Announcement: Unicode Extension beta version 0.3.2020.700 for Forte Agent

[Ralph Fox]

Announcing Unicode Extension beta version 0.3.2020.700 for Forte Agent

FEATURES

* View plain text message bodies in full Unicode in Agent [^1].
* View HTML message bodies in full Unicode in Agent [^1][^2][^3].
* Write plain text messages in full Unicode in Agent [^1][^4].

[^1] How many Unicode characters you can see will depend on
your fonts.
[^2] Excludes properly displaying HTML &escape characters when
in full Unicode.
[^3] In the Agent 4.0 - 7.00 HTML viewer, a small percentage of
Unicode characters will not display correctly.
[^4] Unicode keyboard input is supported. Pasting Unicode text
is not supported in beta version 0.3.2020.700.


SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Either of the following:
(a) Agent 8.00 (only) running in Windows or WINE.
or
(b) Agent 1.7 - 7.20 running in Windows 2000 up to Windows 10.


DOWNLOAD

Download the ZIP file AgtEx_beta_0.3.2020.700.zip from <https://ralphfoxnz.blogtown.co.nz/>


INSTALLATION

Installation instructions are in the ZIP file.

AgtEx beta version 0.3.2020.700 does not have an installer program.
Installation is done by manually copying files.
If some other site claims to have an installer program, you run that
at your own risk.

[Lucretia Borgia]

Post by Ralph Fox
Announcing Unicode Extension beta version 0.3.2020.700 for Forte Agent
FEATURES
* View plain text message bodies in full Unicode in Agent [^1].
* View HTML message bodies in full Unicode in Agent [^1][^2][^3].
* Write plain text messages in full Unicode in Agent [^1][^4].
[^1] How many Unicode characters you can see will depend on
your fonts.
[^2] Excludes properly displaying HTML &escape characters when
in full Unicode.
[^3] In the Agent 4.0 - 7.00 HTML viewer, a small percentage of
Unicode characters will not display correctly.
[^4] Unicode keyboard input is supported. Pasting Unicode text
is not supported in beta version 0.3.2020.700.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
(a) Agent 8.00 (only) running in Windows or WINE.
or
(b) Agent 1.7 - 7.20 running in Windows 2000 up to Windows 10.
DOWNLOAD
Download the ZIP file AgtEx_beta_0.3.2020.700.zip from <https://ralphfoxnz.blogtown.co.nz/>
INSTALLATION
Installation instructions are in the ZIP file.
AgtEx beta version 0.3.2020.700 does not have an installer program.
Installation is done by manually copying files.
If some other site claims to have an installer program, you run that
at your own risk.

Ralph I have 8 but don't think I should download any alterations. I
have had massive problems with it, even put it on my laptop to see if
it would be any better there, it wasn't, same problems.

However, since yesterday, suddenly no problems. I am holding on to my
wooden desk and hoping it stays this way!

Must check the laptop and see if that has magically improved.

[Ralph Fox]

Post by Lucretia Borgia
Ralph I have 8 but don't think I should download any alterations. I
have had massive problems with it, even put it on my laptop to see if
it would be any better there, it wasn't, same problems.
However, since yesterday, suddenly no problems. I am holding on to my
wooden desk and hoping it stays this way!
Must check the laptop and see if that has magically improved.

AgtEx beta version 0.3.2020.700 is most unlikely to affect downloading
headers or bodies. It does not touch either of these:
* The data connection between Agent and the news server
* Saving this data to file.


AgtEx beta version 0.3.2020.700 touches the following:
* Choosing fonts.
* Displaying already-downloaded message bodies on screen.
* Printing already-downloaded message bodies on the printer.
* Keyboard typing in the compose window message body.
* Keyboard typing in the compose window subject field.

[Lucretia Borgia]

Post by Ralph Fox

Post by Lucretia Borgia
Ralph I have 8 but don't think I should download any alterations. I
have had massive problems with it, even put it on my laptop to see if
it would be any better there, it wasn't, same problems.
However, since yesterday, suddenly no problems. I am holding on to my
wooden desk and hoping it stays this way!
Must check the laptop and see if that has magically improved.

