesn't require the trailing
whitespace. YMMV

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot) com

On Fri, 27 Jan 2006 03:16:32 GMT, Reg > wrote:

>serene wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 26 Jan 2006 21:03:03 GMT, Reg > wrote:
>>
>>
>>>A sig delimiter is a line that starts with "--" and contains nothing
>>>else.
>>
>>
>> Wrong. It starts with "-- " (note that it's two hyphens and a space,
>> not just two hyphens).
>>
>> serene
>
>As I said before, my newsreader doesn't require the trailing
>whitespace. YMMV

I thought you said it puts it in automatically. Regardless, most
newsreaders will set aside a .sig when quoting, if it has a standard
delimiter, with the space, which is what I want to happen.

serene

On Thu 26 Jan 2006 10:43:30p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it serene?

> On Fri, 27 Jan 2006 03:16:32 GMT, Reg > wrote:
>
>>serene wrote:
>>
>>> On Thu, 26 Jan 2006 21:03:03 GMT, Reg > wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>A sig delimiter is a line that starts with "--" and contains nothing
>>>>else.
>>>
>>>
>>> Wrong. It starts with "-- " (note that it's two hyphens and a space,
>>> not just two hyphens).
>>>
>>> serene
>>
>>As I said before, my newsreader doesn't require the trailing
>>whitespace. YMMV
>
> I thought you said it puts it in automatically. Regardless, most
> newsreaders will set aside a .sig when quoting, if it has a standard
> delimiter, with the space, which is what I want to happen.
>
> serene
>

I'm sure the method varies with the software. With Xnews, for example, one
only has to create a sig file and point to it in one of the setup screens.
The software generates the delimiter line. There definitely is a character
position following the "--", but I haven't cehcked to determine whether
it's a space or a null.

--
Wayne Boatwright o¿o
____________________

BIOYA

In article 9>,
Wayne Boatwright <wayneboatwright_at_gmail.com> wrote:


> I'm sure the method varies with the software. With Xnews, for example, one
> only has to create a sig file and point to it in one of the setup screens.
> The software generates the delimiter line. There definitely is a character
> position following the "--", but I haven't cehcked to determine whether
> it's a space or a null.

My software has a check box. I like that, because I don't have to
remember the delimiter. If I erase my .sig and create a new one, the
delimiter will still be there.

It appears to be a space and not a null. Most text software doesn't
display nulls, only spaces. If you place your cursor well to the right
of the delimiter, you will see a space between the second hyphen and the
cursor.

--
Dan Abel

Petaluma, California, USA