On 11/07/2018 12:06 AM, Paul Gilmartin wrote: > On 2018-11-06, at 22:20:07, Joel C. Ewing wrote: > >> If you search on-line for Unicode characters, their code point values >> are usually given using the "U+nnnn" notation, where nnnn is in hex, so >> IBM is just following standard usage. >> > My curiosity was more about whether and where it's conventional > to separate digit groups with that U+2420 SYMBOL FOR SPACE glyph. > It seems needlessly recherché. > >>>> On 2018-11-02, at 05:39:38, R.S. wrote: >>>>> ... >>>>> ... 16␠777␠215 tracks ... > -- gil >
I now understand the current recommended practice in international contexts is to avoid use of comma or period as numeric thousands separators because of conflicting conventions in different countries, with a "thin blank" U+2009 being the preferred alternative. My guess is the author of the IBM manual intended to follow that practice, but was using an editor that allowed or encouraged an erroneous choice for the blank code point, resulting in one with a visible-blank glyph. With my normal email viewing font and reading glasses, I could barely see anything for the less dense "SP" glyph -- I interpreted it as merely dirt specks on my display screen until I later resorted to extreme zoom-in. I suspect whoever composed and proofread the original manual was similarly challenged and never realized a visible glyph had been used for the blank. Joel C. Ewing -- Joel C. Ewing ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