AgtEx beta version 0.3.2020.700 is most unlikely to affect downloading
* The data connection between Agent and the news server
* Saving this data to file.
* Choosing fonts.
* Displaying already-downloaded message bodies on screen.
* Printing already-downloaded message bodies on the printer.
* Keyboard typing in the compose window message body.
* Keyboard typing in the compose window subject field.

Oh okay, I don't need it then, totally happy with fonts etc. and now
downloading messages seems to cleared itself up. I did wonder too if
it had any connection with the fact I received 3 months free with apn
because I purchased Agent 8, it all seemed to be resolved once I was
back to paying monthly. Whatever, life is smooth again :)

[Ralph Fox]

Post by Lucretia Borgia
Oh okay, I don't need it then, totally happy with fonts etc

Its function is to enable you to to display and type full Unicode
in the message body.

| * View plain text message bodies in full Unicode in Agent [^1].
| * View HTML message bodies in full Unicode in Agent [^1][^2][^3].
| * Write plain text messages in full Unicode in Agent [^1][^4].

Ask yourself whether you need full Unicode.

AgtEx beta version 0.3.2020.700 does not add any new fonts to Windows.
The stuff it touches is just so it can let you display and type
full Unicode.

[micky]

In alt.usenet.offline-reader.forte-agent, on Mon, 03 Aug 2020 06:31:25

Post by Ralph Fox

Post by Lucretia Borgia
Oh okay, I don't need it then, totally happy with fonts etc

Its function is to enable you to to display and type full Unicode
in the message body.
| * View plain text message bodies in full Unicode in Agent [^1].
| * View HTML message bodies in full Unicode in Agent [^1][^2][^3].
| * Write plain text messages in full Unicode in Agent [^1][^4].
Ask yourself whether you need full Unicode.
AgtEx beta version 0.3.2020.700 does not add any new fonts to Windows.
The stuff it touches is just so it can let you display and type
full Unicode.

Ralph, I don't know what you mean, display and type full unicode?

Will I be able to display alphabets that are even more different from
Latin than French is, like Urdu, Arabic, and Hebrew?

Surely not Japanese and Chinese.


I ask because I've been reading a forum on Facebook that uses such
alphabets. and Facebook is a terrible format for serious discussion. It
has no more than 2 levels of indentation and you very often can't tell
who is answering whom. Even if you can tell, the two posts can be so
far apart that you can't go back and forth. If you click on Reply,
sometimes it puts the name of the person your replying to as the first
word in the answer, and sometimes it ignores the name. If it doesn't
put the name in, often when it takes you to the bottom of the list,
you'e so far from the post you're answering, it's not possible to go
back and find the name!

If you click on a link, when it comes back, you've lost your place in
the long list. You very often can't "find" something because it only
fetches some of the threads, until you get to the bottom of the list and
then it gets more. If I use someone's name, there is immediately a
popup box with everyone by that name who has ever registered for that
Facebook forum.

It will only display the last two items of a thread, the ones posted
most recently, but there will be a line to click on 80 previous items.
Click on that and 15 will display and it will display 20 and say 60
previous items if you want to see the rest. You may have to click 3
times, maybe more. Sometimes it will say 3 items and if you click you
only get 2 of them and have to click again for the thrrd. Finally when
the thread is all expanded, there is no way to collapse it again.

There may be more things wrong with it I've forgotten.

I know it was designed for dithering teen-agers, who can't stick to a
topic for more than 10 seconds, but with a little work and the abiility
to choose options, it could have options that serve everybody. it's
incredicile** that with a billion users and making that much money, it's
so bad.

**A typo but it's a cross between incredible and imbecile.

That's why I'd like to talk this one forum to moving to Usenet, but
that.


Thank you fo all your hard work on this; and for all the questions you
answer for me and so many others over the years.

[Ralph Fox]

Post by micky
Ralph, I don't know what you mean, display and type full unicode?
Will I be able to display alphabets that are even more different from
Latin than French is, like Urdu, Arabic, and Hebrew?
Surely not Japanese and Chinese.

