Hallo mark!

 ml> 1c. ignore it and do not write it to the output (aka skip)

That sounds like what I called stripping in the previous post.  Basically it
has the same effect if it isn't in the output.

 ml> a lot of code does #1 when it should do #2...

I am not convinced it "should" do either but perhaps in certain cases there
could be characters that might do "harm" such as some ansi bbses do to user's
terminals.  I used to have to run reset after logging out of bbses to get
things back to normal after telnetting to them.  This is what led me to where I
 am today as far as offline messaging is concerned.  I want it all and not just
 what some sysop thinks I want since they are always wrong amd make very bad
software choices as a rule.  This "loses an i" bug is a prime example methinks,
 although I still think there may still be issues with the holes in the MS
codepages that haven't reared their ugly heads ... or at least that I am aware
of.  I did see on one Russian site ages ago a document which identified as
KOI8-R was actually CP1251 and although they were all Cyrillic they obviously
were wrong.  I downloaded and used iconv to change it to CP1251 just to make
sure.  Bottomline is there is way too much that goes awry when dealing with
differing codepages and stripping out codes will definetly cause harm to
messages.

 ml> that in nancy's case, she sees the characters after

Yes but Nancy's editor is perfect for testing since we both know for a fact it
does no harm, even to utf8 characters which she cannot 'properly' render but
she can see the 8 bit hex codes as they map out to IBM437.  If anything is
amiss it is obvious when she quotes whatever is of concern back as is in the
case of the "loses an i" bug.

 ml> keep on with the poking... it may result in some real good for
 ml> the network one day

You too.  Your call on this particular issue was bang on.  I now bow to the
master.

Het leven is goed,
Maurice

... Huil niet om mij, ik heb vi.
--- GNU bash, version 5.0.7(1)-release (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)
 * Origin: Little Mikey's EuroPoint - Ladysmith BC, Canada (2:280/464.113)