ASCII and e-mail

Hello,

How is it possible to send ASCII in such a way that people who receive the
ASCII (by e-mail) see it in a right way.
Every time I send ASCII to a friend, he receives the pictures totally
screwed. 
It has to do with the type of font I think. 
Is it impossible to send ASCII if people do not use the same type of font?

Please react to: Obo...@ToughGuy.net

Oboema kirjoitti viestiss� <01bf0eb6$77b43a00$ac756291@default>...
>Hello,
>
>How is it possible to send ASCII in such a way that people who receive the
>ASCII (by e-mail) see it in a right way.
>Every time I send ASCII to a friend, he receives the pictures totally
>screwed.
>It has to do with the type of font I think.
>Is it impossible to send ASCII if people do not use the same type of font?
>
>Please react to: Obo...@ToughGuy.net

Receiver must select the right font. You can only say what font u use and
receiver should use same kind of font. MS outlook express can use the
message source to see the message as sended.

: Receiver must select the right font. You can only say what font u use and
: receiver should use same kind of font. MS outlook express can use the
: message source to see the message as sended.


Yes , that works for normal email programs.
For those recipients you know use a webmail and can therefore not choose
their font,
try putting this piece of HTML before the ASCII-ART :

<PRE><TT>

and this after :

</TT></PRE>

And the ASCII-ART should now show up correctly in any webmail.

This little trick can also be used on webpages , if you want to display your
work
on the web.

Many people here post their art on personal webpages - many choose the easy
option
of linking to a txt - file and that is just fine, though you loose the
option of setting colors and you can't do ASCII-ART and HTML on one page.

Some however choose to display ASCII together with HTML and for thoose of
you who do
know that the <PRE><TT> method is (IMHO) the best method.
I have seen that some people set <PRE> and then use hundreds of &nbsp 's
 .. not only does that make the pages much larger in filesize but it's also
more tedious to do and looks weird when you view the source.

Try it out .. and tell me how you like it.

Kind Regards
CeeJay

Christian 'CeeJay' Jensen wrote:
> 
> : Receiver must select the right font. You can only say what font u use and
> : receiver should use same kind of font. MS outlook express can use the
> : message source to see the message as sended.
> 
> Yes , that works for normal email programs.
> For those recipients you know use a webmail and can therefore not choose
> their font,
> try putting this piece of HTML before the ASCII-ART :
> 
> <PRE><TT>
> 
> and this after :
> 
> </TT></PRE>
> 

In a plain-text environment (such as email) that *should* cause the
text:

<PRE><TT>

and this after :

</TT></PRE>

to appear, nothing else. I some programs react in some other way then
that's a coincidence or bug (I know some M$ software likes to try to
guess what you're thinking - and in my experience getting it wrong quite
often!).

> And the ASCII-ART should now show up correctly in any webmail.
> 
> This little trick can also be used on webpages , if you want to display your
> work
> on the web.

a. It is not a "little trick", it is the way to present preformatted
   text (which ascii art is) in html.

b. The <tt> tag is not necessary.

> 
> Many people here post their art on personal webpages - many choose the easy
> option
> of linking to a txt - file and that is just fine, though you loose the
> option of setting colors and you can't do ASCII-ART and HTML on one page.
> 

Sounds correct.

> Some however choose to display ASCII together with HTML and for thoose of
> you who do
> know that the <PRE><TT> method is (IMHO) the best method.

Uh? Using <pre> (no other tags) is *the* method.

> I have seen that some people set <PRE> and then use hundreds of &nbsp 's
>  .. not only does that make the pages much larger in filesize but it's also
> more tedious to do and looks weird when you view the source.
> 

I think it's usually dumb programs that try to guess what you're
thinking that do this.

You do, however, need to do a little bit more than simply slap
<pre></pre> around your pictures. You need to:

1.  Replace all   &   with &amp;
2.  Replace all   <   with &lt;

Please note that the semicolons are necessary, and the replacing should
be done in the order listed above.

Here's a little thing I made for quick "htmlifying" of ascii art:

http://www.ludd.luth.se/users/vk/cgi/ASCII-to-HTML/


-- 
    (,         http://www.ludd.luth.se/~vk/cgi/asciichat/
    /|__--__                       .                        __--__
    |\ '__                        /|\                        _{ _ 
    `.' / `.,_ _________           |           _________ _,.' (/ `.
    /  ||``._.'             ASCII ART CHAT!             `---'|:||,/
  .'   /|                                                   /|:| \
.'    /\ \         __   __                _                 `/|'\'
 ` `,/ /`,\        \ \ / /__ _ _ ___ _ _ (_)__ __ _         /,'\ \
   .'.'  /|         \ V / -_) '_/ _ \ ' \| / _/ _` |        |\  `.`.
 ,' /   / |          \_/\___|_| \___/_||_|_\__\__,_|        | \   \ `,
- `- -- `-'- -ejm-------------------------------------VK-- -`-' -- -' -

: > : Receiver must select the right font. You can only say what font u use
and
: > : receiver should use same kind of font. MS outlook express can use the
: > : message source to see the message as sended.
: >
: > Yes , that works for normal email programs.
: > For those recipients you know use a webmail and can therefore not choose
: > their font,
: > try putting this piece of HTML before the ASCII-ART :
: >
: > <PRE><TT>
: >
: > and this after :
: >
: > </TT></PRE>
: >
:
: In a plain-text environment (such as email) that *should* cause the
: text:
:
: <PRE><TT>
:
: and this after :
:
: </TT></PRE>
:
: to appear, nothing else.

