A couple anomalies I noticed. First, if I search for a space using PowerFind Pro (or PowerFind for that manner) it finds any blank space (space, return or tab). However if I find "Space or Tab" it finds only spaces and tabs (not returns). Somehow I would expect "Space or Tab" to find more things than "Space".
Second, spaces at the ends of lines don't show up if you chose "show invisibles". I have found this confusing a couple times when I thought I needed to insert a space only to find that I now had two.
Anomalies regarding spaces
Also, every operation involving Paste (or drag-and-drop or a macro script) adds a space to the end of the text--even if the text stands alone, with no surrounding text. This throws off alignment and requires the user to do a lot of annoying deleting.
This is not an imposition of OS X, because other applications don't add a space to pasted or formatted text. For one, Omni products (OmniOutliner, for example) or BBEdit don't exhibit this behavior, and they are native OS X applications.[/b]
This is not an imposition of OS X, because other applications don't add a space to pasted or formatted text. For one, Omni products (OmniOutliner, for example) or BBEdit don't exhibit this behavior, and they are native OS X applications.[/b]
Al Hatch
Better algorithm
NWX doesn't seem to be copying intelligently either. Wouldn't an algorithm like this be better, perhaps with some elaboration of the first condition to make it more discriminating?
COPY
1. Copy the selection to the clipboard.
2. Is the selection a word or a group of words? Yes if:
The first word in the selection is alphanumeric.
The first word is preceded or started by a space
The last word in the selection is alphanumeric.
The last word is ended by or followed by a space.
3. If yes, add or delete spaces as necessary to the string on the clipboard so that a single space precedes the first word and follows the last.
PASTE
1. Do the contents of the clipboard start and end with a single space?
2. If so, delete all spaces in the text surrounding the insertion point.
3. Paste the clipboard at the insertion point.
COPY
1. Copy the selection to the clipboard.
2. Is the selection a word or a group of words? Yes if:
The first word in the selection is alphanumeric.
The first word is preceded or started by a space
The last word in the selection is alphanumeric.
The last word is ended by or followed by a space.
3. If yes, add or delete spaces as necessary to the string on the clipboard so that a single space precedes the first word and follows the last.
PASTE
1. Do the contents of the clipboard start and end with a single space?
2. If so, delete all spaces in the text surrounding the insertion point.
3. Paste the clipboard at the insertion point.