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RE: IP addresses/domain names at the end of a sentence
Subject:RE: IP addresses/domain names at the end of a sentence From:"Geoff Lane" <geoff -at- gjctech -dot- co -dot- uk> To:"'TECHWR-L'" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 1 Mar 2000 19:50:35 -0000
Jennifer Laiks wrote:
>
> 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.
---
IMO, you are correct -- the end-of-sentence full-stop is ambiguous.
If possible, I would reword the sentence to avoid ending with a domain name,
IP address, et al. Your two examples would become:
.. , xyz.com is the usual default domain.
.. determine that 132.147.0.190 is its IP address.
Sometimes it is difficult to reword such examples. For those cases, I would
enclose the domain name or IP address in single quotes, thus:
.., the default domain is usually 'xyz.com'.
FWIW, if the house style doesn't allow the single quotes, and there is no
other way, I'd even write in passive voice to avoid the potential ambiguity.
HTH,
Geoff Lane
Cornwall, UK
geoff -at- gjctech -dot- co -dot- uk
