AutoFormat as you type option doesn't work

[Aloha]

In the *AutoFormat as You Type* window there is an option to convert 3
dashes --- into a single line dash.

I've selected this and it just won't work. Other options seem to be okay.

Any ideas.

Mahalo and Aloha from the Big Island of Hawaii.

 

[Edward O'Brien]

It is probably working okay, however, you may be expecting something
different to what actually goes on. If you type -- like this, then the two
dashes will remain. If you type like--this (no space before or after the
dashes) then you will get a single long dash the next time you hit the
space bar.

Best wishes,

Ed

 

[Aloha]

I had tried that already with no success.

But, in trying again just now, I found out that the hyphen is only applied
when grammatically correct.

So it works for "de-valuate", but not for creating a space between two
groups of words, which is what I had been trying to do.

Thanks for the concern.

Aloha, Gene

 

[mpt]

The only option I have with Word2003 is two hyphens.

test -- test converts to

test - test



after space bar is hit after second "test".

 

[Edward O'Brien]

I agree. But I think Gene is looking for a much longer dash as you get if
you type--without spaces in between.

Ed

 

[Casey Wilson]

In the *AutoFormat as You Type* window there is an option to convert 3
dashes --- into a single line dash.

I've selected this and it just won't work. Other options seem to be okay.

Any ideas.

Mahalo and Aloha from the Big Island of Hawaii.

What you are wanting is to insert an em (dash). Instead of using autoformat,
press ALT and 0151. the result will be - an em.

 

[anon k]

What you are wanting is to insert an em (dash). Instead of using autoformat,
press ALT and 0151. the result will be - an em.

The em dash is also assigned to a keystroke: ctrl-alt-minus, using the
minus key on the numeric keypad. (The other minus key is by default
allocated to something else.)

You can also do this with the 'special characters tab' from Insert -
Symbols.

And there used to be an autoformat that converted space-minus-space into
a dash.

An 'em,' by the way is a wide space. Usually it is short for 'em quad'
or 'em space' which, when you're setting type manually, has a square
cross-section. Narrower spaces are all defined as fractions of the em:
the en space is half of an em; beneath that the em divides into thirds,
quarters, fifths.