Format challenges Entourage X HTML format and Windows

D

Dennis Wierzbicki

Here's one for you: I recently changed my default message format for
Entourage X to HTML so I could more easily use hyperlinks and font
formatting tools. However, I have noticed when somebody with a Windows
machine responds to me with my original text displayed in their message,
some strange formatting changes occur. Specifically, apostrophes turn into
commas; open parentheses turn into “ ; close parentheses turn into ” ,
etc..

How odd is this? It makes me look like a buffoon who doesn't know the
difference between a comma and an apostrophe. Any ideas why this would
occur, and is there a way to stop this? Have I chosen the wrong default
font? My default is Verdana. Would a different font be viewed differently by
Windows e-mail clients?

Thanks
 
P

Paul Berkowitz

Here's one for you: I recently changed my default message format for
Entourage X to HTML so I could more easily use hyperlinks and font
formatting tools. However, I have noticed when somebody with a Windows
machine responds to me with my original text displayed in their message,
some strange formatting changes occur. Specifically, apostrophes turn into
commas; open parentheses turn into ³ ; close parentheses turn into ² ,
etc..

How odd is this? It makes me look like a buffoon who doesn't know the
difference between a comma and an apostrophe. Any ideas why this would
occur, and is there a way to stop this? Have I chosen the wrong default
font? My default is Verdana. Would a different font be viewed differently by
Windows e-mail clients?
Click to expand...


Actually you only look like a buffoon to yourself, not to them. When they
get your first or latest message, they decode it properly because Entourage
includes the correct encoding for curly quotes and apostrophes - ISO 5559-1.
Their email client reads that correctly and they see the curly quotes and
apostrophes correctly. But when they reply, their somewhat stupid email
client pretends that curly quotes and apostrophes are US-ASCII - which
they're not - and encodes their message that way if they don't use any other
non-ASCII characters (like accents). It assigns the Windows encoding to
those non-ASCII characters, but doesn't say so. I.e., it's lying. So when it
comes back to you Entourage interprets it as US-ASCII since that's what it
says it is. That means that the non-ASCII characters - the curly quotes and
apostrophes - are assumed to be Mac Roman encoded, which is different than
the Windows encoding, so _you_ see the commas and semicolons in your own
quoted text. From that point on, if you re-reply, your respondents will see
them too if they read the older quoted text but not in your new signature in
your new message. So you haven't actually looked like a buffoon to them.


If you want to avoid all this - which is the fault of your correspondents'
crappy email clients - you can do so. Go to Tools/AutoCorrect/AutoFormat,
and uncheck "Replace straight quotes with smart quotes". Straight quotes are
indeed ASCII characters so they will be returned without distortion when
sent by your correspondents as US-ASCII.


--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP MacOffice
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/index.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>

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PLEASE always state which version of Microsoft Office you are using -
**2004**, X or 2001. It's often impossible to answer your questions
otherwise.
 
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