Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!ucsd!ucbvax!husc6!encore!epeterso From: epeterso@encore.com (Eric Peterson) Newsgroups: comp.mail.elm Subject: Re: Variants on a theme -- =, + and % Message-ID: Date: 31 Aug 90 12:25:37 GMT References: <1990Aug31.014944.12335@lokkur.dexter.mi.us> Reply-To: epeterson@encore.com Organization: Encore Computer Corporation, Software QA/Diagnostics Lines: 34 X-News-Reader: NN 6.4.9 scs@lokkur.dexter.mi.us (Steve Simmons) writes: | One of the little-known features of elm folders is that the `+' and `%' | keys are synonyms for `='. Any time you save a message to a folder, if | the folder name starts with any of the three characters the folder is | assumed to be in your folder directory. [ ... ] | | One of the suggestions made (by me) was that we drop the `+' and `%' | and use only the `='. This reduces the number of 'magic' characters in | elm, thereby reducing user confusion (by the way, this behaviour *is* | documented but only in a footnote). But since this is a user-visible | change, it seems appropriate to poll the user community before doing | it. Comments? Well, I know of at least one other program that uses the "+" instead of the "=" to designate the folder directory -- the newsreader NN. I'm not sure, but I believe that there are other programs that recognize the "+" as being a folder indicator as well. On the other hand, I've never heard of nor seen anything that uses the "%" as a folder indicator. I always use "=" for folders, but since (a) other programs recognize "+", (b) this is not a bug, and (c) the two are on the same key (on most keyboards), let's keep it. The "%" should be removed if anything is gonna be. My $0.02. Eric -- Eric Peterson <> epeterson@encore.com <> uunet!gould!epeterson Encore Computer Corp. * Ft. Lauderdale, Florida * (305) 587-2900 x4966 Real Time: Here and now, as opposed to Fake Time, which is there and then.