How do you create a README file...

[tvieno]

How do you add line breaks to the README file. I have uploaded a number of sceneries to this very site and among a few pictures, I include a FILE_ID.DIZ and a readme file that includes a small description and installation instructions.

I have found that other people's readme have spaces in between the lines whereas mine doesn't. I sorta take pride in how my stuff is presented and it is just plain embarrassing.

Theirs:
http://www.flightsim.com/zview.php?c...ukee.txt&idx=0

Mine:
http://www.flightsim.com/zview.php?c...adme.txt&idx=7

But if you were to open the actual readme, it looks as it should with line breaks and all. I use Notepad.exe to create it.

so, how is it done?

[JSkorna]

When you want a new line in Notepad, use the Enter key.

[tvieno]

When you want a new line in Notepad, use the Enter key.

Is there another way because that is the only way I know how to add a line break is with the ENTER key.

[JSkorna]

Make sure Word wrap is Off.

I have never used Notepad to create a whole document so I can't suggest anything more.

[leonross]

You could use ADOBE READER and create a .PDF file with all your instuctions . Then include that in your upload .

[rsoro01]

I use Notepad myself to create text files including the Readme file for scenery uploads. Not sure why yours would look different than your first example. As JSkorna has noted, ENTER drops you to a new line. FWIW, I haven't noticed any difference with Line Break ON or OFF, either. I'm running Win XP. I don't know what differences there might be in Notepad among the various operating systems, though.

The formatting you're seeing, though, reminds me of what I sometimes see in opening a text file created with Notepad++.


Rich

[tvieno]

I use Notepad myself to create text files including the Readme file for scenery uploads. Not sure why yours would look different than your first example. As JSkorna has noted, ENTER drops you to a new line. FWIW, I haven't noticed any difference with Line Break ON or OFF, either. I'm running Win XP. I don't know what differences there might be in Notepad among the various operating systems, though.

The formatting you're seeing, though, reminds me of what I sometimes see in opening a text file created with Notepad++.

I use the term 'line break' just to describe when you are finished with a line, paragraph, or what have you. I am using Vista but I am sure that the Notepad.exe is the same program. (My guess is that it is the same program from the old Windows 3.1 days.)

One thing I have noticed is when you look at the links I provided above, in the link of my README, there are two characters "ÿþ" at the beginning of the text. I don't know what that artifact is and it is not there in the README file when it is downloaded.

The only things I can think of that may be causing this is:

• I use a generic README file I have saved on my desktop and maybe it is corrupted or
  
• before I save it, I copy and paste the text into MSWord for grammar and spell checks then paste it back. Perhaps something unseen is being transferred.

I think for my next scenery, I'll use Wordpad and see if that makes a difference.

[tvieno]

I emailed the webmaster at FlightSim and asked him what is going on. His reply is:

We did some investigating on your readme.txt file problem. The problem seems to be that it is not really a text (*.txt) file, it's something else, some sort of Unicode file. You need to make sure that whatever editor you are using is really saving as a true text file and not some extended version (and there are lots of them). Are you perhaps running a non-English language version of Windows? If so, that might be the cause but I'm not sure how to work around it.

And the README file I use as a template was saving the file as a Unicode. I believe it started to save it that way when I saved a scenery I made for an airport in India and used non-Roman characters in the README.

[ViperPilot2]

before I save it, I copy and paste the text into MSWord for grammar and spell checks then paste it back. Perhaps something unseen is being transferred.
I think for my next scenery, I'll use Wordpad and see if that makes a difference.

The issue comes from using either Wordpad or MS Word to edit and spell check your Readme file.

Wordpad and Word try to save the Document as a Word file, to preserve all of the Formatting, Font and structure of the Document.

Notepad is just that; a simple text editor. When you use Word or Wordpad to spell check, it invisibly inserts all of the Formatting code into the Document, hence all of the
gibberish when the Webmaster tried to read it.

Just turn on Word Wrap, write your Readme, and save the file as a simple .txt file. No RTF, no compatability... just Save As... .txt.

Hope that helps,

Alan

[rsoro01]

I emailed the webmaster at FlightSim and asked him what is going on. His reply is:

.....

And the README file I use as a template was saving the file as a Unicode. I believe it started to save it that way when I saved a scenery I made for an airport in India and used non-Roman characters in the README.

There's the culprit. I believe the default setting in Notepad is ANSI. I would have suspected MSWord but, according to what you wrote, you didn't save the ReadMe text in MSWORD but rather copy/pasted the correct text back into NotePad. That being the case, MSWord's formatting of a text file shouldn't come into play.

Rich