1. redlightblinking's Avatar
    Just wondering why phone numbers, when formatted as such inside a message, or even a web page, are not automatically links to activate a phone call. My 9900 does this and it's an amazing time saver. If someone emails or texts with a phone number included, you just open that message, tap the number and call it. With BB10 no numbers are highlighted, and I must awkwardly try, and try, and try to higlight just the phone number, then copy, then open phone, then paste number to the call screen, then call it.

    WHY?
    11-21-14 09:58 AM
  2. bluetroll's Avatar
    I would like this feature implemented too.

    Posted via CB10
    11-21-14 10:02 AM
  3. Bluenoser63's Avatar
    Just wondering why phone numbers, when formatted as such inside a message, or even a web page, are not automatically links to activate a phone call. My 9900 does this and it's an amazing time saver. If someone emails or texts with a phone number included, you just open that message, tap the number and call it. With BB10 no numbers are highlighted, and I must awkwardly try, and try, and try to higlight just the phone number, then copy, then open phone, then paste number to the call screen, then call it.

    WHY?
    All the ones in my emails work. At least the ones I have tried. Most times any emails that I get that don't have the phone number formatted correctly using the right tag. People don't know about them yet.

    https://www.marketingtechblog.com/hy...-phone-number/

    a href="tel:3177594940">317.759.4940</a>

    <a href="tel:3177594940">317.759.4940</a>

    Blackberry is working with standards and have implemented it correctly. All out company email / websites has the phone numbers done correctly. So the question is WHY don't people follow the correct standards in emails and websites as defined by standards. Same with emailto etc.
    11-21-14 10:07 AM
  4. redlightblinking's Avatar
    All the ones in my emails work. At least the ones I have tried. Most times any emails that I get that don't have the phone number formatted correctly using the right tag. People don't know about them yet.

    https://www.marketingtechblog.com/hy...-phone-number/

    a href="tel:3177594940">317.759.4940</a>

    <a href="tel:3177594940">317.759.4940</a>

    Blackberry is working with standards and have implemented it correctly. All out company email / websites has the phone numbers done correctly. So the question is WHY don't people follow the correct standards in emails and websites as defined by standards. Same with emailto etc.
    Tags? Standards? I'm simply talking about writing 3 numbers, then a dash, then 3 more numbers then a dash, then four more numbers. (or use periods instead of a dash). This is how people write phone numbers. Those strings of text are recognized by the 9900 as being a phone number, and thus become a blue link that you can touch and dial from there. No special tags required. People don't have to follow any "standards" other than simply writing their phone number.
    Davidro1 likes this.
    11-21-14 01:27 PM
  5. blueyestm's Avatar
    They don't need dashes or periods in the phone numbers to work. All the searches i do for phone numbers work from the browser too IF they are linked properly.
    Bluenoser63 and riss89 like this.
    11-21-14 01:35 PM
  6. der_mit's Avatar
    This is already happening on my Z10, when I receive a. BBM, email or text containing a phone number it is blue and can tap it to initiate a phone call.

    Z10STL100-2/10.2.1.3442

    Posted via CB10
    11-21-14 01:46 PM
  7. Bluenoser63's Avatar
    Tags? Standards? I'm simply talking about writing 3 numbers, then a dash, then 3 more numbers then a dash, then four more numbers. (or use periods instead of a dash). This is how people write phone numbers. Those strings of text are recognized by the 9900 as being a phone number, and thus become a blue link that you can touch and dial from there. No special tags required. People don't have to follow any "standards" other than simply writing their phone number.
    Really? Maybe you have to get out of your small world to realize that there are many phone number formats.

    National conventions for writing telephone numbers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Just in US/Canada, there are all permissible.