Yes you will, including Japanese and Chinese, if your fonts are up to
it. In Windows 10, I find the best results (most Unicode characters)
are when using the Tahoma font for Unicode in Agent.


The download AgtEx_beta_0.3.2020.700.zip contains an example Unicode
message for you to import. Here is what that message looks like:

screen-shot: <Loading Image...>

[micky]

In alt.usenet.offline-reader.forte-agent, on Tue, 11 Aug 2020 19:23:49

Post by Ralph Fox

Post by micky
Ralph, I don't know what you mean, display and type full unicode?
Will I be able to display alphabets that are even more different from
Latin than French is, like Urdu, Arabic, and Hebrew?
Surely not Japanese and Chinese.

Yes you will, including Japanese and Chinese, if your fonts are up to
it. In Windows 10, I find the best results (most Unicode characters)
are when using the Tahoma font for Unicode in Agent.
The download AgtEx_beta_0.3.2020.700.zip contains an example Unicode
screen-shot: <https://i.imgur.com/r8nZBMm.png>

Wow! You're a pretty clever guy, Ralph.

You should sell this to Forte.

That said, I'm between computers now, using my laptop, which is really
intended only for trips. The old computer had BSODs all the time, and
even after reinstalling windows10, it's had a few, and it's time I
bought a new one. So I have to buy a new one, load it up, and while I'm
doing that, I'll put in your files. Then I'll try to make friends in
foreign countries. And maybe I can get that Facebook group to move.

[Arthur T.]

Post by micky
Wow! You're a pretty clever guy, Ralph.
You should sell this to Forte.

If they won't even stea^h^h^h^h buy his fix of an actual bug (filter
expiration dates), it's unlikely they'd pay for an enhancement.

[Otomatic]

Post by Ralph Fox
Announcing Unicode Extension beta version 0.3.2020.700 for Forte Agent

Tests carried out on the fr.test newsgroup.
A priori, it does not present any problem.
Thank you.
Essais effectués sur le groupe de discussion fr.test.
A priori, ça ne présente pas de problème.

[Ralph Fox]

Post by Otomatic

Post by Ralph Fox
Announcing Unicode Extension beta version 0.3.2020.700 for Forte Agent

Tests carried out on the fr.test newsgroup.
A priori, it does not present any problem.
Thank you.
Essais effectués sur le groupe de discussion fr.test.
A priori, ça ne présente pas de problème.

Thank you for the feedback.

[Otomatic]

Post by Ralph Fox

Post by Otomatic
Essais effectués sur le groupe de discussion fr.test.
A priori, ça ne présente pas de problème.

Thank you for the feedback.

When there is at least one problem, it is the bad re-encoding of the
subject of the message in the response.

For example :
Original Subject :
Subject: Re: Forté Agent en français

Post by Ralph Fox
00000000h: 53 75 62 6A 65 63 74 3A 20 52 65 3A 20 46 6F 72 ; Subject: Re: For
00000010h: 74 C3 A9 20 41 67 65 6E 74 20 65 6E 20 66 72 61 ; té Agent en fra
00000020h: 6E C3 A7 61 69 73 ; nçais

[Ralph Fox]

Post by Otomatic

Post by Ralph Fox

Post by Otomatic
Essais effectués sur le groupe de discussion fr.test.
A priori, ça ne présente pas de problème.

Thank you for the feedback.

When there is at least one problem, it is the bad re-encoding of the
subject of the message in the response.
Subject: Re: Forté Agent en français

Post by Ralph Fox
00000000h: 53 75 62 6A 65 63 74 3A 20 52 65 3A 20 46 6F 72 ; Subject: Re: For
00000010h: 74 C3 A9 20 41 67 65 6E 74 20 65 6E 20 66 72 61 ; té Agent en fra
00000020h: 6E C3 A7 61 69 73 ; nçais

In the font settings for full Unicode, please put a check-mark
in the setting "Use the variable-pitch body font for Headers".

screen-shot: <Loading Image...>

I should have included this in part 4 of the READ-ME file.


