Irreconcilable differences

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August 15, 2010

By Greg Bott The Meridian Star The Meridian Star Sun Aug 15, 2010, 08:30 AM CDT

MERIDIAN — From my limited understanding and expertise, compatibility is crucial in a relationship. If you and your partner have contradictory core values you're not likely to survive long as a couple. If you are sedentary and your partner is outdoorsy, you're in for it. He spends, she saves equals trouble. Not on the same page with child discipline? Brace yourself for many a fight. And we haven't even mentioned the frequency of marital privilege (this is a G-rated column).

   Computers are no different. Compatibility is everything. How many times have you received an email with an attachment you can't open? I've hired a great number of technical people in my lifetime and I'm always amazed at the number of people (even those seeking a technical position) who send their resume in the nearly defunct WordPerfect word processor format or in the even more obscure Microsoft Works format. Most of these resumes end up in the recycle bin.

   I'm still not, nor will I ever be, an expert in relationships, but I imagine resolving compatibility issues in people relationships and for computers is similar. You have to find common ground and you must find a way to communicate that you both understand.

   Common ground may mean that you entertain a third option that's agreeable to you both. In computers, this translates to certain industry standard formats--many of which you've probably heard of. For example, if you want to evaluate and analyze sales data from a third-party program you can generally save it to a format that's readable by Microsoft Excel. Those "common ground" document formats include CSV, and TXT files and in some cases XML files. The TLA's (three-letter acronyms)--XML, CSV, RTF, TXT, XLS, DOC and (some four-letter ones) DOCX, XLSX, etc., refer to the letters that trail the end of a file name (e.g., MyResume.doc). These three letters are referred to as the file extension.

   In Windows, these extensions tell the operating system what program to start after you double-click a file. It's these three little letters that also tell the operating system what icon to display. An example will help. You write a letter in Microsoft Word and save it. Word automatically appends "DOC" to the end of the file (DOCX if you're using Word 2007 or later) you just saved (e.g., "Myletter.doc"). If you rename that file to Myletter.xls, Windows will give it an Excel icon instead of a Word icon. If you double-click on Myletter.xls, Windows will unsuccessfully try to load your Word document into Excel.

   Now that we understand a little about file extensions and TLA's let's increase our compatibility. If you had Microsoft Word at work and Works at home, you can save your document as a Works file while at work or you could use another format that's common to them both--RTF. Okay, great. Now I'm lost--how do I know which file formats each program supports? Good question. In your program at work, go to File, then Save As, and see what file formats are listed in the drop-down box (Text only/txt, Rich text/rtf, XML, etc.) then do the same on your other program and use a format that's common to both.

   Another option, especially when sending files for wide distribution, is to convert the file to PDF. PDF stands for "Portable Document Format" and can be read by any computer or device that has a PDF reader. As with people relationships, the more you understand, the easier it is to communicate. Technically yours.

   Greg’s professional experience includes consulting for Price Waterhouse, working as a Program Manager for Microsoft Corporation, and serving as Chief Technology Officer for several companies. He has a Masters in Software Engineering from the University of Texas and has presented at technical conferences across the world. Bott Technology Solutions helps small to midsize businesses with computer technology needs. Greg may be reached via e-mail at gregbott@bottinc.com or at 601-207-0509.

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