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Subject: RE: [dita] hyphens and file names
> 5. And then there is the issue of files names that turn into parts of URNs, donšt get me started! This one was the last straw for me, and the reason I raised the question. I sent someone a request for a URL with a filename in it, and it came out with underscores. It has happened again since. Here's a chance for the DITA TC to do something absurdly small yet exemplary ... standardize on hyphens only in identifiers. > all the rage in the URN and Unix communities One reason to avoid hyphens in Unix was to avoid confusion with the flag convention ("cmd -flags"). Second, spaces were token delimiters on the command line, so file names couldn't contain spaces, and underscores were the most unobtrusive alternative. At that time, underlining of running text was a novel and underutilized feature that was only supported on certain terminals, so there was no conflict with underscores. And of course, URLs didn't exist yet. Rubato, Bruce -----Original Message----- From: Deborah Aleyne Lapeyre [mailto:dalapeyre@mulberrytech.com] Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 3:18 PM To: dita@lists.oasis-open.org Cc: Deborah Aleyne Lapeyre; dita@lists.oasis-open.org Subject: RE: [dita] hyphens and file names I know they are all the rage in the URN and Unix communities, but I have never liked underscores in file names. In vaguely decreasing order of importance, I dislike underscores because: 1. Lack of distinctness and clarity My primary objection to underscore is that in file names it is frequently unclear. When you underline text, a space becomes indistinguishable from an underscore. The underscores can't really be seen. a. Many older websites indicate links by turning the text blue and underlining it. The underscores vanish. b. Some editing packages default to underlines to show change (effectivity) or badly spelled words. Yes, you could change the default but many don't. 2. Hard to see - Underscores are (to my eyes) hard to see, especially in print with close leading. 3. Confusion with commands. I avoid periods in element names because they look like classes and mess with the java folks heads. Similarly "HTTP_Get" and it's ilk are commands in my world. Similarly, underscore is a command character in LaTeX. 4. Underscore has a history that hyphens lack. Underscores has been used historically as an "I can't cope" character. Certain older version of both IE and some Adobe products, inserted underscores when they could not cope with a character in a filename deb.taz.zip ==> deb_tar.zip for example, so many people (and some software) treat underscore in certain locations in a file or path name as errors or artifacts. Software like IDEAs converted all characters (such as #,%, {,},(,), etc.) to underscore in filenames. 4. Accessibility - On most modern keyboards, underscore is a shift-click and hyphen is a single click. Folks using their feet or a pen in their teeth avoid shifting and all double motions. (Yes, you can program them to be single, so this may be a wash.) Pronouncing software folks used to dislike underscore (don't know if this one has been solved more recently) because: a) There were too many different ways to pronounce it. b) There was no one-syllable way to pronounce it (whereas hyphen can use "dash"). c) It was tricky (slower) to indicate in speech the difference between a character underscore that stands alone (or does it underline a space?) and an underscored character or word. 5. An then there is the issue of files names that turn into parts of URNs, donšt get me started! --Debbie -- ====================================================================== Deborah Aleyne Lapeyre mailto:dalapeyre@mulberrytech.com Mulberry Technologies, Inc. http://www.mulberrytech.com 17 West Jefferson Street Direct Phone: 301/315-9633 Suite 207 Phone: 301/315-9631 Rockville, MD 20850 Fax: 301/315-8285 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Mulberry Technologies: A Consultancy Specializing in XML and SGML ======================================================================
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