______________________________________________________________________
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

FYI, only certain combinations of Agent version and Operating System
version will support Unicode in the compose window's subject field.
This is what I found:

[Diagram best viewed in a fixed-pitch font]

                                                                Wine 5.0.2 in
                       Win 98 - Win 2K   Win XP - Win 10        Linux Mint 20 Cinnamon
                     +-----------------+-----------------+   +-----------------+
                     ¦                 ¦                 ¦   ¦                 ¦
  Agent 3.0 - 8.00   ¦       NO        ¦       Yes       ¦   ¦       Yes       ¦
                     ¦                 ¦                 ¦   ¦                 ¦
                     +-----------------+-----------------+   +-----------------+
                     ¦                 ¦                 ¦   ¦                 ¦
  Agent 1.93 - 2.0   ¦       NO        ¦       NO        ¦   ¦       Yes       ¦
                     ¦                 ¦                 ¦   ¦                 ¦
                     +-----------------+-----------------+   +-----------------+

[Otomatic]

Post by Ralph Fox
in the setting "Use the variable-pitch body font for Headers".
screen-shot: <https://i.imgur.com/AC3dqNF.gif>
I should have included this in part 4 of the READ-ME file.

Thanks.

Is there any possibility to put
Unicode UTF-8 (French)
as default language in place of French?

[Ralph Fox]

Post by Otomatic
Is there any possibility to put
Unicode UTF-8 (French)
as default language in place of French?

If you want to avoid the need to change each message's language to
Unicode UTF-8 (French), you can set a folder's language in
Folder >> Properties. The negative is that in the folder's message
list, some diacritical characters (like é è à ù) may appear corrupted.


You can try to minimize the number of corrupted diacritical characters
by adjusting the script for the "Message List" and "Subject" fonts:

screen-shot: <Loading Image...>

But you might not be able to eliminate all corrupted diacritical
characters.


What AgtEx 0.3.2020.700 does to get Unicode in the body pane, will
not work with the message list. Agent handles international
characters in message list text in a different (and rougher) way to
international characters in the body pane.

[Tim Slattery]

Post by Ralph Fox
Announcing Unicode Extension beta version 0.3.2020.700 for Forte Agent

I installed the extension in Agent 7.10 under WIndows 10. When I start
Agent, I get the Unicode checkbox in the font boxes, no problem. I
created a new language, as directed. I selected Tahoma as the
variable-pitch font.

Then I imported the test message and set the language to "Unicode".
And it shows gibberish.

The English text is displayed properly, but none of the other
languages show up properly. They don't show as question marks, as they
do when the language is set to English, but they aren't the proper
alphabets either.

What's going on?

[Ralph Fox]

Post by Tim Slattery

Post by Ralph Fox
Announcing Unicode Extension beta version 0.3.2020.700 for Forte Agent

I installed the extension in Agent 7.10 under WIndows 10. When I start
Agent, I get the Unicode checkbox in the font boxes, no problem. I
created a new language, as directed. I selected Tahoma as the
variable-pitch font.
Then I imported the test message and set the language to "Unicode".
And it shows gibberish.
The English text is displayed properly, but none of the other
languages show up properly. They don't show as question marks, as they
do when the language is set to English, but they aren't the proper
alphabets either.
What's going on?

My best guess is that in step 4, you have not yet put a check-mark in the
box labelled "Unicode UTF-8" for all three fonts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ QUOTE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Select your new language (say) "Unicode UTF-8 (English)" in
the drop-down. Then adjust the font settings for your new
language "Unicode UTF-8 (English)". Click on each of the three
buttons
* Variable-Pitch Body
* Fixed-Pitch Body
* Printer
and put a check-mark in the box labelled "Unicode UTF-8".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ QUOTE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Screen-shot (right) <Loading Image...>
Screen-shot (wrong) <Loading Image...>



If this is not the case, then can you please
i) Open AGENT.INI in a text editor.
ii) Find the [Language<x>] section for "Unicode UTF-8 (English)".
This could be "[Language2]", "[Language3]", or some other number.
iii) Reply with the entire contents of this [Language<x>] section.

