Re: lynx-dev Spacing cleanups and nits

[David Combs]

> From address@hidden Fri Dec 11 17:03:17 1998
> Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 16:27:35 -0500
> From: Chuck Martin <address@hidden>
> 
> On Thu, Dec 10, 1998 at 10:28:01PM -0700, address@hidden wrote:
> > In a recent note, Chuck Martin said:
> > > whitespace (including newlines) and then an uppercase letter should be
> > > assumed to be the end of a sentence, and two spaces placed at that
> > > point if the uppercase letter ends up on the same line in the rendered
> > > document.
> > > 
> >     "I do not love thee, Dr.  Fell."
> 
> You're right.  I guess I didn't think that one through very well.
> 

My comments re two spaces were for the WRITER of the doc.

Now (and I don't know or do html) it would of course be nice
if HTML had SOME rule forcing people to SOMEHOW indicate
or code end-of-sentences, so that the formatter/typesetter/whatever
in the browser could do a better job.

Does HTML have some such rule, or even suggestion, on how
to provide "hints" of end-of-sentence -- for of course
the html-AUTHOR?

Originally, we were talking re AUTHORING this stuff; someone,
I forget who, was saying it was difficult for him/her to get
his fingers to hit two spaces at the end of a sentence -- for
creating lynx documentation or lynx web-doc or something.

IF there WERE such hints in the html, THEN, given the very different
viewpoints on ease/difficulty of READING the stuff on the screen
that people on this list have expressed, then
THAT is what the option-idea applied to.

BUT If there is NO such html-hinting (which would be really stupid
from the designers of html -- and sgml, on which I have that big
"original" book, and which language looks misdesigned to me, in
many ways, with various stupidities, like not requiring balancing
ends for everything -- but that's another matter!) -- 

then all WE can do is to make OUR html parser, when in "filling" 
mode, act specially when
it sees a /[.?!]  <otherStuff>/ regex-hit, is to output
TWO spaces --

that is, effective mostly for OUR stuff, the lynx-doc, etc,
that WE have written ourselves.


David