2 Spaces Required Between Sentences

[Rafael Montserrat]

OS 10.4.11
Ibook G4
1.5 GB Ram
Word 2004

Hi,

My grammar settings are for 2 spaces required between sentences. I am
running the spell and grammar check on a long document which is full of one
space between sentences. The Grammar checker points each one out and I
change it. It's time consuming and boring.

My question is: how can I do a Find & Replace, and change those errors all
at once? I've tried various combinations in F&R, but I can't get it right.

Thanks, Rafael

 

[CyberTaz]

What "various combinations" have you tried? If you type a period single
space (. ) into the Find field & period 2 spaces (. ) in the Replace field
that should do it. However, you'll have to repeat substituting the period
with other end punctuation. If not, click the little jellybean in the lower
left corner of the F&R dialog & check the settings to make sure they aren't
interfering with the process.

I know of a way to to do the Find based on any type of end punctuation using
the \ preceding those used as operators, such as [\!.\?] , with Wildcards
checked), but I'm far too rusty on the "how to retain it & just Replace the
one character" to venture a guess... And you can probably have it done using
the above method before I'd be able to get it figured out

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Rafael:

You keep "forgetting" this one, don't you We have told you several
times over the past years, and the answer hasn't changed

1) Search for ". " (period and two spaces) and change it to .%%

2) Search for ". " (period and one space) and change it to .%%

3) Search for ".%%" and change it to ". " (period and two spaces).

You can use any character you like in place of %, I use % because it is very
unlikely to occur in my text.

Is this a good time to mention that "two spaces" is wrong? That is an
old convention that was introduced in the days of typewriters, to emulate
the behaviour of professional typesetters. A typesetter uses an "em space"
between sentences. It's a single fixed-width space.

Modern electronic typesetters will substitute this character whenever they
see "period, spaceband". So you do not need two spaces any more, unless you
are using a typewriter.

But as you can see, I can't stop myself from doing it, either

Cheers

OS 10.4.11
Ibook G4
1.5 GB Ram
Word 2004

Hi,

My grammar settings are for 2 spaces required between sentences. I am
running the spell and grammar check on a long document which is full of one
space between sentences. The Grammar checker points each one out and I
change it. It's time consuming and boring.

My question is: how can I do a Find & Replace, and change those errors all
at once? I've tried various combinations in F&R, but I can't get it right.

Thanks, Rafael

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Sydney, Australia. mailto:[email protected]

 

[CyberTaz]

Hey John -

Is this a good time to mention that "two spaces" is wrong? That is an
old convention that was introduced in the days of typewriters, to emulate
the behaviour of professional typesetters. A typesetter uses an "em space"
between sentences. It's a single fixed-width space.

Modern electronic typesetters will substitute this character whenever they
see "period, spaceband". So you do not need two spaces any more, unless you
are using a typewriter.

But as you can see, I can't stop myself from doing it, either

If nothing else I'm more accomplished than thee a biting mine tongue;-)

BTW - Why put in the %s? Find (. ) Replace With (. ) seems to wok just fine
in the more recent vintages. There must be a way to do a global for any end
punctuation (!, ?, .) & replace just the following characters Like I said in
my reply I know how to do the Find but coding the Replace while retaining
the same punctuation character escapes me.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Rafael Montserrat]

Hi John ... Bob,

1. I'm feeling sheepish about forgetting. Anyway, I guess I did.
2. John, I really am trying to avoid rocket science. I have this work to get
done, but once I learn all these tricks, I then use them all the time. I'm
building up quite a repertoire, but have yet to work out a cost/benefit
ratio.

I'm glad you brought up the "...two spaces is wrong". I know about that.
That's really what I've been wanting to do. You have to understand that this
MS is going to publishers. So many of them‹and bloggers, etc. not all‹say
this thing about 2 spaces. I really don't agree either, so I'm going to
backtrack, change everything to one space, and if someone doesn't like it
they can lump it.

