[duxuser] Various File Problems
- From: "Susan Jolly" <easjolly@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <duxuser@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 09:37:14 -0600
I've noticed that many posters are having trouble with file formats, extra
characters, and so forth. These complex and frustrating problems are
typical with computer files and are not unique to braille transcribing.
There are so many different reasons for such problems that it can be
difficult to guess the cause at a distance. I can remember many times when
a problem turned out to be an extra invisible character I'd inadvertently
added to a file.
Often the best person to solve these types of problems is a computer
scientist and I highly recommend that braille transcribers partner with
computer scientists at a nearby college or university. Computer scientists
can usually resolve file problems by using special editors that allow them
to see exactly what is in a file.
Remember that all computer files are just numbers. What you see when you
open a file is not the numbers themselves but how the particular software
application or hardware device you are using interprets those numbers. In
other words, the same file will often display differently in different
applications or on different devices. Typically some of the numbers are
headers or codes that tell an application how to display other items so you
don't normally see everything that is in the file. Even when you use a "show
codes" option in Duxbury or other applications, you don't necessarily see
everything. The application may just ignore numbers it doesn't understand
or it may intentionally fail to show all the headers and codes. This is one
of the reasons why a computer scientist uses a special editor.
Also, as has been pointed out, it is true that even if you send a file as an
attachment, your computer or the other person's computer might modify the
file. And this behavior can even happen under some conditions and not
others. This is why using a zip file as an attachment is generally safer
than attaching a file directly.
Good luck!
Susan J.
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