The problem isn't us, it's you.

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From: Darrell Fuhriman
Subject: The problem isn't us, it's you.
Date: 03:39 on 24 Feb 2007
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I use an application called EndNote for managing my citations. It's  
rather clunky, and clearly suffers from vertical market syndrome  
(i.e. we're by far the major player in our field, so you'll take what  
we give you and you'll like it).  You simply fill out the appropriate  
fields, and the software creates a properly formatted citation for  
you (in any number of 2200+ different formats depending on the  
journal, which is a hate for another time).

Anyway, I found a bug.  Specifically, if you have a reference, and  
the title of that reference has a trailing space entered, the period  
that should follow it disappears.

Example:

Masocaha, M. 2006. Informal waste harvesting in Victoria Falls town,  
Zimbabwe: Socio-economic benefits Habitat International 30 (4):838-848.

It should look like this (note the period after "benefits"):

Masocha, M. 2006. Informal waste harvesting in Victoria Falls town,  
Zimbabwe: Socio-economic benefits. Habitat International 30 (4):838-848.

It's a minor bug, but irritating.  So I e-mailed the company (Thomson  
Scientific ResearchSoft, just to make sure the idiots do not remain  
anonymous). And this is the response I (eventually) get.

"After further discussion with my senior colleague we have concluded  
that you are referring to a trailing space at the end of the Title  
reference field in your EndNote library and not a trailing space at  
the end of the text "Title" in your output style editor.

Adding an extra space after the Title in the Title reference field  
will result in the period disappearing. There is no fix for this  
issue, because the proper syntax for inserting Titles in the Title  
reference field dictates that there must not be any extra spaces at  
the end of the Title.
[...]
Anthony Marconi
Customer Technical Support, Thomson Scientific ResearchSoft
(408) 987-5609, Mon-Fri, 6am-5pm, PST
http://www.researchsoft.com/contact";

I especially like that it took a senior colleague to figure out that  
when I say, "If an article title has a trailing space..." it means I  
am "referring to a trailing space at the end of the Title reference  
field"

Uh, yah, maybe I'm crazy, but does that really take a senior  
colleague to figure out? Never mind, don't answer that.

So, my real question is: what kind of idiotic software can't cope  
with a trailing space?  It's not like a trailing space has meaning in  
this context. Even a moderately retarded piece of software would just  
leave the spaces there, but not remove the space then delete the  
following character. And why the hell are you blaming me for not  
following idiotic restrictions unnecessarily created by your crappy  
software?

Aaaarrgghhh.. I'm trying really hard not send a flaming a e-mail back.

Darrell


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<HTML><BODY style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; =
-khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; =
margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal =
normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; ">I use an application called EndNote for managing my =
citations. It's rather clunky, and clearly suffers from vertical market =
syndrome (i.e. we're by far the major player in our field, so you'll =
take what we give you and you'll like it).=A0 You simply fill out the =
appropriate fields, and the software creates a properly formatted =
citation for you (in any number of 2200+ different formats depending on =
the journal, which is a hate for another time).=A0</DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; =
min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; =
margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Anyway,=A0I =
found a bug.=A0 Specifically, if you have a reference, and the title of =
that reference has a trailing space entered, the period that should =
follow it disappears.</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: =
0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal =
12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; ">Example:</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; =
margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal =
normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; ">Masocaha, M. 2006. Informal waste harvesting in =
Victoria Falls town, Zimbabwe: Socio-economic benefits <I>Habitat =
International</I> 30 (4):838-848.</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; =
margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal =
normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; ">It should look like this (note the period after =
"benefits"):</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; =
margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal =
12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; ">Masocha, M. 2006. Informal waste harvesting in =
Victoria Falls town, Zimbabwe: Socio-economic benefits. <I>Habitat =
International</I> 30 (4):838-848.</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; =
margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal =
normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; ">It's a minor bug, but irritating.=A0 So I e-mailed =
the company (Thomson Scientific ResearchSoft, just to make sure the =
idiots do not remain anonymous). And this is the response I (eventually) =
get.</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; =
margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; =
margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">"After =
further discussion with my senior colleague we have concluded that you =
are referring to a trailing space at the end of the Title reference =
field in your EndNote library and not a trailing space at the end of the =
text "Title" in your output style editor.</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: =
0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; =
margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Adding an =
extra space after the Title in the Title reference field will result in =
the period disappearing. There is no fix for this issue, because the =
proper syntax for inserting Titles in the Title reference field dictates =
that there must not be any extra spaces at the end of the =
Title.</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; =
margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">[...]</DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; ">Anthony Marconi</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; =
margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Customer =
Technical Support, Thomson Scientific ResearchSoft</DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; ">(408) 987-5609, Mon-Fri, 6am-5pm, PST</DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; "><A =
href=3D"http://www.researchsoft.com/contact">http://www.researchsoft.com/c=
ontact</A>"</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; =
margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; =
margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">I especially =
like that it took a senior colleague to figure out that when I say, "If =
an article title has a trailing space..." it means I am "referring to a =
trailing space at the end of the Title reference field"</DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; "><BR class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; ">Uh, yah, maybe I'm crazy, but does that really take =
a senior colleague to figure out? Never mind, don't answer =
that.</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; =
margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; =
margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">So, my real =
question is: what kind of idiotic software can't cope with a trailing =
space?=A0 It's not like a trailing space has meaning in this context. =
Even a moderately retarded piece of software would just leave the spaces =
there, but not remove the space then delete the following character. And =
why the hell are you blaming me for not following idiotic restrictions =
unnecessarily created by your crappy software?</DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; "><BR class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; ">Aaaarrgghhh.. I'm trying really hard not send a =
flaming a e-mail back.</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: =
0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; =
margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; =
">Darrell</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; =
margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV></BODY></HTML>=

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