Another thing somewhat related, is ellipses. Word squishes three periods
together. This... or ... or.... The way the type appears in most books I
read is as though there were a space between each dot . . . or. . . .
1. I find the dots with the space more pleasing to the eye.
2. I guess the dots close together (also here in Entourage) is a default,
and I don't know where to change it. It seems that the dots with a space
show more like they're spaced the same as these characters are spaced, and I
think that's why they look better. If there were a way to just press three
or four periods, without having to press the space bar each time between
them, then it would be easy. An exclamation mark. . . ! And a Question
mark, also have to have a space to look right. Right. . . ?
3. The publishers be damned.
4. I pray you haven't shown me this already.

OK. Now, periods and spaces.

Just now I tried F&R again on a small section of the ms,

Find ". " (period and one space)

Replace with ". " (period and two spaces)

I remember now why I said below:

I've tried various combinations in F&R, but I can't get it right.

Because the F&R did fine until it came to an existing (period and two
spaces), at which point Replace created a period and three spaces.

At that point I posted to the newsgroup.

I think I'm beginning to remember your having shown me something like .%%.

Back to the laboratory, this time to put everything into single space.
After all, I'm only 85 pages into a 400 page book, and it seems I've used
single space all along which doesn't seem right because I'd gotten into the
habit of double spacing.



This from a guy who *never* uses emoticons.

Best, Rafael








Hi Rafael:

You keep "forgetting" this one, don't you We have told you several
times over the past years, and the answer hasn't changed

1) Search for ". " (period and two spaces) and change it to .%%

2) Search for ". " (period and one space) and change it to .%%

3) Search for ".%%" and change it to ". " (period and two spaces).

You can use any character you like in place of %, I use % because it is very
unlikely to occur in my text.

Is this a good time to mention that "two spaces" is wrong? That is an
old convention that was introduced in the days of typewriters, to emulate
the behaviour of professional typesetters. A typesetter uses an "em space"
between sentences. It's a single fixed-width space.

Modern electronic typesetters will substitute this character whenever they
see "period, spaceband". So you do not need two spaces any more, unless you
are using a typewriter.

But as you can see, I can't stop myself from doing it, either

Cheers

Hey John -

On 5/11/08 7:12 PM, in article C44DBA7B.14C2C%[email protected], "John

Is this a good time to mention that "two spaces" is wrong?

If nothing else I'm more accomplished than thee a biting mine tongue;-)

BTW - Why put in the %s? Find (. ) Replace With (. ) seems to wok just fine
in the more recent vintages. There must be a way to do a global for any end
punctuation (!, ?, .) & replace just the following characters Like I said in
my reply I know how to do the Find but coding the Replace while retaining
the same punctuation character escapes me.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

What "various combinations" have you tried? If you type a period single
space (. ) into the Find field & period 2 spaces (. ) in the Replace field
that should do it. However, you'll have to repeat substituting the period
with other end punctuation. If not, click the little jellybean in the lower
left corner of the F&R dialog & check the settings to make sure they aren't
interfering with the process.

I know of a way to to do the Find based on any type of end punctuation using
the \ preceding those used as operators, such as [\!.\?] , with Wildcards
checked), but I'm far too rusty on the "how to retain it & just Replace the
one character" to venture a guess... And you can probably have it done using
the above method before I'd be able to get it figured out

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

OS 10.4.11
Ibook G4
1.5 GB Ram
Word 2004

Hi,

My grammar settings are for 2 spaces required between sentences. I am
running the spell and grammar check on a long document which is full of one
space between sentences. The Grammar checker points each one out and I
change it. It's time consuming and boring.

My question is: how can I do a Find & Replace, and change those errors all
at once? I've tried various combinations in F&R, but I can't get it right.

Thanks, Rafael

On 5/11/08 5:01 PM, in article C44D012F.3AB91%[email protected],
"CyberTaz" <[email protected]> wrote:

 

[gracie]

Hi Rafael,

I'm a published author, and while publishers DO care about double-spaced manuscripts, you don't have to worry about getting ellipses correct or spacing properly between sentences because the copy editor will take care of that.

I'm not saying don't try to be grammatically correct, but don't let worrying about protocol keep you from your deadline.

gracie

 

[Rafael Montserrat]

Gracie,

I appreciate your saying that.

I'm too much the perfectionist, and I really do have a deadline.

Rafael

 

[Rafael Montserrat]

I just did John's .%% and did change (6000+) all.

I know I haven't reviewed the whole ms yet, but have I messed up any other
types of end punctuation as per what Bob Jones said, "However, you'll have
to repeat substituting the period with other end punctuation." I don't
quite understand. Could any of you explain?

