Re: IP addresses/domain names at the end of a sentence

[Doug Isenberg <disenberg -at- GigaLaw -dot- com>]

>I want to find out how people handle IP addresses and domain names at the 
>end of a sentence. We put the domain name and IP address in a different 
>font. But will the period at the end of the sentence confuse the reader? 
>Will they think it's part of the information? For example:
>.. , the default domain is usually xyz.com.
>.. determine that its IP address is 132.147.0.190.

	I think the answer should depend in part on where the sentence occurs --
that is, online or in hard copy.  In e-mails, for example, I always leave a
space before the period (despite the obvious breaking of a basic grammar
rule), so the e-mail client won't mistakenly think the period is a part of
an address.

	For example:

	Visit the RayComm home page at http://www.raycomm.com .

	Although some e-mail clients are "smart" enough not to include the period
even if I did not add the space, adding the space ensures that all e-mail
clients that convert URLs to links will do so correctly.

	Hard copy offers more alternatives though, so my preference would be to
see a different font or color for the URL or IP address rather than the
unnecessary space.

=======================
Douglas M. Isenberg
Attorney @ Law
Editor & Publisher, GigaLaw.com
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