Trouble seiding .txt messaget to others

[J Tinsby]

Hello,

I send a list of satellite tracking info to a small group of people I
send the data as a .txt file. Lately some have complained that the
columns of data are out of line or the data is all gibberish. I a
using XP Pro SP3 with all updates and Hotmail as the mail program.
I send the data as an attachment not in the message body.

If I send it to myself it looks fine.

Some are using Win7 others use Yahoo Mail. Somehow the formatting that
keeps the data in line is being lost. I know I can take a screenshot
of the Notepad being open with the data and send it as a .jpg. Or I
guess I can send it as a .pdf.

But the question is how is the data being corrupted so it can't be
easily read? I thought a .txt file was the simplest way to send them
the data since that's the way it comes out of the program that
generates the predictions.

What to do?

Thanks in advance to any and all who reply.

J T

 

[Paul in Houston TX]

Hello,

I send a list of satellite tracking info to a small group of people I
send the data as a .txt file. Lately some have complained that the
columns of data are out of line or the data is all gibberish. I a
using XP Pro SP3 with all updates and Hotmail as the mail program.
I send the data as an attachment not in the message body.

If I send it to myself it looks fine.

Some are using Win7 others use Yahoo Mail. Somehow the formatting that
keeps the data in line is being lost. I know I can take a screenshot
of the Notepad being open with the data and send it as a .jpg. Or I
guess I can send it as a .pdf.

But the question is how is the data being corrupted so it can't be
easily read? I thought a .txt file was the simplest way to send them
the data since that's the way it comes out of the program that
generates the predictions.

What to do?

Thanks in advance to any and all who reply.

J T

Column formatting is somewhat dependent on the reader.
It may look good on your machine because you use the same
program to read it.
My suggestion is to save it as either csv, html, or xls.

 

[Ken Springer]

Hello,

I send a list of satellite tracking info to a small group of people I
send the data as a .txt file. Lately some have complained that the
columns of data are out of line or the data is all gibberish. I a
using XP Pro SP3 with all updates and Hotmail as the mail program.
I send the data as an attachment not in the message body.

If I send it to myself it looks fine.

Some are using Win7 others use Yahoo Mail. Somehow the formatting that
keeps the data in line is being lost. I know I can take a screenshot
of the Notepad being open with the data and send it as a .jpg. Or I
guess I can send it as a .pdf.

But the question is how is the data being corrupted so it can't be
easily read? I thought a .txt file was the simplest way to send them
the data since that's the way it comes out of the program that
generates the predictions.

What to do?

Thanks in advance to any and all who reply.

It could be some of your recipients have changed from a monospaced font
to a proportional font. That will definitely screw up a text file that
has columns in it. Also, if some have changed the tab spacing also.


--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 5.0
Thunderbird 3.1.11
LibreOffice 3.3.2

 

[Nil]

It could be some of your recipients have changed from a monospaced
font to a proportional font. That will definitely screw up a text
file that has columns in it. Also, if some have changed the tab
spacing also.

This is the correct answer, I'm certain. Nothing is corrupted, you're
not doing anything wrong, you're just at the mercy of the recipient's
choice of viewer, fonts, tab spacing, line termination character, etc.
If you have data that depends on formatting to be understood, such as
tables or columns, then you must use a format that preserves the
formatting no matter what the recipient's setup is.

In you case, a PDF attachment would probably be the most reliable
choice. HTML might work, too.

 

[J Tinsby]

Why did the chicken cross the road? What came first, the chicken or the
egg? Why is the data in a .txt file being corrupted? Yahoo mail? Hot Mail?

Ours is not to wonder why. Ours is to work around it!

Try sending it as a .rtf file. That might save your formatting?

If that doesn't work, then try sending as a .pdf.

Thanks for all the quick replies, I will try the various suggestions,
one is bound to work!

Regards,

J T

 

[Ken Springer]

It could be some of your recipients have changed from a monospaced font
to a proportional font. That will definitely screw up a text file that
has columns in it. Also, if some have changed the tab spacing also.

Some follow up suggestions:

1. Take a poll of your recipients, see what would work best for them.
2. Ask them what fonts they are using, and/or simply tell them to use
the same font you are. Regarding fonts, it might be a good thing to try
and determine if everyone is using the same font file, as font files
have increased in size over the years.

I had a third suggestion, but at the moment it is escaping me.


--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 5.0
Thunderbird 3.1.11
LibreOffice 3.3.2

 

[J Tinsby]

Let us know which suggestion worked. Thanks!

HI J D

Well I found a free, you can't beat free, .PDF creator that I am now
using to make .pdf files for the small group. I advised them all what
I was going to do and why, and what they need to have to read the
files when I send them. If they don't have Adobe they can get Foxit
Reader, better smaller, faster and free too.

The little program I am using to make the .pdf's is called
"MYPDFConvertor" it installs another printer in your printer list and
when you want to convert a file to .pdf you simply choose that printer
and hit PRINT... it doesn't really print a paper copy it merely
converts your document to a .pdf file and puts it in the location of
your choice!

So thanks to everyone who replied, it's great that I found this server
hosting the MS Newsgroups they are a wonderful resouce ful of great
knowledgeable people!

Regards,

J T