two space or not two space...

Subject: two space or not two space...
From: Carla Martinek <carlam -at- MINERVA -dot- ODESTA -dot- COM>
Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 09:08:24 -0500

I personally prefer the look of a larger space after a sentance-ending
period to increase readability. It seems that most of you out there also
prefer a larger space to increase readability.

However, as I learned to type on a *MANUAL* (gasp!!) typewriter, I have the
habit of double-spacing after a period. Instead of trying to break a
15-year old habit, I let my software do the work for me.

If I'm composing, usually in Frame, I turn on their "smart spaces," which
will not allow double-spaces to be typed. It ignores my second space, and
everybody's happy. (You can turn the feature off by going to
Format -> Document -> Text Options.) However, if the software you're using
doesn't have a similar feature, the following steps would still apply.

If I have imported text created by others, which will invariable have
double-spaces all over the place, and not just at the end of a sentance, I
do a find/replace to change all dbl-spaces to single spaces.

Then, I do a find/replace again to change period-space to period-en space
(or an em space if you prefer).

Finally, I do a search for any honorifics (Mr., Ms., etc.) or other
exceptions that I have made note of and replace those with a regular space
again.

The whole process takes a minimum of time for an entire manual (maybe an
hour for a *really* long document), and my end result is, IMO, worth the
time.

Some day I'll actually get around to writing a macro for doing all this,
but until then, this is a very workable solution.

___________________________________________________________________
Carla Martinek (carlam -at- opentext -dot- com) | Visit the Open Text
Open Text USA, Inc. | WWW Search Engine
business intranet solutions | at http://www.opentext.com/
http://www.opentext.com | omw/xpowrsrch_c.html
___________________________________________________________________

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