This group does not need the entire AGENT.INI file. And you probably do not want
to post your server password(s) or Agent key which are in the AGENT.INI file.

[Tim Slattery]

Post by Ralph Fox
My best guess is that in step 4, you have not yet put a check-mark in the
box labelled "Unicode UTF-8" for all three fonts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ QUOTE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Select your new language (say) "Unicode UTF-8 (English)" in
the drop-down.

That's the step I missed! I missed selecting "Unicode" in the dropdown
before clicking the font boxes and checking the "Unicode" button.

Absolutely beautiful! Thanks very much!

[croy]

Post by Ralph Fox
Announcing Unicode Extension beta version 0.3.2020.700 for Forte Agent

Looking good here. You are a wizard and master. I'm a little more toward the other end of the
spectrum.


Some languages are not showing properly (Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, for one), but that's probably
because of my font choice of Consolas for everything.


Notes about the README file:

2. Agent 8.0 does not appear, only 3.0 - 7.20

5. After importing the test message, I didn't know where to find it (I don't use
Agent for eMail.



General Note:

It would be interesting to see a screen shot of the test file as it should look if the best
fonts were chosen (or should it look like the file looks in Notepad?).

[Ralph Fox]

Post by croy
Some languages are not showing properly (Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, for one), but that's probably
because of my font choice of Consolas for everything.

This can depend on your version of Windows. Some reasons:

a) The versions of fonts you have depend on the OS version.

b) If a Unicode character is not in your font choice, recent versions
of Windows may try to find a "similar" font with the character.
* The search for a "similar" font depends on your version of
Windows.
* Whether you actually have a "similar" font with the character
also depends on your version of Windows.


On my Windows 10 v1909 computer, Assyrian Neo-Aramaic does show here
when I choose Consolas as my font. But the only font which physically
contains the Assyrian Neo-Aramaic characters is the "Segoe UI Historic"
font. When I choose Consolas as my font, Windows 10 v1909 finds the
"Segoe UI Historic" font when it needs to display the Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
text in Agent.

Post by croy
2. Agent 8.0 does not appear, only 3.0 - 7.20

Thank you. I will update this for a future release.

Post by croy
5. After importing the test message, I didn't know where to find it (I don't use
Agent for eMail.

Where the imported message is, will depend on what was chosen for
'Destination Folders' on the "Import Messages" pop-up window.

screen-shot: <Loading Image...>

If "Put all messages in folder" was selected, it will be in the
selected folder.

If "File according to inbound message filters" was selected and you
have no email filters, then it is probably in the folder configured
at "Tools >> Options >> Inbound Email >> Default Folder".
That folder will exist whether or not you use Agent for email. That
folder cannot be deleted.

The test message does not contain an X-Folder field, so the X-Folder
selections have no effect.

Post by croy
It would be interesting to see a screen shot of the test file as it should look if the best
fonts were chosen (or should it look like the file looks in Notepad?).

Here is the link to the screen-shot which I posted in reply to micky.

screen-shot: <https://i.imgur.com/r8nZBMm.png>

[croy]

Ah, yes. I'm still on Windows 7 Pro x64.

Post by Ralph Fox
Where the imported message is, will depend on what was chosen for
'Destination Folders' on the "Import Messages" pop-up window.

Geesh! I didn't even notice that.

Post by Ralph Fox
Here is the link to the screen-shot which I posted in reply to micky.
screen-shot: <https://i.imgur.com/r8nZBMm.png>

Wow. It looks like that picked 'em all up.

Thanks Ralph.

[Ralph Fox]

Post by croy
Ah, yes. I'm still on Windows 7 Pro x64.

On my Win7 Pro machine (VM), the Estrangelo Edessa font is the only font which
physically contains the Assyrian Neo-Aramaic characters.

