Re: Spaces After Full Stop--Technical Thought

[Chuck Melikian <chuckm -at- MDHOST -dot- CSE -dot- TEK -dot- COM>]

In reference to  whether a computer can recognize the end of a sentence or not:

# > I'm not trying to correct that person because, honestly, I don't know
# > what
# > this function call from the Macintosh toolbox really does. But is
# > seems to
# > me that with a function, that can add width to a space, could do so
# > conditionally (i.e. after a period is read) in the code.
# >
# > If this is true, then it would support the argument that the spaces
# > between a period and the character that follows the space could be
# > wider
# > making it unnecessary to place two spaces after the full stop (At
# > least on
# > Macs--dunno about PCs-- haven't been programming for Windows).
# >
#
# Well, if you manage to write a program that can tell whether the period
# actually marks the end of a sentence or is used for some other purpose
# (e.g. an abbreviation), I'd like a copy. You could also sell it to Uncle
# Bill for a couple of million. Might a quite a challenging assignment,
# though.

Such capability already exists. And you can buy it. It is called a Newton.
It does recognize a period as the end of a sentence or not depending on what
kind of information you are entering. (Obviously, the handwriting recognition
program is making assumptions, but it is correct most of the time.)

If you simply enter letters in a string, it interpets a period as the
end of a sentence and automatically enters a space after the period.
If you are entering an email address and put in a period, the Newton
*does not* put a space after the period.

Indeed, when entering text from the onscreen keyboard, the Newton will
automatically switch to all caps after you enter a period and once you
enter a single letter, it switches back to lowercase.

Naturally, it will make mistakes since it is using a simple set of rules
to determine how to respond. Nonetheless, it does do things for the user
without explicitly being told to do so. No, it does not know that a period
in a string of text means the end of a sentence, it assumes that is what it
means. But, it is wrong seldom enough (for me) that it isn't a problem.

Regards,

Chuck Melikian

PS For those that don't recognize the name Newton, it is a Personal
Digital Assistant made by Apple Computer. It is essentially a handheld
computer optimized for taking notes. It includes an address book, date
book, fax capability, a currency calculator, a financial calculator and
several other little goodies. The Newton features handwriting recognition
so you just write on the display and the Newton translates it into text/
numbers that it can store. The Pilot is a similar product from US Robotics.

chuck -dot- melikian -at- tek -dot- com
Tektronix, Inc.

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