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> > Readability is on the eyes of the final user, they are free to use whatever narrow column width they prefer. > For plaintext sure. Not for code or tabular

> > Readability is on the eyes of the final user, they are free to use whatever narrow column width they prefer. > For plaintext sure. Not for code or tabular data. It destroys indentation and destroys column alignment and interleaves parts of rows. It's a horrid mess. I don't think I have seen unaligned html tables, nor unaligned spreadsheets made from CSV/TSV/etc. Images are worse than PDF, so I guess it's 0-stars in the 5-star data tier. https://5stardata.info/en/ https://5stardata.info/en/

crazygringo 1y ago
I'm not really sure what you're talking about. PDF...? I'm talking about tables output in the terminal, in ASCII by SQL or something. By Python's tabulate. Output from a script. Or yes, even HTML tables or spreadsheet cells that get pasted into the message client as plaintext and lose their table formatting. This isn't about a standard for publicly distributed open datasets, what are you on about? This is about quick messages in a chat or e-mail.
- dietr1ch 1y ago
  > even HTML tables or spreadsheet cells that get pasted into the message client as plaintext and lose their table formatting. Sounds like a message client problem to me. You are switching to a worse data exchange format just to get around a very basic implementation of the paste API. Pictures are a worse exchange format than the data even a PDF or CSV, which is why I mentioned the RDF data exchange tier list, not because I'm on hard drugs. Is it convenient to send Images on whatever message client you use? Sure, but as a receiver of the data in a picture you can do nothing but type the data yourself (yeah, you can ask for the source too, but on async comm channels that may not arrive in the same day).
  - Hackbraten 1y ago
    > Sounds like a message client problem to me. More often than not, you have no control over your client thanks to proprietary protocols and interop-hostile apps. So yes, it's a message client problem, but that fact doesn't change anything.
  - crazygringo 1y ago
    > Sounds like a message client problem to me. Yes, of course it is. That's the entire point. It's a very needed workaround for most message clients, since most message clients don't support code blocks with horizontal scroll.
    - unixplumber 1y ago
      But at least text can be copy-pasted by the receiving user into a real text editor of their choice if there's an actual need to preserve tabular/indented/wide text.
      - crazygringo 1y ago
        That's an extra step that can be extremely difficult to do on mobile. I'm trying to make my messages clear immediately, not make the recipient jump through hoops. That's what good, clear communication is about.
        dietr1ch 1y ago
        Maybe don't work from a tiny screen if its too small for you to do basic tasks.

crazygringo 1y ago

I'm not really sure what you're talking about. PDF...? I'm talking about tables output in the terminal, in ASCII by SQL or something. By Python's tabulate. Output from a script. Or yes, even HTML tables or spreadsheet cells that get pasted into the message client as plaintext and lose their table formatting. This isn't about a standard for publicly distributed open datasets, what are you on about? This is about quick messages in a chat or e-mail.

dietr1ch 1y ago
> even HTML tables or spreadsheet cells that get pasted into the message client as plaintext and lose their table formatting. Sounds like a message client problem to me. You are switching to a worse data exchange format just to get around a very basic implementation of the paste API. Pictures are a worse exchange format than the data even a PDF or CSV, which is why I mentioned the RDF data exchange tier list, not because I'm on hard drugs. Is it convenient to send Images on whatever message client you use? Sure, but as a receiver of the data in a picture you can do nothing but type the data yourself (yeah, you can ask for the source too, but on async comm channels that may not arrive in the same day).
- Hackbraten 1y ago
  > Sounds like a message client problem to me. More often than not, you have no control over your client thanks to proprietary protocols and interop-hostile apps. So yes, it's a message client problem, but that fact doesn't change anything.
- crazygringo 1y ago
  > Sounds like a message client problem to me. Yes, of course it is. That's the entire point. It's a very needed workaround for most message clients, since most message clients don't support code blocks with horizontal scroll.
  - unixplumber 1y ago
    But at least text can be copy-pasted by the receiving user into a real text editor of their choice if there's an actual need to preserve tabular/indented/wide text.
    - crazygringo 1y ago
      That's an extra step that can be extremely difficult to do on mobile. I'm trying to make my messages clear immediately, not make the recipient jump through hoops. That's what good, clear communication is about.
      - dietr1ch 1y ago
        Maybe don't work from a tiny screen if its too small for you to do basic tasks.