[croy]

Post by Ralph Fox

Post by croy
Some languages are not showing properly (Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, for one), but that's probably
because of my font choice of Consolas for everything.

a) The versions of fonts you have depend on the OS version.
b) If a Unicode character is not in your font choice, recent versions
of Windows may try to find a "similar" font with the character.
* The search for a "similar" font depends on your version of
Windows.
* Whether you actually have a "similar" font with the character
also depends on your version of Windows.

Now that I think back, I did delete a bunch of fonts from this Windows 7 Pro install because I
was horrified with the number of fonts on the system--fonts I could never imagine needing.

[croy]

Post by Ralph Fox
Announcing Unicode Extension beta version 0.3.2020.700 for Forte Agent

After using this a bit, it occurs to me that it would be great to have a hot-key or toolbar
button to snap the currently-viewed message to the Unicode language. Since the name we assign
to the language is arbitrary, it would have to be tweakable.

But thanks agian to Ralph for taking this project on!

[Ralph Fox]

Post by croy

Post by Ralph Fox
Announcing Unicode Extension beta version 0.3.2020.700 for Forte Agent

After using this a bit, it occurs to me that it would be great to have a hot-key or toolbar
button to snap the currently-viewed message to the Unicode language. Since the name we assign
to the language is arbitrary, it would have to be tweakable.
But thanks again to Ralph for taking this project on!

It appears an icon in Windows' quick launch area would be the likely
solution. The prototype is taking 1-2 seconds to change the language
for the currently-selected message(s) to Unicode.

Are you still interested?

[l***@gmail.com]

Post by Ralph Fox
Announcing Unicode Extension beta version 0.3.2020.700 for Forte Agent
FEATURES
* View plain text message bodies in full Unicode in Agent [^1].
* View HTML message bodies in full Unicode in Agent [^1][^2][^3].
* Write plain text messages in full Unicode in Agent [^1][^4].
[^1] How many Unicode characters you can see will depend on
your fonts.
[^2] Excludes properly displaying HTML &escape characters when
in full Unicode.
[^3] In the Agent 4.0 - 7.00 HTML viewer, a small percentage of
Unicode characters will not display correctly.
[^4] Unicode keyboard input is supported. Pasting Unicode text
is not supported in beta version 0.3.2020.700.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
(a) Agent 8.00 (only) running in Windows or WINE.
or
(b) Agent 1.7 - 7.20 running in Windows 2000 up to Windows 10.
DOWNLOAD
Download the ZIP file AgtEx_beta_0.3.2020.700.zip from <https://ralphfoxnz.blogtown.co.nz/>
INSTALLATION
Installation instructions are in the ZIP file.
AgtEx beta version 0.3.2020.700 does not have an installer program.
Installation is done by manually copying files.
If some other site claims to have an installer program, you run that
at your own risk.
--
Kind regards
Ralph

[c***@gmail.com]

Post by Ralph Fox
Announcing Unicode Extension beta version 0.3.2020.700 for Forte Agent
FEATURES
* View plain text message bodies in full Unicode in Agent [^1].
* View HTML message bodies in full Unicode in Agent [^1][^2][^3].
* Write plain text messages in full Unicode in Agent [^1][^4].
[^1] How many Unicode characters you can see will depend on
your fonts.
[^2] Excludes properly displaying HTML &escape characters when
in full Unicode.
[^3] In the Agent 4.0 - 7.00 HTML viewer, a small percentage of
Unicode characters will not display correctly.
[^4] Unicode keyboard input is supported. Pasting Unicode text
is not supported in beta version 0.3.2020.700.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
(a) Agent 8.00 (only) running in Windows or WINE.
or
(b) Agent 1.7 - 7.20 running in Windows 2000 up to Windows 10.
DOWNLOAD
Download the ZIP file AgtEx_beta_0.3.2020.700.zip from <https://ralphfoxnz.blogtown.co.nz/>
INSTALLATION
Installation instructions are in the ZIP file.
AgtEx beta version 0.3.2020.700 does not have an installer program.
Installation is done by manually copying files.
If some other site claims to have an installer program, you run that
at your own risk.
--
Kind regards
Ralph