Conference thebay::joyoflex

    > when I was forced to switch to a printer with single-sided output.

    Now, there's the ultimate in one-upmanship! :-)
    
    Form feeds are used quite a bit in Notes files for effect, etc.,
    and the main intention of Notes is to read them interactively.
    Having said that, though, a lot of people do print notes for off-line
    reading - it should be quite simple to put the file through something
    to replace form feeds with a couple of line feeds.
    
    Jeff.

    
         The problem that you mention is caused not by the writer, but
         by the reader. 

         I too batch extract notesfiles but read them in mail first. 
         "Keepers" get extracted to a file for edits and/or printing 
         later. That way the reader and the writer get exactly what 
         they want. 

         jc

    If you want, the below TPU commands can be run against the file to
    filter out the formfeeds. The resultant file can then be printed
    with no worry. 
    
    The command line would be:
    
    $ edit/tpu/nosection/command=tpu_commands/nodisplay -
    		file_to_be_filtered.name
    
    added to your midnight extract batch job.
    
    tpu_commands.tpu is :
    
	procedure delete_form_feeds;
	position(beginning_of(current_buffer));
	char := ascii(12); ! the formfeed character
	loop;
		found := search(char,forward,exact);
		exitif found = 0;
		position(found);
		erase_character(1);
	endloop;
	endprocedure;
	delete_form_feeds;
	write_file(main_buffer,'clean_file.lis'); 
    		! or use a filename you like
    	quit;

   Somehow I knew this would happen.  I would feel forced to justify my
   request for a little moderation.

   Thanks for the filter tips, but I don't want to remove all of the form
   feeds (e.g., the ones between topics).  I'm working on a filter that can
   tell a useful <FF> from a gratuitous one.

   I feel as if I had asked my  neighbor to turn down his stereo a little
   bit (not off, just down a little bit) and have been told by the neighbor
   that he won't do it because the equipment was designed to be that loud
   and that putting cotton in my ears will make things all right.

   Well, I've said my piece, and since I seem to have more detractors than
   supporters (3 to 0)... 
   	
      I guess I'll just have to... 
   	
       grimace and bear it.

			TS

    Re: .2
    
    I print my extracts so that I can read them, not, as in your case, read
    them so I can print them. 

    	As a little moderator, I do not feel inclined to take sides
    on this.
    
    	I spend time editing 15 page distribution lists off mail before
    I print it, and I can appreciate the annoyance and paper waste of
    superfluous form feeds. On the other hand I appreciate that their
    dramatic effect is sometimes useful.
    
    	Maybe sometimes a handful of line feeds would be as effective
    and save a few trees.

    Sorry, you may think it's like asking me to turn down my stereo, but I
    don't. I view it as telling those of us with color TV's that there are
    still people with black-and-white, and some colors look a lot alike, so
    please don't use color. 
    
    Line feeds are *not* the same as form feeds. We people who have
    workstations have been trying to get people to use form feeds for years
    now. A form feed is the intended way in notes to pause output. 
    
    I appreciate the problems of reading notes in batch extracts, as I read
    many conferences from batch extracts. But -- notes is an interactive
    medium. If you're using batch, then it's not *that* much trouble to
    write a filter, or beg someone to do it for you. Someone posted a
    simple one here, and a little bit of work can make it smarter. Notes
    users can hardly be faulted for catering to the interactive user. If
    you're reading in a batch job, it's not difficult to run the notes
    through a filter before you print it.
    
    	Jon 

    
    Having <FF>s in printouts may be wasteful, but is it not even more
    wasteful to print out the notes in the first place??????
    Is it not possible to read batch jobs on screen rather than use
    a tree or two for word association football??
    
    Paul V

>            ...and I can appreciate the annoyance and paper waste of
>    superfluous form feeds. On the other hand I appreciate that their
>    dramatic effect is sometimes useful.

Just so .0 won't feel completely alone, let me say that I've *never* 
seen form feeds successfully employed for dramatic effect.  I've seen 
many people try it, but to me it always reads as childish and often 
underscores the distance between my site and the node where the file 
resides.  I end up waiting a long time for a very small return.  

However, .0 didn't argue for the complete removal of form feeds, but 
just sensitive, intelligent use of them.  I don't think that it is 
unreasonable to have a minority's concens expressed in this file, nor is 
it asking much for people to weigh those concerns before they put a 
superfluous form feed in.
					>>>==>PStJTT    

    > I end up waiting a long time for a very small return.
                                         -----------------
    
    Would that be hex 0C?  That's pretty small.
    
    Jeff. :-) :-)

      I entered a request for ENOTES to have a feature to replace
      form feeds as par� of the actual�text of a note to a string
      of the user's choice.   Sorry, I don't have the note number,
      but it is dated today (9-Jul-1988), in conference DECWET::ENOTES
      (hit KP7 to add it to your notebook).
      
      Dave C.