Consider the reply option selected for how long line from the original message are to be handled.  If Reformat or Wrap are selected the result will then be manipulated to conform to the message width setting you have configured for message formatting.  That width probably won't match the original message which can result in odd line wrapping or line breaks.  Sometimes the solution is a simple as cancelling that reply and trying it again using a different setting for the long line handling.  Sometimes manual manipulation is the only option.

That doesn't answer your question about why it's not automatically handled.  Perhaps its not possible considering the varied formatting that messages arrive in and the user options provide users with the means of automating the process as much as possible.

Here's a real rookie question for ya.

How do I get the text in a received email to justify correctly?   I have the right margin set to 70 characters yet the message shows line feeds occuring as few as 3 or four characters.  Some lines are the correct length with the very next one cut short to one or two words and then the next one could be 50 characters.  Makes no sense at all.  I use plain text only. 

Even so, when I reply to the message the entire original text is formatted correctly with the '>' character placed at the beginning of each line as it should and paragraphing is done properly.

Replies are working fine.  Is there some way to get the original message to format correctly?

Have you tried F5 - reformat long lines?  That often gets rid of strange line lengths for me.  (You can also set it by right-clicking in the message text.)

[quote user="PaulW"]Have you tried F5 - reformat long lines?  That often gets rid of strange line lengths for me.  (You can also set it by right-clicking in the message text.)[/quote]

Ya know, I always thought that was a one time deal that would straighten up the formatting of a message in the active window requiring a user to repeat the process for each and every message.  I clicked on it and lo and behold it puts a check mark there and is a permanent setting.

I suppose I should check  the easy things before I ask dumb questions eh? 

eeesh.  Thanks

Not a dumb question IMO - the interface is so rich that there are plenty of options some of us have never explored :)

I agree with whoever it was that said the only thing worse than asking a dumb question is not asking it at all.

As a journalist, I make my living asking dumb questions and have become quite a connosieur of the genre (but still can't spell)....  In fact, I might hold the record for dumb questions about Pegasus, but I've never known a better bunch of patient eggheads than the techies on this list!  In fact, to have a program that is as great as Pegasus is pretty neat; but to have each question I've ever thrown at these guys get answered in such a way as you feel like you've asked a dumb question (because the answer seems so obvious) is -- well, you can't ask for anything more! 

 Now, can someone tell me whether MS Word has an F5 or ctrl-J function?  Every once in a while -- since having to abandon WordStar a decade or so ago -- I will devote 15 or 20 minutes to trying to find such a seemingly simple command to format a paragraph; so far, without success....  And trying to get Help from any MS Word source quickly eats up the time allottment....  (Sorry to be off-topic, but I thought just this once.)

---pbm

Oddly enough, wrapping is probably the issue in Pegasus Mail that gets me the most angst-ridden feedback from my user community. Various of my beta testers are very vocal about how badly they think the program handles wrapping, and I know that I answer questions like Harry's ("have you tried pressing F5 or Ctrl+F5") more often than almost any other questions about the program (suggesting that I *really* need to find some way of making it more obvious).

The wrapping facilities in the program are what have evolved over the seventeen years the program has been in existence, and reflect an attempt to handle an almost impossible range of styles, programs, RFC violations, preferences and glitches. I'd be the first to admit that they're not perfect, but I think they are probably better than they sometimes get credit for. Nonetheless, one of the imponderably many things on the to-do list for v5 or later is to revisit wrapping and see if I can polish it even further. One area where I think it could really use some work is the way it handles multiple levels of quoting, and that will be one of the first things I look into.

With regard to MS Word... I suspect Microsoft would simply look blankly at you and ask why you needed a reformat command. Their approach, I suspect, would be to adjust the margins for the paragraph you want reformed. Personally, I think margin management in Word is pretty horrid, but that's just me... Nonetheless, you have my sympathy.

Cheers!

-- David --

[quote user="pbm"] Now, can someone tell me whether MS Word has an F5 or ctrl-J function?  Every once in a while -- since having to abandon WordStar a decade or so ago -- I will devote 15 or 20 minutes to trying to find such a seemingly simple command to format a paragraph; so far, without success....  And trying to get Help from any MS Word source quickly eats up the time allottment....  (Sorry to be off-topic, but I thought just this once.)[/quote]

Exactly!  I find it very telling -- sad, even -- that an email program (i.e. Pegasus) does a better text-editing job than a dedicated text editor (i.e. Word)..... David, when you have a little extra time, could you fix Word?