Also, "...the little left jellybean in the lower left corner of the F&R
dialog & check the settings to make sure they aren't interfering with the
process." I know that lower half jellybean section and use it a lot, but I
don't know what Bob is referring to in this case.

Rafael




Gracie,

I appreciate your saying that.

I'm too much the perfectionist, and I really do have a deadline.

Rafael

 

[Rafael Montserrat]

I just did a lot of "? ", "?spacespace" and the same with "! " and
they're all fine.

John, I absolutely do remember now when you helped me with this ".%%".

 

[MC]

I know I haven't reviewed the whole ms yet, but have I messed up any other
types of end punctuation as per what Bob Jones said, "However, you'll have
to repeat substituting the period with other end punctuation." I don't
quite understand. Could any of you explain?

I assumed it to be Question Marks and Exclamation marks -- anything that
ends a sentence and is followed by 2 spaces, in other words.

 

[Rafael Montserrat]

I found something that got messed up. At the end of a sentence where four
periods (.... ) indicate a full sentence (not a partial, cut off in the
middle) with the end period ending the sentence, the .%% procedure turned
this.... into this. ...

I can probably figure out from Johns input how to fix it, but if someone's
there, would you mind just telling me? And if you can think of anything
else that might have gotten messed up.

Thanks, Rafael


I just did a lot of "? ", "?spacespace" and the same with "! " and
they're all fine.

John, I absolutely do remember now when you helped me with this ".%%".

 

[Phillip Jones]

Het John two spaces would be:


Like


This


Wouldn't


It?


(Three returns, not two )

Hi Rafael:

You keep "forgetting" this one, don't you We have told you several
times over the past years, and the answer hasn't changed

1) Search for ". " (period and two spaces) and change it to .%%

2) Search for ". " (period and one space) and change it to .%%

3) Search for ".%%" and change it to ". " (period and two spaces).

You can use any character you like in place of %, I use % because it is very
unlikely to occur in my text.

Is this a good time to mention that "two spaces" is wrong? That is an
old convention that was introduced in the days of typewriters, to emulate
the behaviour of professional typesetters. A typesetter uses an "em space"
between sentences. It's a single fixed-width space.

Modern electronic typesetters will substitute this character whenever they
see "period, spaceband". So you do not need two spaces any more, unless you
are using a typewriter.

But as you can see, I can't stop myself from doing it, either

Cheers

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Martinsville Va 24112 |[email protected], ICQ11269732, AIM pjonescet
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<http://www.vpea.org>

 

[Fuzzyman]

Hi Rafael:

You keep "forgetting" this one, don't you We have told you several
times over the past years, and the answer hasn't changed

1) Search for ". " (period and two spaces) and change it to .%%

2) Search for ". " (period and one space) and change it to .%%

3) Search for ".%%" and change it to ". " (period and two spaces).

You can use any character you like in place of %, I use % because it is very
unlikely to occur in my text.

Is this a good time to mention that "two spaces" is wrong? That is an
old convention that was introduced in the days of typewriters, to emulate
the behaviour of professional typesetters. A typesetter uses an "em space"
between sentences. It's a single fixed-width space.

My publisher Manning uses Word documents for manuscripts and insists
upon two spaces between sentences.

Michael Foord
http://www.ironpythoninaction.com/

 

[Rafael Montserrat]

John,

I also find that the method picks up a lot of 'period>single space' things
like Mrs. Jones, J.P. Morgan, J.C. Penny and turns the single space into a
double. Is there a way to do this process without having to go back through
the whole ms in order to pick up and change the above errors?

Rafael

 

[Rafael Montserrat]

Michael

Michael,

Thanks. That's what I've settled on.

Rafael

 

[CyberTaz]

Unfortunately what you're running into is the bane of automating *any*
process - variables! The more irregularities in the target the more
difficult it is to devise an automated process to attack it.

Theoretically, the answer is yes. A talented programmer could write
algorithms complex enough to test for any possible combination and modify
each accordingly. In reality the answer is no. The only practical approach
would be to create separate Find & Replace queries for each conceivable
combination then script them to run consecutively. Since VBA is not
available in 2008 it would have to involve Apple Script *or* be handled in a
different version of Word.

