Re: Change two hyphens to a dash

From: Jeff (jeff_at_falsepart.com)
Date: 04/16/04 

Date: Fri, 16 Apr 2004 10:57:41 GMT

Terrific! 

-- 
Jeff McPherson
Email address deliberately false to avoid spam
jeff@falsepart.com
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free by AVG
"Suzanne S. Barnhill" <sbarnhill@mvps.org> wrote in message
news:%23cQFr1yIEHA.2908@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> > Also, after deleting the new keyboard shortcuts I just added for em and
> en,
> > how do I restore Ctrl+- and Alt+Ctrl+- to their original functions?
>
> You don't need to do anything further. When you assigned new functions to
> them, the old functions were not overwritten, just superseded. Now that
> you've released them, they'll be restored to the default.
>
> --
> Suzanne S. Barnhill
> Microsoft MVP (Word)
> Words into Type
> Fairhope, Alabama USA
> Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.word.mvps.org
> Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup
so
> all may benefit.
>
> "Jeff" <jeff@falsepart.com> wrote in message
> news:e0Afc.2357$WC3.21637@ord-read.news.verio.net...
> > I really like your suggestion for alternative keys for em.  They are
just
> as
> > handy on a laptop keyboard.  I too do many of the things you say you
find
> > your macro useful for, so I would love to have it. However since I am
not
> an
> > expert with Word Macros, you would need to also tell me how to make it
> > available for Word 2002 to find and use.
> >
> > Also, after deleting the new keyboard shortcuts I just added for em and
> en,
> > how do I restore Ctrl+- and Alt+Ctrl+- to their original functions?
> >
> > Thank you very much.
> >
> > --
> >
> > Jeff McPherson
> > Email address deliberately false to avoid spam
> > jeff@falsepart.com
> > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free by AVG
> >
> > "Larry" <larry328@att.net> wrote in message
> > news:%23jlBXsrIEHA.3440@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> > >
> > >
> > > Jeff,
> > >
> > > You're right, information about the em dash is lacking.  It's an
> > > important character, that is used all the time, but Word does not make
> > > it easy to use.
> > >
> > > However, I'm not sure about assigning Ctrl+- to the em dash as that is
> > > assigned by default to the Optional Hyphen which is something you
don't
> > > want to lose the ability to type occasionally.  And Alt+Ctrl+- is
> > > assigned to ToolsCustomizeRemoveMenuShortcuts which is an essential
> > > command for removing buttons from menus, especially for removing
> > > documents from the Work menu.
> > >
> > > Personally I use Alt+\.  That way it takes only one hand and my hand
> > > doesn't have to leave the main keyboard.  However, in a laptop, I'm
not
> > > sure if that key combo is as handy as on my regular keyboard.
> > >
> > > However, I have Alt+\ assigned, not to the built-in em dash, but to my
> > > own macro which does a few extra things.  If I'm typing in Courier or
> > > Courier New, it inserts non-breaking double hyphens instead of an em
> > > dash; if I'm typing in any other font, it inserts the em dash, and it
> > > also deletes whatever punctuation is in the interword space before
> > > inserting the em dash.  This is very handy as I often, for example,
> > > change a comma and space between two words to an em dash between two
> > > words.  With my macro, I don't have to delete the pre-existing
> > > characters in addition to inserting the em dash, I just press Alt+\
and
> > > the whole thing is accomplished in one step.
> > >
> > > If you'd like that macro, write back to the group and I'll share it
with
> > > you.
> > >
> > > Larry
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Jeff wrote:
> > > > That is very useful to know.
> > > >
> > > > Since I type mostly on a laptop which does not have a separate
> > > > numerical keypad, the normal shortcuts for Em and En were
essentially
> > > > unavailable for me. Following your instructions I added Alt+Ctrl+-
> > > > and Ctrl+- respectively even though these were assigned to other
> > > > things. What do you use in your setup?
> > > >
> > > > Thanks.
> > > >
> > > > Incidentally info about the em dash shortcut is almost impossible to
> > > > find in Word's help system. What is finally found only points to the
> > > > autocorrect method.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > "Larry" <larry328@att.net> wrote in message
> > > > news:%23YcO6cmIEHA.2836@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> > > > > Rather than use the AutoFormat to get your M dashes, it might be
> > > > > easier to assign a convenient keystroke to the built in command.
> > > > > By default, the M dash is inserted by the key combination
> > > > > Alt+Ctrl+Num(-) (that's the hyphen in the numerical keypad at the
> > > > > far right of your keyboard). If you go to the Customize Keyboard
> > > > > dialog box (Tools, Customize, Keyboard) and choose Common Symbols
> > > > > in the left pane and Em dash in the right pane, you could assign
an
> > > > > additional, more user-friendly key combination to this.  That way
> > > > > you don't have to type the two hyphens, then type something else,
> > > > > then see the hyphens turn into the M dash; you just insert the M
> > > > > dash, and that's it.
> > > > >
> > > > > Larry
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
>