--pbm.

[quote user="David Harris"]Oddly enough, wrapping is probably the issue in Pegasus Mail that gets me the most angst-ridden feedback from my user community. Various of my beta testers are very vocal about how badly they think the program handles wrapping, and I know that I answer questions like Harry's ("have you tried pressing F5 or Ctrl+F5") more often than almost any other questions about the program (suggesting that I *really* need to find some way of making it more obvious).
[/quote]

How about placing this option in tools-options-outgoing mail-message formatting?  The reformatting works great once I was made aware of it's location so I don't see a need to rework the functionality.  I can't speak for everyone, but I view selections made in a dropdown box more or less as a temporary one time deal.  Permanently "Reformat long lines" or "wrap long lines" would be much more obvious if the check boxes were right there in the "TABS and MARGINS" subarea.  

[quote user="pbm"] Now, can someone tell me whether MS Word has an F5 or ctrl-J function? 

---pbm [/quote]

At the risk of stating the obvious, since I NEVER close pegasus, the function you are looking for in word is as simple as 1) cut the offending paragraph; 2) paste it into a new mail message; 3) reformat with cntl-J, 4) cut the paragraph again, 5) paste it back.

You can get fancy, if you must, by first making a copy within word so that you can still retain the formatting within word.  Modify the above to: 1) create duplicate content within word 2) follow the above for one of the two sections 3) highlight the not modified section wtihin word 4) click the format painter 5) highlight the modified content 6) paint the old format over the newly copied in paragraph. 7) delete the unmodified version. 

Maybe Pegasus can be listed as an official Word helper program? 

Cool!

--pbm

[quote user="pbm"]

Exactly!  I find it very telling -- sad, even -- that an email program (i.e. Pegasus) does a better text-editing job than a dedicated text editor (i.e. Word)..... David, when you have a little extra time, could you fix Word?[/quote]

But Word isn't a text editor; it's a word-processing program. Whatever its deficiencies at what it does do, horses for courses. Word couldn't do for me what TextMate, for example, does, but vice versa, too. Essentially wp programs are for producing styled text with a view to ordering and printing it on standard paper sizes. And usually input is via keyboard. Pure text-manipulation is more what text editors are for.

I can't afford a copy of Word currently, but Open Office Writer does offer a facility for joining broken lines where the user may have pasted in from another document--but I'm darned if i can make it work. But, FWIW, if oo.org's wp has it, odds are Word has, too.

Sorry, now we really are off-topic, but a word-processing program that can't format a paragraph doesn't deserve the name (IMHO).  Word is a donkey calling itself a horse....

 cheers,

 --pbm

[quote user="pbm"]

Sorry, now we really are off-topic, but a word-processing program that can't format a paragraph doesn't deserve the name (IMHO).[/quote]

But you see I didn't know that for sure. As I said, my word-processing program, Open Office Writer, apparently does--although it's not something that I'd do in a word-processing program myself.

I'm rather tickled now to discover from you that my free word-processor does what Word won't.

It seems to me the problem Word has is that you really need to understand exactly what formatting 'characters' (paragraph markers, tabs etc) are in the document to fully understand what it's doing.  Unlike most people, I always work with all formatting displayed so I can always sort things out as I need.  Often the problem is just a spurious paragraph marker that needs deleting.  But it's really hard to sort out paragraph formatting when you can't see where the paragraph markers are.

Of course Word automatically reformats on the fly so there's no need for the equivalent of control/J in Pegasus.

[quote user="Mike"]I'm rather tickled now to discover from you that my free word-processor does what Word won't.[/quote]

You will make more and more of these discoveries the longer you use Open Office.  It may have started as just a free replacement for MS Word but it really has developed into an often, IMO, superior office package.  You also can't beat the price [:D].

Why cant Pegasus do this automatically, for replies? It's been so many years now.

 When I hit reply, it installs the quote marks > and then the lines are all over the place.

Why have to do something manually that a computer can do?