That is why i pointed out that it would only work with webmails.
In a plain-text environment (such as email) you should set the font right,
like Jones pointed out.

: > This little trick can also be used on webpages , if you want to display
your
: > work on the web.

: a. It is not a "little trick", it is the way to present preformatted
:    text (which ascii art is) in html.

Figure of speech .. sorry.

: b. The <tt> tag is not necessary.

Yes it is -- you just don't know it yet .. read on.

: > Some however choose to display ASCII together with HTML and for thoose
of
: > you who do
: > know that the <PRE><TT> method is (IMHO) the best method.
:
: Uh? Using <pre> (no other tags) is *the* method.

You could say that , and in many cases just a <PRE> works.. BUT it is my
experience
that some browsers (mainly older ones) requires both tags to be set to
display the
art just right. You can get away with setting only <pre> with a large number
of browsers but in a few that just does'nt cut it - Blame it on buggy
browsers because
yes ... <pre> should be enough if you follow the standard .. but as we all
know ,
browsers can't be troubled with standards - they go their own ways.

I know this because I was once the happy programmer of a finger -> web
gateway, which
 I wanted to be able to show the ascii-art people often wrote in their .plan
files
(no other finger gateway i knew of did this) and in my test of it I
discovered that
<pre> would'nt always set the font to one of fixed-witdh on some browsers ..
but only
display spaces and linebreaks as they were written and still it would
display all
text in a proportional font.
I sadly don't have the gateway up anymore as i changed schools to one where
they did'nt allow stundent webpages and CGI.
Shame.. it was a nice little gateway .. detected webaddresses and created
the appropriate links too (in a somewhat smarter way than outlook does it)
without messing up user made links in the .plan (some people put HTML in
their .plan 's
- which I personally think is a no-no)

Anyone out there know of a free unix shellaccount that allows you to do CGI
? and fingerlookups ..

: > I have seen that some people set <PRE> and then use hundreds of &nbsp 's
: >  .. not only does that make the pages much larger in filesize but it's
also
: > more tedious to do and looks weird when you view the source.

: I think it's usually dumb programs that try to guess what you're
: thinking that do this.

What .. people that handcode their ascii-art don't handcode their HTML ?

: You do, however, need to do a little bit more than simply slap
: <pre></pre> around your pictures. You need to:
:
: 1.  Replace all   &   with &amp;
: 2.  Replace all   <   with &lt;

Ohh yeah forgot about that .. yes people - remember to run that
search-replace.

and all > with &gt;

: Please note that the semicolons are necessary, and the replacing should
: be done in the order listed above.


: Here's a little thing I made for quick "htmlifying" of ascii art:
: http://www.ludd.luth.se/users/vk/cgi/ASCII-to-HTML/

I'll be sure to check it out

- CeeJay

[crossposted to comp.infosystems.www.authoring.html]

Christian 'CeeJay' Jensen wrote:
> Veronica Karlsson wrote:
> : >
> : > <PRE><TT>
> : >
> : > and this after :
> : >
> : > </TT></PRE>
> : >
> : >
> : > This little trick can also be used on webpages , if you want to display your
> : > work on the web.
> :
> : a. It is not a "little trick", it is the way to present preformatted
> :    text (which ascii art is) in html.
> 
> Figure of speech .. sorry.
> 

ok  :)

> : b. The <tt> tag is not necessary.
> 
> Yes it is -- you just don't know it yet .. read on.
> 

Lets ask the experts...

> : > Some however choose to display ASCII together with HTML and for thoose of
> : > you who do
> : > know that the <PRE><TT> method is (IMHO) the best method.
> :
> : Uh? Using <pre> (no other tags) is *the* method.
> 
> You could say that , and in many cases just a <PRE> works.. BUT it is my
> experience
> that some browsers (mainly older ones) requires both tags to be set to
> display the
> art just right. You can get away with setting only <pre> with a large number
> of browsers but in a few that just does'nt cut it - Blame it on buggy
> browsers because
> yes ... <pre> should be enough if you follow the standard .. but as we all
> know ,
> browsers can't be troubled with standards - they go their own ways.
> 
> I know this because I was once the happy programmer of a finger -> web
> gateway, which
>  I wanted to be able to show the ascii-art people often wrote in their .plan
> files
> (no other finger gateway i knew of did this) and in my test of it I
> discovered that
> <pre> would'nt always set the font to one of fixed-witdh on some browsers ..
> but only
> display spaces and linebreaks as they were written and still it would
> display all
> text in a proportional font.
> I sadly don't have the gateway up anymore as i changed schools to one where
> they did'nt allow stundent webpages and CGI.
> Shame.. it was a nice little gateway .. detected webaddresses and created
> the appropriate links too (in a somewhat smarter way than outlook does it)
> without messing up user made links in the .plan (some people put HTML in
> their .plan 's
> - which I personally think is a no-no)
> 
> Anyone out there know of a free unix shellaccount that allows you to do CGI
> ? and fingerlookups ..
> 
> : > I have seen that some people set <PRE> and then use hundreds of &nbsp 's
> : >  .. not only does that make the pages much larger in filesize but it's also
> : > more tedious to do and looks weird when you view the source.
> :
> : I think it's usually dumb programs that try to guess what you're
> : thinking that do this.
> 
> What .. people that handcode their ascii-art don't handcode their HTML ?
> 