    999-999-9999
    999 999 9999
    999.999.9999
    9999999999
    (999) 999-9999
    (999) 999 9999
    (999) 999.9999

    So to code a matching algorithm for just Canada and the US would require matching seven different formats. Now try to write a world phone OS that matches every single phone format and you have a mess of an algorithm. Now if they used <a href="tel:3177594940">317.759.4940</a>, then no complex algorithm is needed.

    This eliminates code bloat and makes for a more efficient OS.
    11-21-14 01:51 PM
  8. maxiang's Avatar
    Just wondering why phone numbers, when formatted as such inside a message, or even a web page, are not automatically links to activate a phone call. My 9900 does this and it's an amazing time saver. If someone emails or texts with a phone number included, you just open that message, tap the number and call it. With BB10 no numbers are highlighted, and I must awkwardly try, and try, and try to higlight just the phone number, then copy, then open phone, then paste number to the call screen, then call it.

    WHY?
    Um, phone numbers are highlighted blue in my emails and text messages. For the browser, tap and hold on the number and the right side menu will pop out. I think that works in emails as well.

    Why aren't phone number links in BB10 automatically links to activate a phone call?-img_20141121_145905.png
    Why aren't phone number links in BB10 automatically links to activate a phone call?-img_20141121_145920.png

    Q10SQN100-1/10.3.1.1151
    11-21-14 02:00 PM
  9. Bluenoser63's Avatar
    Um, phone numbers are highlighted blue in my emails and text messages. For the browser, tap and hold on the number and the right side menu will pop out. I think that works in emails as well.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Q10SQN100-1/10.3.1.1151
    You don't need to tap and hold the number if they are using the correct tag. You just click.
    11-21-14 02:06 PM
  10. mnc76's Avatar
    Really? Maybe you have to get out of your small world to realize that there are many phone number formats.

    National conventions for writing telephone numbers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Just in US/Canada, there are all permissible.

    999-999-9999
    999 999 9999
    999.999.9999
    9999999999
    (999) 999-9999
    (999) 999 9999
    (999) 999.9999

    So to code a matching algorithm for just Canada and the US would require matching seven different formats. Now try to write a world phone OS that matches every single phone format and you have a mess of an algorithm. Now if they used 317.759.4940, then no complex algorithm is needed.

    This eliminates code bloat and makes for a more efficient OS.
    You don't need a "mess of an algorithm" to do this. A programmer will almost always use simple "regular expressions" to do this kind of pattern matching.

    http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expression

    A simple pattern matcher like this could not be considered "code bloat" either (it's a tiny bit of code). The browser has to do an enormous amount of pattern matching already anyways (just to parse the HTML).

    Posted from my awesome White Z30
    Last edited by mnc76; 11-25-14 at 03:50 AM.
    11-25-14 03:30 AM
  11. Bluenoser63's Avatar
    You don't need a "mess of an algorithm" to do this. A programmer will almost always use simple "regular expressions" to do this kind of pattern matching.

    Regular expression - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    A simple pattern matcher like this could not be considered "code bloat" either (it's a tiny bit of code). The browser has to do an enormous amount of pattern matching already anyways (just to parse the HTML).

    Posted from my awesome White Z30
    What you think is a tiny bit of code is actually a lot of code in the background. You are thinking about high level programming. The compiler puts a lot more code in the background that you don't see.

    And the HTML parsing is setup to look for tags. It doesn't actually try and parse the information between the tags. So you have now introduced a HTML parser that has to look though and parse all text in the HTML file. It has to look at each word between the tags and match it to all the possible combinations. You have just slowed the rendering of the webpage.

