v16.3 - Links to SmartFields

[ss-kalm]

I does make you wonder how professional coders can apply such sloppy coding, and NOT notice that it doesn't work, but still put it out in a "Professional" product.

[Acorn]

I does make you wonder how professional coders can apply such sloppy coding, and NOT notice that it doesn't work, but still put it out in a "Professional" product.

Over 10 years ago, I used MS Word to convert a weighty rulebook into a set of Word Templates using Template Styles, MacroButtons values and AutoTextList entries that changed with the applied Style. It was smart enough to handle the full range of personal pronouns; at the time the list was simple: he/him, she/her, they/their, ...
It took six weeks and about 20 templates and a tyro simply right-clicked on a paragraph to change it from a simple thing like Yours sincerely to Yours faithfully, salutations based on the correspondent's title and large sections that were automatically updated on the gender change. The former formulaic responses were transformed into something that looked as if there was a caring replier; it actually did change the writer's perceptions and healthy dialogues ensured. Nowadays, there'll be an AI doing it all.

With Xara, we are still at the tablets of stone stage.

Acorn

[Acorn]

Dear Xara...

...I can only beg with a very sad face, but can this please be fixed?

Here is the simplest test file that I can think of for you to check the inanity of using Smart Fields with any form of Link: Xara - Smart Field Link Explosion.xar: every character in a Linked Smart Field is being wrapped needlessly in the HTML to set up the required link address - each and every character.

Smart Fields could have been so much better.

Acorn