[missing-sync-palmos-talk] Some line breaks appear as a "box character" on Palm

[John Schulz]

I've submitted this to Mark/Space through the Beta Feedback Form, but I 
didn't find a mention of anyone else experiencing this problem (checked 
the knowledge base and list archives for the past few months).  Here's 
a heads up / request for confirmation.


Palm Tungsten T (m550)
Palm OS 5.0
Missing Sync 4.0.1b2
OS X 10.3.5

Problem:
Certain line endings in MemoPad are not converted to Palm-compatible 
ones. This results in a "box character" on the Palm instead of a proper 
line ending; however, lines end as expected (no "box character" 
displayed) when viewing through MemoPad.

I consider this a data-destroying bug since line ending information is 
lost; the resulting memo is virtually useless when viewed on the Palm, 
since it's a mass of text littered with "box characters". Once the "box 
character" has been copied to the Palm, there doesn't seem to be a way 
to remove it except by manually replacing it with a carriage return 
(either on the Palm or in MemoPad), which is very time-consuming.

(Note that the "box character" never appears in MemoPad; however, if 
you delete line breaks in MemoPad that are actually the "box character" 
on the Palm, then replace them with a new line break (hit the Return 
key), those new line breaks display properly when synced to the Palm.)

I've experienced this problem when copying from a Comment in an Excel 
document and text that was either entered directly into a BBEdit 
document or pasted into one and then copied and pasted into MemoPad. I 
have NOT experienced this problem with text entered directly into a 
TextEdit document and then pasted into MemoPad.

It is also interesting to note that copying from an Excel Comment, 
pasting into TextPad, and then copying from TextPad and pasting into 
MemoPad does NOT produce the "box character" on the Palm. However, once 
the "box character" is part of the memo, it can't be removed by pasting 
into TextPad and then copying and pasting it into MemoPad; you must 
manually delete and reenter the line endings, as explained above.

Steps to Reproduce:
1) Open BBEdit.
2) Type some text on multiple lines. (I have experimented with Mac, 
DOS, and Unix line breaks, all produce the "box character")
3) Copy it into a new memo in MemoPad.
4) Sync with the Palm.
5) View the memo on the Palm.

Actual Results:
Instead of displaying the text on multiple lines, the "box character" 
is there instead of a line break.

Expected Results:
Regardless of where text is entered or copied from, all line breaks are 
properly converted to work on the Palm; no "box characters" are 
displayed.

--
John Schulz
Why usability testing is essential:
"The average Internet user's experience is one of failure." - Jakob 
Nielsen, Usability Guru
<http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20010218.html>