    I have programmed for 35 years and have written compilers and parsers so I know that you might see in a high level programming language (lex/yacc/etc) actually creates a lot of code when the result is compiled. The compiler will link in a library which has all the code for regex. Just because you use

    ^(??:\+?1\s*(?:[.-]\s*)?)?(?:\(\s*([2-9]1[02-9]|[2-9][02-8]1|[2-9][02-8][02-9])\s*\)|([2-9]1[02-9]|[2-9][02-8]1|[2-9][02-8][02-9]))\s*(?:[.-]\s*)?)?([2-9]1[02-9]|[2-9][02-9]1|[2-9][02-9]{2})\s*(?:[.-]\s*)?([0-9]{4})(?:\s*(?:#|x\.?|ext\.?|extension)\s*(\d+))?$

    That doesn't mean that is all the code that is used. If you are lucky, you will have a compiler that will take that expression and covert it into code and then have a matcher that runs the code in the regex library. If not, then you have to parse the regex expression to create the rules which are then matched to the library. Don't be fooled by high level languages. When you have developed your own programming language (I have) and then see the resulting code for pattern and language matching, you will understand that there is a lot more code that meets the eye by the time the compiler is done with it.

    If you are willing to have a slower browser experience which uses more processing power just to find a phone number that wasn't coded properly, then I guess that is OK by you. I don't want to slow down my entire browsing experience for the sake of a couple of phone numbers that MIGHT be in the web page.
    Last edited by Bluenoser63; 11-25-14 at 06:46 AM.
    11-25-14 06:34 AM
  12. Boight's Avatar

    ^(??:\+?1\s*(?:[.-]\s*)?)?(?:\(\s*([2-9]1[02-9]|[2-9][02-8]1|[2-9][02-8][02-9])\s*\)|([2-9]1[02-9]|[2-9][02-8]1|[2-9][02-8][02-9]))\s*(?:[.-]\s*)?)?([2-9]1[02-9]|[2-9][02-9]1|[2-9][02-9]{2})\s*(?:[.-]\s*)?([0-9]{4})(?:\s*(?:#|x\.?|ext\.?|extension)\s*(\d+))?$
    I think the easy answer is... It does this already for email and txt. Webpages are hit and miss.

    It would help if we knew what phone you have and what version of the OS you're using.
    11-25-14 08:14 AM
  13. c_bryant34's Avatar
    Correct, OS version would be helpful here.

    For webpages it is as described and is up to the webpage developer to properly format their page with the appropriate tel: (or similar) URI tags. If it's just plan text on the webpage there's not a whole lot one can do in the browser.

    If you're seeing specific patterns that are being missed then please give the app it's not being seen in (plus exact screen information) and the way the phone number is typed.

    Bonus marks if you can give me screen captures

    From there it could be discussed by a BlackBerry development team.

    Posted via CB10
    11-25-14 11:35 PM
  14. crazigee's Avatar
    Most 10 digit numbers interpreted as being phone numbers on my Z10. Even when they aren't phone numbers they will open the phone app instead of the browser. One specific example is my order number from ShopBlackBerry.

    Posted using my Z10 via CB10
    11-26-14 12:40 AM
  15. mnc76's Avatar
    What you think is a tiny bit of code is actually a lot of code in the background. You are thinking about high level programming. The compiler puts a lot more code in the background that you don't see.

    And the HTML parsing is setup to look for tags. It doesn't actually try and parse the information between the tags. So you have now introduced a HTML parser that has to look though and parse all text in the HTML file. It has to look at each word between the tags and match it to all the possible combinations. You have just slowed the rendering of the webpage.

    I have programmed for 35 years and have written compilers and parsers so I know that you might see in a high level programming language (lex/yacc/etc) actually creates a lot of code when the result is compiled. The compiler will link in a library which has all the code for regex. Just because you use

    ^(??:\+?1\s*(?:[.-]\s*)?)?(?:\(\s*([2-9]1[02-9]|[2-9][02-8]1|[2-9][02-8][02-9])\s*\)|([2-9]1[02-9]|[2-9][02-8]1|[2-9][02-8][02-9]))\s*(?:[.-]\s*)?)?([2-9]1[02-9]|[2-9][02-9]1|[2-9][02-9]{2})\s*(?:[.-]\s*)?([0-9]{4})(?:\s*(?:#|x\.?|ext\.?|extension)\s*(\d+))?$

    That doesn't mean that is all the code that is used. If you are lucky, you will have a compiler that will take that expression and covert it into code and then have a matcher that runs the code in the regex library. If not, then you have to parse the regex expression to create the rules which are then matched to the library. Don't be fooled by high level languages. When you have developed your own programming language (I have) and then see the resulting code for pattern and language matching, you will understand that there is a lot more code that meets the eye by the time the compiler is done with it.

