Re: Re[2]: [Dev-C++] Using the Resource Editor

[Bob W. <bo...@ph...>]

Dear Zodiaq,
  p.s. I have nothing against M$ software... most of it is veeery good, =
but when I see people saying : "This is the real problem, your =
environment or at least your email program." without any knowledge of =
what they are talking about it makes me angry... Bob - archives means =
the ones on the net... on the web page... somewhere near where you =
subscribed... look at the messages you posted in html and maybe you will =
know what Hongli Lai meant by saying: "HTML mail mess up the archives." =
and by the way - some viruses can be launched by OE without ANY user =
'active involvement'... this is also true for some other e-mail =
clients... safest way not to get infected is not use HTML in posts... =
HTML is for web pages and new m$ help format, not for sending =
messages... That's all... I tried to be as little rude as possible, =
wasn't I?
You have made one very significant mistake, and that is that I do not =
have any knowledge about what I am saying. You also miss the very =
significant point that I have been trying to make. Before I restate it, =
a bit of a response to your message. I know what a pain in the nether =
regions html can be if you are trying to do is to pull out the text or a =
web based archival system does not strip the html code. Sometimes it can =
be damn near undecipherable. Most email is sent with some sort of text =
formatting. Microsoft made the decision, for whatever reason, to use =
html rather than rtf or some other generic format.=20

In regards to the archives, it should not make a whit of difference how =
the message is formatted. It could be coded in the World War Two flower =
code used by the Japanese and formated in html and it will not "mess up =
the archive." It may occupy more space than one might desire or require =
some preprocessing (the flower code) before it can be read, but it does =
not corrupt the archive unless the archival algorithm is doing something =
exotic. A simple message database, with sort keys of the usual items, =
i.e., subject, body, sender, addressees, etc., does not care how the =
message is formated.=20

I agree that html grew from the process and requirements of web page =
development, but I do not agree that it is only for web pages and =
neither do many advertisers and newsletter writers. Certainly there are =
some viruses that can infect a system without or despite active user =
involvement. However, I do not believe that there have been any cases of =
a wide spread virus infection caused by the receipt and reading of an =
html encoded e-mail that was sent by or received from a Microsoft system =
using Outlook or Outlook Express. I'm fairly sure that all of the e-mail =
transmitted viruses have involved an executable file of some kind =
attached to or embedded in the e-mail which required user action to =
function. If that is not the case, please educate me.=20

Now for the restatement.=20

The purpose of communication is to transfer information from one place =
to another or from one person to another. The easier that communication =
is to understand, the more effective it is. To be really obtuse, if you =
only read and write German and I only send you messages in French, your =
level of understanding is going to be zero. On the other hand if I =
transmit the text of a first grade reader in German you will have =
complete understanding.=20

In addition to the obtuse "Je ne parle pas allemand" example above, =
there are several things which either enhance or inhibit good =
communications. Most significant in regards to discussions on this forum =
are:

    1. Sufficient technical knowledge to understand the discussion.=20

    2. An ability to write clear understandable English prose.=20

    3. Message formatting.=20

Numbers one and two above are obvious, but the importance of number =
three is often overlooked. Disregarding or denegrating message formating =
is remarkable considering the care which most programmer take to produce =
programs in the style of the language so that other programmers will be =
able to understand the code.

Both of the following programs do the same thing. The only difference =
between them is that one is formatted with comments and the other has =
neither.=20


-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-------


/************************************************************************=
*****/
/*                                                                       =
    */
/*    This program demonstrates looping using complex "while" =
statements.    */
/*                                                                       =
    */
/************************************************************************=
*****/
#include <iostream.h>

int main()
{
    unsigned short small;
    unsigned long  large;
    const unsigned short MAXSMALL =3D 65535;
   =20
    std::cout << "Enter a small number: ";
    std::cin >> small;
    std::cout << "Enter a large number: ";
    std::cin >> large;
   =20
    std::cout << "Small: " << small << "...";
   =20
    // for each iteration, test three conditions
    while (small < large && large > 0 && small < MAXSMALL)
    {
        // write a dot every 5k lines
        if (small % 5000 =3D=3D 0)=20
        {
            std::cout << ".";
        }       =20
        small++;

/************************************************************************=
*****/
/*                                                                       =
    */
/*  the line that follows deincrements the value of "large" by 2.        =
    */
/*  If it was:                                                           =
    */
/*                                                                       =
    */
/*      large-=3D13;                                                     =
      */
/*                                                                       =
    */
/*  it would deincrement the value of "large" by 13. It is the same as   =
    */
/*  writing in pascal:                                                   =
    */
/*                                                                       =
    */
/*      large :=3D large - 13;                                           =
      */
/*                                                                       =
    */
/************************************************************************=
*****/
        large-=3D2;

    }
   =20
    std::cout << "\nSmall: " << small
              << " Large: " << large << "\n\n";
   =20
    return 0;
}


-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-------


#include <iostream.h>
int main(){unsigned short small;unsigned long  large;const unsigned =
short MAXSMALL =3D 65535;std::cout << "Enter a small number: ";std::cin =
>> small;std::cout << "Enter a large number: ";std::cin >> =
large;std::cout << "Small: " << small << "...";while (small < large && =
large > 0 && small < MAXSMALL){if (small % 5000 =3D=3D 0){std::cout << =
".";}small++;large-=3D2;}std::cout << "\nSmall: " << small << " Large: " =
<< large << "\n\n";return 0;}


-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-------


Obviously the first is preferable to the second.=20

Likewise formatted emails are easier to read and understand. Frankly =
there is no excuse for not using every tool to enhance understanding and =
better communications. That includes using the message formatting =
capabilities of the predominant e-mail programs. What does this have to =
do with C++ or mingw? Absolutely nothing, but it goes to the heart of =
effective communications which is the entire reason for this and every =
other discussion group. Also it is instructive to remember that dev-c++ =
is designed for the windows environment. Therefore it is more than =
reasonable to expect that anyone who participates in the discussions =
here would be able to receive, display, read, answer, and store messages =
in the format common to the platform for which dev-c++ is designed. =
Conversely, it is unreasonable for someone to complain when he/she =
receives messages in that format.=20

In regards to the archives on the server of the e-mail discussions, html =
based e-mails should not be a problem here either, but they are. The web =
archival system should be able to display an html message "htmlly" as =
well as one that is purely textual. Obviously that is not the case, but =
it should be. To me, the inconvenience posed by the html tags when you =
review an html based message archived  on the web site is more than =
offset by the enhanced communications formatting offers to those who =
receive the message directly. That all assumes that the message is =
formatted in a way which does not detract from the communications. =
Please do not think that this paragraph is a slam directed at one or =
more individuals. It's not. It is simply a commentary on the level of =
maturity and sophistication of the Internet. We all tolerate things on =
the internet that we cause us to return software to the maker if it had =
the same errors or limitations we experience daily with various web =
sites.=20

That is why I took and still take the position that it is either an =
environment or e-mail program problem, and not a problem with html =
formatted e-mail messages.=20

Regards,

Bob