Cindy; in addition to Jim's comments about html mail. Plain Text (also called ".txt", or ascii text or ascii or "text") is just that, small black letters on a white background with no formatting or special effects. just about any person with a computer can read plain text because that is the form that some of the systems first commands come in. Some organizations require .txt in all of their documents while others prefer rtf (or the now disappearing .wri) Rich Text (also called RTF or Rich Text Format) is a format which allows a limited amount of document formatting such as font size, spacing, and some hyperlinks such as http:/ and mailto:/ which can be very useful. The official Microsoft definition looks like this: "The Rich Text Format (RTF) Specification provides a format for text and graphics interchange that can be used with different output devices, operating environments, and operating systems. RTF uses the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), PC-8, Macintosh, or IBM PC character set to control the representation and formatting of a document, both on the screen and in print. With the RTF Specification, documents created under different operating systems and with different software applications can be transferred between those operating systems and applications. (248 printed pages)" An advantage to RTF over TXT is that RTF does allow some eastern language alphabet support. Another advantage is the ease with which it can be converted to and from html. Professional document preparers appreciate the availability of style sheets in RTF as well. Generally, RTF is considered "text" for most purposes. Though many people elect to continue to use email prgrams which do not support html, any computer able to browse a web page is capable of displaying html. Many of the newer email programs do not even offer a true .txt format any longer in their options, in those cases you would have to create the document in a program such as MS Notepad to get true .txt, this is certainly a problem that will continue to draw controversy as list serv managers remain reluctant to allow anything other than text (ie: Rootsweb) while some programs do not offer a true text format (ie: the newest AOL) Mr Voss commented that "Some of these programs seem to go out of their way to make it difficult to send plain text." when sadly some of these programs make it absolutely impossible -- AFAIK it is not possible to imbed virii into rtf documents but I'm sure some young hacker is working on that problem as we speak... CoachT -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of James Winfrey Sent: Friday, April 27, 2001 1:33 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [LegacyUG] Legacy software locking up Cindy, Everybody on the list can read plain text. Not everyone can read html because of the age of their hardware and software. But the biggest reason is that malacious hackers can send viruses (virii?) via html and they can't via plain text. Everybody on this list has been "bitten" by a virus at some time or other and it is a pain to get rid of them. Jim Winfrey ----- Original Message ----- From: "Cindy Walder" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, April 27, 2001 12:25 PM Subject: RE: [LegacyUG] Legacy software locking up Would you please explain the difference to me between rich text and plain text. I have done everything that it said to do. Thanks Cindy -------Original Message------- From: Wm Voss Date: Friday, April 27, 2001 09:20:47 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [LegacyUG] Legacy software locking up Sorry, no. It's still in rich text. Some of these programs seem to go out of their way to make it difficult to send plain text. Wm Voss -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Cindy Walder Sent: Friday, 27 April, 2001 08:17 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [LegacyUG] Legacy software locking up Thanks for the info. I thought I was sending it in plain text. Let me know if this is working now. Thanks for all your help. Cindy To unsubscribe: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/LegacyLists.asp To unsubscribe: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/LegacyLists.asp To unsubscribe: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/LegacyLists.asp