Most *users* of the program don't have the time to do so [even if they have
the requisite knowledge & experience]. If it is something that needs to be
done - for profitability - on a routine basis it may be worth contracting a
developer to construct the necessary code.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Rafael Montserrat]

Yes. That became apparent. So I'm just going through clicking each change,
and actually I think this brings to my attention little mistakes I might
have missed if I had the best of all possible F&R.

Unfortunately what you're running into is the bane of automating *any*
process - variables! The more irregularities in the target the more
difficult it is to devise an automated process to attack it.

Theoretically, the answer is yes. A talented programmer could write
algorithms complex enough to test for any possible combination and modify
each accordingly. In reality the answer is no. The only practical approach
would be to create separate Find & Replace queries for each conceivable
combination then script them to run consecutively. Since VBA is not
available in 2008 it would have to involve Apple Script *or* be handled in a
different version of Word.

Most *users* of the program don't have the time to do so [even if they have
the requisite knowledge & experience]. If it is something that needs to be
done - for profitability - on a routine basis it may be worth contracting a
developer to construct the necessary code.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

John,

I also find that the method picks up a lot of 'period>single space' things
like Mrs. Jones, J.P. Morgan, J.C. Penny and turns the single space into a
double. Is there a way to do this process without having to go back through
the whole ms in order to pick up and change the above errors?

Rafael

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Bob:

Why the %'s? Simple: Much input text is a "mixture" of wrong and right.

If you search for period-one-space and turn it into period-two-spaces, you
will get period-three-spaces wherever the original was correct in the first
place.

To be consistently wrong, you need to search for period and two and flag
them, then search for period and one and expand them.

Or, if you must, search for period-1 and expand them, then period-3 and
contract them

Yes, if you are really good at wild-cards, you can specify a "list".

So "[!.?] " and replace with "^& " where ^& is "the text returned by the
Find What expression".

But I can never remember that one...

And you are an absolute failure at biting your tongue... I have seen you in
action

Cheers

Hey John -



If nothing else I'm more accomplished than thee a biting mine tongue;-)

BTW - Why put in the %s? Find (. ) Replace With (. ) seems to wok just fine
in the more recent vintages. There must be a way to do a global for any end
punctuation (!, ?, .) & replace just the following characters Like I said in
my reply I know how to do the Find but coding the Replace while retaining
the same punctuation character escapes me.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

--

Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Nhulunbuy, NT, Australia. mailto:[email protected]

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Rafael:

Well, the ellipsis was wrong in the first place

If it HAD been ".... " the search would have found the ". " part and
replaced it with ". " (two spaces).

Which is why I allow Word to replace an ellipsis with the Unicode ellipsis,
which is a single character.

But Gracie is correct: this is stuff authors leave to people who can't think
of books to write Any publisher worth dealing with has a Proofing
Editor somewhere who will fire a macro on your manuscript as a matter of
course, probably before even looking at it, to put all this kind of thing
right.

I certainly do

Cheers

I found something that got messed up. At the end of a sentence where four
periods (.... ) indicate a full sentence (not a partial, cut off in the
middle) with the end period ending the sentence, the .%% procedure turned
this.... into this. ...

I can probably figure out from Johns input how to fix it, but if someone's
there, would you mind just telling me? And if you can think of anything
else that might have gotten messed up.

Thanks, Rafael


I just did a lot of "? ", "?spacespace" and the same with "! " and
they're all fine.

John, I absolutely do remember now when you helped me with this ".%%".

--

Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Nhulunbuy, NT, Australia. mailto:[email protected]

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Rafael:

Yes. You have to search for things such as Mr., Mrs., and a period
following a capital and mark them with a code (whatever code you like, so
long as you remember what it is).

Then you fix your spacing. Then you search for the coded strings and put
them back to what they were.

At some point, you get into a law of diminishing returns when it becomes
quicker to use the grammar checker and Mark 1 eyeball

Cheers

John,

I also find that the method picks up a lot of 'period>single space' things
like Mrs. Jones, J.P. Morgan, J.C. Penny and turns the single space into a
double. Is there a way to do this process without having to go back through
the whole ms in order to pick up and change the above errors?

Rafael

--

Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Nhulunbuy, NT, Australia. mailto:[email protected]