    If you are willing to have a slower browser experience which uses more processing power just to find a phone number that wasn't coded properly, then I guess that is OK by you. I don't want to slow down my entire browsing experience for the sake of a couple of phone numbers that MIGHT be in the web page.
    The browser is already parsing CSS, parsing Javascript, executing javascript, possibly compiling javascript, etc...

    Inline CSS and Javscript, for example, IS "inside the tags" and must be parsed, so the browser is already doing parsing inside tags.

    Consider this stock example:

    <h1 style="color:blue;margin-left:30px;" onClick="alert('You clicked a heading');">This is a heading.</h1>

    Notice the CSS and Javascript inside the h1 tag.

    If executing a simple regex for phone numbers is the straw that breaks the camel's back (so to speak), after all of the other processing a browser does, and noticeably slows the entire browser down (compared to when there is no phone number parsing), then I think something has gone extremely wrong and I would be blown away if that were the case.

    I think you are way overstating the performance hit of such pattern matching (in comparison to all the other work modern browsers are already doing to render and execute an average web page). I would be surprised if the time it took to just to download the media assets on an average web page didn't dwarf the time it took to execute the regex on the page's text.

    Posted via CB10
    Last edited by mnc76; 11-26-14 at 01:10 AM.
    11-26-14 12:49 AM
  16. riss89's Avatar
    They don't need dashes or periods in the phone numbers to work. All the searches i do for phone numbers work from the browser too IF they are linked properly.
    I've experienced it this way as well. If the phone number is set up online to allow for any phone to place a call directly from tapping the number, then it's not been an issue. It's only been a few rare occasions when I had to copy and paste a phone number into the dialer, and they were all instances of phone numbers listed on a web page in the browser. Most of the time tapping a number, or an address for that matter, automatically gives the option to call or navigate to it, whether from an email, text, Remember app, etc.

    +-keystroke queen-+
    11-26-14 01:37 AM
  17. DaSchwantz's Avatar
    Well, I agree that this is a problem with the browser in particular, because there's way more 'miss' on the hit and miss, than when using an ios/safari device or an android / chrome device. I also don't think it would slow things down much. They could also just allow you to highlight the phone number and 'share' it to your phone app (which would then open and dial the number), but that is not one of the options. Right now you have to cut and paste the number into another app that highlights it, and then open the phone app from there....very unwieldy...this is probably my wife's biggest frustration with using bb10 after coming from an iphone.

    Posted via CB10
    01-01-15 01:19 AM
  18. c_bryant34's Avatar
    Well, I agree that this is a problem with the browser in particular, because there's way more 'miss' on the hit and miss, than when using an ios/safari device or an android / chrome device. I also don't think it would slow things down much. They could also just allow you to highlight the phone number and 'share' it to your phone app (which would then open and dial the number), but that is not one of the options. Right now you have to cut and paste the number into another app that highlights it, and then open the phone app from there....very unwieldy...this is probably my wife's biggest frustration with using bb10 after coming from an iphone.

    Posted via CB10
    If she presses and holds on the phone number on the Web page she should have a "Call" item in the menu.

    Posted via CB10
    01-03-15 01:47 PM
  19. Alain_A's Avatar
    or highlight then press menu to call
    01-03-15 02:11 PM
  20. maxiang's Avatar
    ^What those two said^
    A couple of posts up I have screenshots of what it looks like

    Q10SQN100-1/10.3.1.1151
    01-04-15 01:15 AM

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