Inconsistent font behavior in bookview

[Jeff]

I thought I had tried to explain,

However, it makes sense to me that editable modules will display in the way they were formatted to begin with, and will display the fonts they are being edited with, so you can see the effects of your editing.

It seems to me that when you are editing, you need to be able to see the effects that your editing is having on the original, otherwise you are going to get all kinds of different strange fonts and formatting mixed in and not realize it. If you try editing it with a different font you may then complain that it's not accepting the font you're trying to use when you have it set to use your default font. I believe there is a reason why it works in user mode and non-user mode the way it does.

If you want the font changed universally in the entire document, then that's what you'll have to do. If you don't want to do that, then switch to user mode when you want to edit, and switch back when you want to read if the other font drives you crazy. It also keeps me from accidently typing in a user module that I didn't mean to change if I get mixed up on which window is active or something.

Things aren't always as easy as it may seem, and there are generally reasons for things the way they are. But hey, if you go to your public library and look for a book, you'll most likely be stuck with whatever font it has without any way to change it, so I still think the software has its advantages.


(I'll use my standard disclaimer: I'm not a programmer, and don't speak for Costas or Jon, or any one else smarter than I am, so I could be wrong. )

[Jeff]

Maybe a quicker way to switch between user and non-user mode without having to go into the properties dialog might be a better suggestion?

[ErikJon]

Touché! Good analogy.

Actually CTRL+SHIFT+U is a keyboard shortcut for that, so I shouldn't complain.

However let's not overlook the fact that TW behavior on this issue is inconsistent, as I mentioned above. Namely that in many of my modules, nay, in approximately 80 percent of them, such as the Guzik commentary, the text displays as I wish in user mode as well as in non user mode, not with the module creator's font, but with the user's preferred font. It does so in user mode as well as in non user mode, consequently, since the 80 percent display contrary to what Jon claimed, we may conclude that there is a glitch in the system,albeit in my favor.

I mentioned the example of the Guzik commentary.

In fact, while it was only one example among hundreds, and while the TW may not be concerned about this glitch, I would point out a bit of gratuitous information. Namely that in the Guzik module, while almost all of it displays with the user's font as I like, rather than with the creator's font, in user or non user mode, there are about 25 chapters that do not cooperate, and these are the ones that I had modified myself.

Whereas I had modified the font in about five chapters, I had modified only the tabs in the remaining 20 chapters, but the result was 25 that would no longer cooperate. I never modified the font in those 20, but rather only the tabs and excessive indentation, to make all the text flush left, as I had also done in about 200 other chapters (the others of which all cooperate completely regarding my font display preferences. )

However, keep in mind that I have hundreds of other modules installed that I have not modified at all, but which display using the user's preferred font in both modes, user or non user, in violation of the program design.

Now, at the risk of wasting my breath, I will point out the remote possibility that I may have modified only the module title abbreviation in the properties wundow for example, for each of those hundreds of modules. Perhaps making one minor change like that creates a special "blessing" on the module, so that the user can read it in whatever font he chooses, even in user mode . I have yet to test that hypothesis.

[Jeff]

Actually CTRL+SHIFT+U is a keyboard shortcut for that, so I shouldn't complain.

Cool, I learned something. I should have known that, I rarely think of something new that Costas hadn't already implemented, or at least thought of.

However let's not overlook the fact that TW behavior on this issue is inconsistent, as I mentioned above. Namely that in many of my modules, nay, in approximately 80 percent of them, such as the Guzik commentary, the text displays as I wish in user mode as well as in non user mode, not with the module creator's font, but with the user's preferred font. It does so in user mode as well as in non user mode, consequently, since the 80 percent display contrary to what Jon claimed, we may conclude that there is a glitch in the system,albeit in my favor.

I mentioned the example of the Guzik commentary.

You have me there. I don't know. I wasn't seeing the behavior you mentioned because I was using the official encrypted Guzik commentary, and the ones I happened to try used their own fonts in editable mode. I don't know if there is a way to build modules without specifying fonts. Maybe looking at them in a SQL browser or editor would give some idea if fonts are embedded. Or an expert could say.

My guess would be that the inconsistencies lie with the module makers and not the software. If, for some reason, a module maker wanted to specify what font they want a reader to use, like they think a certain Greek font renders more accurately or something, than that's their prerogative. But as I don't really know what I'm talking about, maybe I better bow out here, I probably already helped fog up the issue enough.

Edit: It still leaves the issue of the Younce module where I, and apparently Jon, were seeing something different than you on what would seem to be the same settings with the same module. So I give up even guessing.

[Jeff]

Well, I will add that I played around with the Guzik commentary that isn't encrypted from another site. I changed my default font to a big ugly "Goudy Stout". Now even after switching my default back, whenever I make the module editable, or specify it to use the fonts defined in the module, it keeps going back to the Goudy Stout font.

It kind of seems to me as if it originally didn't have any particular font specified in the module, but adopted the Goudy Stout as its font, now I can't get rid of it. Oh well, I think I'll stick with the official module.

[ErikJon]

Wow. So you are experiencing inconsistencies, too, regarding the Goudy Stout font. That makes me feel better. I am not alone.

I don't remember where my Guzik came from, but it is not the original with Times and green text. I think I got this one from Josh Bond's site, and the creator (reviser) claimed that it had "thousands of pages of additional text," which seems ridiculous, as there are only 969 chapters in the Bible anyway. All he did was to decrease the indentations a bit, and not much at that, and to change the color of the green Bible passages quoted, back to black, which did more harm than good. Yes, I think it came from the Bond site.

I don't know what to say about the Younce module.

Good observations. Thanks again, Jeff. I think we are now more lost thant when I first posted, which is encouraging.

I dare say that, out of every ten bug reports or suggestions that I post here, only one is ever really taken seriously anyway, so sometimes I ask myself whether it wouldn't be better just to keep quiet and use the program as it is. Some of these issues are very minor anyway, including the one on this post. If it were my program, I would want to know every issue, even if I were unable to resolve most of them.