I read in the article on HTML tags (it is linked to from the HTML 2008 Editor page) that special characters like the curly quotes, the em dash, etc. shouldn't be used without the proper tags. Unfortunately, VSD doesn't insert the HTML tags for these characters when they are used in text. So, if I wanted to use them, would I have to insert the HTML tag in the text myself? I am using VSD 5.9.4.

Tom

PS: The first time I logged in, this web page informed me that my last visit here was on January 1, 1970. I didn't know Coffee Cup software was in existence back then. PCs weren't in existence either, and I was only in tenth grade!

You've got several options here that you can use.
You'll probably want to use them all at some point if you really get serious about making HTML documents.

1) Use the built in capability of HTML Editor and use visual mode, then type in the characters you want and when you change to Code Editor you'll see the proper formatting you want to use.

2) Check out this address. They have references for HTML, JAVA, CSS, XML, PHP, SQL and others that I'm not yet familiar with.
http://www.tizag.com/htmlT/reference/htmlreference.php

3) While surfing the web, when you see an example of what you want to do just go to the View option in your browser and choose the 'View Page Source' and you'll be able to see exactly how they did it.

On your other comment. 1/1/70 is the default date used by computers to record time. They count the seconds from 00:00:01 January first 1970 to now, or whatever time is wanted, and convert them to a valid date/time.
Short sighted programming.

Thanks for your suggestions, cryonaut2b, but I don't have HTML Editor. I only have VSD, and I'm currently not interested in HTML Editor because I don't like to write code. So, I guess I need to clarify my question.

How do I use special characters using only VSD? Do I insert the HTML tag directly into the text frame in front of and behind the special character? If so, will VSD retain the HTML tag when it converts my pages into code? If not, then how can this be done, if at all?

Tom

PS: And thanks for explaining the "January 1, 1970" date issue. Now that you mentioned it, I vaguely remember having to deal with this issue when I used to be a programmer about fifteen years ago.

I think that we're making this way more complicated than it really is.

What kind of special characters are you referring to?

My reason for asking is whenever I've entered any text into a document I was working on in VSD it always made the appropriate changes and put in the proper symbols

For example:

I entered Hobbies & Comics

VSD saved it as Hobbies &amp Comics

If you're talking about characters that have ascii values above 128 that is a different story, with a different answer.

üéâä� åçêëèïîìÄÅÉæÆôöòûùÿÖÜ¢£¥ƒáíóúñѪº¿á¬½¼¡«»²··°˜÷±tµ¬

Are these the characters to which you refer?

If they are then forget it, can't be done, impossible.

What?? Then how can I? well, um....... ok, you got me.

Here's how, But you have to promise not to tell anyone.

Hold down the Alt key and type in the ascii scan code then release and up pops your character

For example:
I hold down the Alt key and type 171 and get ½ to get what I can do in 3 by just typing 1/2. It can be fun though, especially when you ask a question and end it with ¿

Hope this helps, and yes this does work in VSD

I agree! Except that I'm not the one making it more complicated than it is. I'm asking a very simple question, but over two days have passed without anyone giving me a straightforward answer. What's the problem here? Are my communication skills that bad??


Yes, cryonaut2b, I'm talking about characters that have ascii values above 128, two of which I mentioned in my original question: the em dash and curly quotes (both single and double). A third one is the en dash. Besides these, there aren't any others that I regularly use in my text. So, that long list of characters in your last post is almost irrelevant.

The reason I said "almost" is that even though the characters I'm interested in using aren't in your list, you did say there is a way to use such characters in VSD. What you didn't say, though, is whether or not VSD will generate the proper code to ensure such characters are displayed properly on non-Windows computers. In other words, the problem I'm trying to solve isn't just how to insert the proper character into VSD. I already know how to do that with the character map app. So, there's really no need for me to hold down the "ALT" key and type in some number. I can just copy the character I want from the character map app.

The problem I'm trying to solve is how to make VSD generate the proper HTML tags that are supposed to be used with such characters so they display properly on all types of computers! Can this be done or not? If so, how??? This is the last time I'm going to ask this question, and it's the last time I'm going to rephrase this question to make it as clear and as easy to understand as I possibly can. If there's anyone out there that can answer my question, please do so or I'm going to take my marbles and go somewhere else to play.

Tom

Tom,

Sorry you haven't received a response that satisfies your question.

Do you have a page that has the characters that you want conformation that the proper codes are used?

You can view the HTML code with programs such as notepad, or if the page is online, you can view the code using your browser. If you right click on the online page, one of your options should be to view the source code.

In a few minutes, I will have installed VSD on this computer, and I will run some tests if I can figure out how to insert an em dash or curly quotes using VSD. I will post back later today.

Bill, I have already checked the source code of VSD and confirmed that it doesn't insert the proper HTML tags for these characters. For example, it replaces the curly quotes with a small solid black box. This is why I was asking my question. I suppose I could have searched for the proper HTML tags and experimented with inserting them before and after the curly quotes, but I thought it would be easier (and faster!) to submit a question here because I'm sure other VSD users have encountered this issue before. (Isn't this what this forum is for?) I only found out about this issue after changing all my quotes and dashes to the special characters that MS Word inserts. Now I am faced with the prospect of having to change them all back again (which will take considerable time). I would rather insert the proper tags if VSD will handle them properly. But if not, my only option is to change them back or import my pages into HTML Editor and fix them there. Of course, I don't have HTML editor right now, so I would have to purchase it first. Plus, once I import my pages into HTML Editor, I can't go back to VSD! So, I'm in a quandry because I still have other work to do on my pages in VSD and I am not interested in jamming my head with code syntax at this point in time. Anyway, I hope you can find out the answer to my question.

Tom

Tom,

VSD is a WYSIWYG editor, and that may make it impossible to convert everything to validating code. You never know when someone will be inserting an image instead of text.

You can convert your text to an image using VSD, and that will validate.

How would I do that, and why would I want to? Are you saying that VSD can't distinguish between text and an image? The source code it generates sure doesn't indicate this. What's so hard about parsing text for special characters with an ASCII value above 128 and inserting the proper HTML tags when necessary?

I just did a test with the em dash to see what VSD would do with the HTML tag &151 and found that it didn't do anything with it. While the actual em dash comes through fine on my PC, I know it won't on a Mac. So, I guess I answered my own question: it can't be done! Perhaps your software team should consider adding this capability for VSD 6.0. At the least, you should inform people about this issue in the Help discussion on the Text Tool. You do inform them about safe fonts. Why don't you inform them about safe characters?

Tom