"handcode ascii art"???  *lol*  What other method is there? (and don't
say "conversion software"! I'm talking about programs that produce
acceptable results...)

> : You do, however, need to do a little bit more than simply slap
> : <pre></pre> around your pictures. You need to:
> :
> : 1.  Replace all   &   with &amp;
> : 2.  Replace all   <   with &lt;
> :
> : Please note that the semicolons are necessary, and the replacing should
> : be done in the order listed above.
> 
> Ohh yeah forgot about that .. yes people - remember to run that
> search-replace.
> 
> and all > with &gt;
> 

Yeah, you can do that too, but it's not absolutely *necessary*.


-- 
     _    ____  _         _    _   _      _   _
__ _| |__/ __ \| |_  _ __| |__| | | |_  _| |_| |_    ___ ___
\ V / / / / _` | | || / _` / _` |_| | || |  _| ' \ _(_-</ -_)
 \_/|_\_\ \__,_|_|\_,_\__,_\__,_(_)_|\_,_|\__|_||_(_)__/\___|
         \____/                 http://www.ludd.luth.se/~vk/

: > : b. The <tt> tag is not necessary.
: >
: > Yes it is -- you just don't know it yet .. read on.
: >
:
: Lets ask the experts...

When it comes to HTML I consider myself one.

: > What .. people that handcode their ascii-art don't handcode their HTML ?
: >
:
: "handcode ascii art"???  *lol*  What other method is there? (and don't
: say "conversion software"! I'm talking about programs that produce
: acceptable results...)

My point..


: > and all > with &gt;
: >
:
: Yeah, you can do that too, but it's not absolutely *necessary*.

Neither is sticking to "pure" ascii if you want to make a neat artwork .. but
following the rules makes everyone happy it seems.
: --
:      _    ____  _         _    _   _      _   _
: __ _| |__/ __ \| |_  _ __| |__| | | |_  _| |_| |_    ___ ___
: \ V / / / / _` | | || / _` / _` |_| | || |  _| ' \ _(_-</ -_)
:  \_/|_\_\ \__,_|_|\_,_\__,_\__,_(_)_|\_,_|\__|_||_(_)__/\___|
:          \____/                 http://www.ludd.luth.se/~vk/

.----- On Thu, 7 Oct 1999 11:15:33 +0200, Christian 'CeeJay' Jensen posted:
|:
|: In a plain-text environment (such as email) that *should* cause the
|: text:
|:
|: <PRE><TT>
|:
|: and this after :
|:
|: </TT></PRE>
|:
|: to appear, nothing else.
|
|That is why i pointed out that it would only work with webmails.
'-------------------------------

I would expect that any webmail program worth it's salt would convert
</TT></PRE> to &lt;/TT&gt;&lt;/PRE&gt; on the fly, unless it recieves 
Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1"
in the message header.

Kind Regards,
-Martin
|\/| _..__|_o._   /\_|_| o._  _   mart.atkins@--
|  |(_||  |_|| | /--\|_|<|| |_>            --bigfoot.com

: I would expect that any webmail program worth it's salt would convert
: </TT></PRE> to &lt;/TT&gt;&lt;/PRE&gt; on the fly, unless it recieves
: Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1"
: in the message header.

TO a webmail - not from it

On Sun, 10 Oct 1999 00:51:45 +0200, Christian 'CeeJay' Jensen (REM...@CeeJay.findhere.com) wrote:
 [snipped attribution to Martin Atkins]
: : I would expect that any webmail program worth it's salt would convert
: : </TT></PRE> to &lt;/TT&gt;&lt;/PRE&gt; on the fly, unless it recieves
: : Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1"
: : in the message header.

: TO a webmail - not from it

I'd assume that's what he meant. After all, if some web-based mailreader
out there treated <PRE> embedded in plain text as an HTML tag, I'd hate
to think what would happen if someone included <H1><FONT COLOR="#FF3377"
SIZE="+6" FACE="Wingdings"><B><BLINK> in their message..

-- 
Ilmari Karonen
http://www.sci.fi/~iltzu/