How to do a non-breaking en-dash?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lobster
  • Start date Start date
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Lobster

OK, so I know how to insert a non-breaking hyphen, and I know how to
insert an en-dash; but how do you combine the two?!!

Thanks for any pointers
David
 
And what is the goal?

--
Terry Farrell - Word MVP
http://word.mvps.org/

: OK, so I know how to insert a non-breaking hyphen, and I know how to
: insert an en-dash; but how do you combine the two?!!
:
: Thanks for any pointers
: David
 
I wish there were a way. This is something I've repeatedly requested. When I
need a "non-breaking en dash," I substitute a minus sign (glyph 2212), which
is virtually identical (same width, just a little higher in TNR) and is
non-breaking.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
 
Suzanne

What happens if you use a en dash with a no-width non-break either side of
it? Does that have the desired affect?

Terry

:I wish there were a way. This is something I've repeatedly requested. When
I
: need a "non-breaking en dash," I substitute a minus sign (glyph 2212),
which
: is virtually identical (same width, just a little higher in TNR) and is
: non-breaking.
:
: --
: Suzanne S. Barnhill
: Microsoft MVP (Word)
: Words into Type
: Fairhope, Alabama USA
:
: Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup
so
: all may benefit.
:
: : > OK, so I know how to insert a non-breaking hyphen, and I know how to
: > insert an en-dash; but how do you combine the two?!!
: >
: > Thanks for any pointers
: > David
:
 
It might, but it's a lot easier to find the minus sign in Insert | Symbol
than the no-width non-break!

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
 
Suzanne, thanks for the minus symbol tip - however, that wouldn't really
work for me because my requirement is for files which I edit for
publishers and end up being typeset, and will be manipulated
considerably along the way - eg, it will make a mess of
search-and-replace functions, and there's no guarantee that the typeset
minus symbol will match the en-dash on different publishers' systems.

(I realise that I can't control where line breaks will be in the typeset
version anyway, but I still need to do so in the Word version!)

So, Terry's suggestion is interesting, but... how do set a non-break to
have no width?!!

Thanks
David
 
What Terry is referring to is a specific No-Width Non-break Space character,
which may be apocryphal (discussion in another NG hasn't turned it up yet)
and it's not guaranteed that this would work, anyway. You might try 200D
(Zero Width Joiner), available only in "large" Unicode fonts such as Arial
Unicode MS.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
 
We found it. It's FEFF--but it didn't work to hold an em dash with the
following quotation mark.

I'd be interested to hear if the zero width joiner works (didn't on my Mac,
but it's not like I really knew what I was doing).

To the original poster--you could probably record a find&replace macro to
switch all your kludges back before you sent the file off to the
publisher--e.g., use the minus for now, then switch it back (assuming your
text won't have minuses ordinarily).

DM
 
In WinWord, however, FEFF is not available in any commonly used font,
including Arial Unicode MS.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
 
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