CompuServe Messages

Thilo Who would have though a few weeks ago that we'd be exchanging e-mail like this!<g> Thank you very much for the incredibly generous comments. They really are appreciated. As to giving myself a break, these macros are my little corner of the world when it comes to programming, and a unique opportunity to seek a little perfection without any real competition (although the promise of the macros in 4.1b did make me try a little harder, just in case). And while a drag and drop interface may be way off in the future, I have actually created a version of DTSWPDDE.WCM (not the shipping version; a beta version) whose output can be totally configured by the user. DTSWPDDE.WCM is still stripped, but if an external file called DTSWPFRM.WCM exists (note that this file does not have to exist), DTSWPDDE.WCM reads all the header, date, address, closing, etc., information from that, so the user can not only change the position of information on the page, but make it look any way they want. Don't like the header, or want to indent the RE: or the closing and signatory? Just change them! The purpose of this external file is to isolate the formatting elements so that they can be changed quickly and easily without jeopardizing the necessary and complex elements of the balance of the macro. I'll give you an example of how much easier this approach has made things for even me, who knows this macro quite well. A user asked me if I could make certain changes. The changes were simple enough, so I went ahead and did them, and it took me about twenty minutes. However, after I created the external file version (which of course took a number of hours), the same changes took about a minute. Not everybody's going to be able to do it that quickly, but assuming they have a knowledge of WPWin programming, or can cut and paste elements from a recorded macro, this will add a new dimension to using this particular macro. My objective is to make this process at least as straightforward as the "Copy templates" feature in Address Book, and I think I can do that. In closing, these macros are, ironically, my break. I sit at the computer all day writing, and when I get blocked, I turn to the macros. While programming and creative writing may not seem to have a lot in common, they in fact have very similar requirements: they require logic, the identification of problems, the creation of solutions, and a little flare to spark the reader's/user's imagination. One big plus with the macros is that I don't have to rewrite them if I don't want to, and of course I'm not answerable to whoever's hired me (as no one has hired me). That last is probably the reason above any other why these macros have been freeware rather than shareware, and are now CharityWare, so that the relationship between you and me, for example, is user to user, and not vendor/purchaser. Also, with the advent of CharityWare, it has been incredibly gratifying to me to hear from users about what they have contributed, to whom, and why — and that (watch out for the symmetry here) may well help me with my writing. Anyway, I've prattled on long enough (writers are their own worst editors; I suspect your brother-in-law knows that<g>). I just wanted to thank you for your support, and express my appreciation. David