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Mac Forum / Applications / Eudora / May 2007Eudora as an *editor*?
In the process of deciding just which editing tool to use in preparing a document, I suddenly realized that the message composition editor in Eudora is perhaps the best and easiest to use editor on my Mac for preparing any kind of moderately formatted RTF document. When the font/size/color/formatting/alignment/indenting and other tools that are right there in its toolbar are combined with its graphics insertion capabilities and whatever else, it's a model of what Apple's TextEdit _ought_ to be, but isn't (and maybe never will be?). Add a few more editing and format conversion capabilities, and it could be clearly become best of breed for a simple, easy to use, yet very capable RTF (and of course also plain ASCII) *text editor*, totally independent of any email connections. So, if Eudora is going away as a Mac email app, maybe someone could still extract its editing code; add a few additional capabilities; and create a truly good free-standing text editor out of that . . . ? > In the process of deciding just which editing tool to use in preparing a > document, I suddenly realized that the message composition editor in > Eudora is perhaps the best and easiest to use editor on my Mac for > preparing any kind of moderately formatted RTF document. Aren't you stuck with the line breaks as they are in Eudora? Wasn't Eudora always awkward with special characters like Umlauten? I haven't tried it, but it doesn't sound like a good idea. You can produce rtf files with a lot of programs (NeoOffice for instance). > Aren't you stuck with the line breaks as they are in Eudora? Eudora at present seems to have line breaking ("wrap at") and tabs capabilities, but no unwrap capability, and not easy to change the settings for wrap and tabs -- in short, no ruler capability. (And "wrap" applied after other formatting wipes out all the other formatting.) > Wasn't Eudora always awkward with special characters like Umlauten? Don't think so: option-u followed by a vowel produces "vowel-umlaut" (and y is a vowel); option-a followed by vowel produces accented vowel; etc. > I haven't tried it, but it doesn't sound like a good idea. You can > produce rtf files with a lot of programs (NeoOffice for instance). Why not? I'm just saying that Eudora's editor already has many of the RTF editing capabilities of other programs, accessible via a notably easy to use user interface (better than Apple's own TextEdit in several respects). Maybe with some modest add'l effort it could become an attractive alternative to these other programs. > (better than Apple's own TextEdit in several > respects). What ways specifically? > Maybe with some modest add'l effort it could become an > attractive alternative to these other programs. I doubt many would find it worth the effort given the free competition.  Signature/Jon For contact info, run the following in Terminal: echo 36199371860304980107073482417748002696458P|dc > > In the process of deciding just which editing tool to use in preparing a > > document, I suddenly realized that the message composition editor in [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > I haven't tried it, but it doesn't sound like a good idea. You can > produce rtf files with a lot of programs (NeoOffice for instance). I think TextWrangler would more than match Eudora's capabilities as a pure text editor, and TextEdit should take care of any simple RTF needs. Signature/Jon For contact info, run the following in Terminal: echo 36199371860304980107073482417748002696458P|dc > > In the process of deciding just which editing tool to use in preparing a > > document, I suddenly realized that the message composition editor in [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > I haven't tried it, but it doesn't sound like a good idea. You can > produce rtf files with a lot of programs (NeoOffice for instance). Or TextEdit... > In the process of deciding just which editing tool to use in preparing a > document, I suddenly realized that the message composition editor in [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > could still extract its editing code; add a few additional capabilities; > and create a truly good free-standing text editor out of that . . . ? I actually thought Eudora was long gone, in terms of updates, if not the formal announcement that it was dead. Apple's TextEdit might be the best starting point for a RTF editor. As you probably know, it is intended as a technology demonstrator for OS X's underlying Cocoa text handling capabilities. As such, the source code comes with each Macintosh. Look in /Developer/Examples/AppKit/TextEdit While several text editors (for plain text) have been based on the sample code, it seems relatively few people were interested in extending the RTF abilities of TextEdit. Perhaps they are not seeing a point to an intermediate level editor between TextEdit and more elaborate word processors like MS Word or page design like Pages? In any case, each new version of OS X adds Cocoa's additional text handing facilities to TextEdit, so possibly when Leopard appears, that version will be sufficient for your needs. I am certainly hoping the next version will fill that capability gap, where transferring content from TextEdit to Pages just seems overkill. Signaturehttp://www.ericlindsay.com In article <NOwebmasterSPAM-A81558.07062921052007@freenews.iinet.net.au>, > Apple's TextEdit might be the best starting point for a RTF editor. As > you probably know, it is intended as a technology demonstrator for OS > X's underlying Cocoa text handling capabilities. I second that recommendation: Eudora does *not* support Unicode input. SignatureCheers Martin > In the process of deciding just which editing tool to use in preparing a > document, I suddenly realized that the message composition editor in > Eudora is perhaps the best and easiest to use editor on my Mac for > preparing any kind of moderately formatted RTF document. Funnily-enough, I have also used Eudora for composing text, although I don't use its formatting capabilities. What I find immensely valuable is the Tidbits Autocorrect Dictionary, functionality I have not seen in any other text editor. For those who have not come across this, it provides a list of commonly-misspelled words, and whenever those words appear in the text, substitutes the correct spelling for them. In my case, I make lots of transposition errors in my typing, eg, typing Dvaid instead of David. The autocorrect dictionary automatically replaces this with the correct word. (Some would argue that this is reinforcing my bad typing, and I am inclined to agree. But it is just so handy.) Cheers David > Funnily-enough, I have also used Eudora for composing text, although I don't > use its formatting capabilities. What I find immensely valuable is the [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > commonly-misspelled words, and whenever those words appear in the text, > substitutes the correct spelling for them. In my version of Eudora, unrecognized words appear with a fuzzy red underline. You can ignore this, or position the cursor anywhere in the word (don't have to select the entire word) and hit cmd-option-shift-6 to add it to the spelling dictionary. It's quick and easy, and I prefer that approach to any kind of auto-correcting actions. > > Funnily-enough, I have also used Eudora for composing text, although I > > don't [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > to add it to the spelling dictionary. It's quick and easy, and I prefer > that approach to any kind of auto-correcting actions. I too find Eudora's method of adding to the dictionary quick and simple compared to some other programs. However, what I want is my mistypings corrected, not added to the dictionary so they are not detected in future.... David > For those who have not come across this, it provides a list of > commonly-misspelled words, and whenever those words appear in the text, [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > instead of David. The autocorrect dictionary automatically replaces this with > the correct word. The TidBits Autocorrect dictionary is a plain text document, which means that it's easy to add (or delete) any entries you wish if a problem word isn't already in the dictionary. SignatureKathy > Funnily-enough, I have also used Eudora for composing text, although I don't > use its formatting capabilities. What I find immensely valuable is the > Tidbits > Autocorrect Dictionary, functionality I have not seen in any other text > editor. You are right, this is a wonderful addition to the text editing capabilities of Eudora. I wish the Autocorrect Dictionary could be used in other applications too! Paolo |
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