Hyphenation Soft Return (Word 2000)

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Does Word have an equivalent to WordPerfect’s “hyphenation soft return”? The typical place this feature is used is immediately after a slash connecting two words, e.g., “chemical/mechanical.” If that item appears near the end of a line and won’t fit on that line, the item is broken at the hyphenation soft return. It’s like a hyphen but without the hyphen. The feature takes effect only when the item needs to be broken. There is no visible space after the slash.

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You can manually insert a “soft” hyphen using ctrl+- (you will know it by the funny character).

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I just tried that, but it inserts a visible hyphen at the end of the line. I need something that makes the break but doesn’t insert a visible character. It needs to look like this:

mechanical/
chemical

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Wow, I don’t remember that feature, but the last version I really used was WordPerfect 5.2. If you convert a document containing such a code, does Word substitute anything useful?

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I assume WordPerfect 5.2 had it since W.P. 5.1 for DOS did, although it was called something else, which I can’t remember.

Wow, great idea. I just tried copying text containing the hyphenation soft return from W.P. 9 to Word 2000. Unfortunately, the feature did not transfer over. Just for kicks, I then copied it back the other way (from Word to W.P.), but Word had stripped it out.

Gotta sign off for the night, but thanks so much for the conversation. Just like a chat room!

Russ

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Looks like the chat room is deserted at this hour, anyway:

Does this post and thread contain a solution?

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Gary, I checked that post and there may be a solution in there somewhere, but I think I’ve figured out an easier one based on Geoff’s response below. See my reply to him. Thanks for your help.

Russ

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I suspect it’s visible because you have show/hide turned on. My experience is that is won’t print, but will break the line if it has the opportunity.

SJ Miller

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SJ, it still shows up with the Show/Hide either on or off. (Print preview also shows it will print.) But Geoff’s answer below helped me get to a solution. See my response to him. Thanks for your input.

Russ

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Two possibilities.

Put a space after the slash. Then format it eiter as:
.Not visible
.1 point size.

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Thanks, Geoff. If you format the space as “not visible,” the space doesn’t function as a space anymore. It’s as if the space doesn’t exist, so there’s never a break there.

The 1-point size is a great idea. I tried that and it makes a big difference (although the space was still noticeable), but it made me think of the kerning function, which specifically regulates horizontal spacing. Here’s what I did:

Select the space
Click Format / Font
Choose the Character Spacing tab
Under “Spacing,” choose “Condensed”
Under “By:” type 3 or 4 (or higher, except I tried 5 and it wouldn’t take)
Press OK

That narrows the space to an imperceptible width. Seems like a solution. I’ll try it awhile and see how it goes. Thanks for your help.

Russ

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Russ,

The thread that Gary pointed you to is one that I initiated and asked the very same question. Funny, it was interpreted by some in the same way as some of the responses here – getting an optional hyphen but it still prints if the phrase is broken after the slash at the end of a line.

Anyway, you are right that there is a solution in there. In fact, 2 solutions:
– Klaus Linke pointed to an article on the MVPS site that talked about the 0-width space available starting with Word 2000, which you are using. This will act as a break if needed at the end of a line.
– my own solution of using an Advance field after the slash (available from Insert Field). The advantage of my solution is that it works before Word 2000.

Klaus then pointed out another advantage of my approach: if you are hyphenating Words, then, for some strange reason, Word will NOT hyphenate something that follows the 0-width space but seemed to do it for the Advance field.

That thread also mentioned using AutoCorrect or AutoText. The idea is that inserting something after the slash (whether it’s the Advance field, the 0-width space, or even Geoff’s hidden space formatted at .1 point) is a pain if you have to do it alot.

I think Klaus is working on getting the MVPS article updated to include the Advance field.

Fred

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Wow, Fred, I love the double-click-on-Advance technique. I think that’s the simplest method of all. I assume it works in versions earlier than 2000. I have 98 at home, so I’ll try it there just to see.

Thanks for your excellent help.

Russ

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Russ,

Glad to hear you liked this. But can you tell me what is the “double-click-on-Advance technique” you mentioned. I used Advance but didn’t double click anything.

Actually, I think the zero-width space is easiest if you have 2000+ because it’s easier to insert this special character than to insert an Advance field (2 or 3 fewer mouse clicks). But Advance works in 97, which is what I have here at home (and probably works even in earlier versions since Advance existed since ???). Also, Klaus reported some other advantages of Advance, which may not be significant for your use. Bottom line: if you’re going to use any of the approaches a lot (ie, have something like “goals/objectives”, which was my magic phrase), put the phrase into an AutoCorrect or an AutoText. You only incur the pain once, so all the approaches are about the same.

Fred

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Fred, the “double-click-on-Advance” is what you described in your thread with Klaus. You told how you went into Insert > Field and then accidentally double-clicked (instead of single-clicked) on “Advance.” It works like a charm and solves the problem. (By the way, I just tried it here at home in Word 98 and it works.)

My only hesitation in using the zero-width space is that you say it’s not compatible with earlier versions of Word. There are still a lot of users out there who don’t have 2000 yet and since there’s so much document exchange via email, I prefer using features that work in earlier editions whenever possible.

Russ

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Russ,

Yep, I remembered the double-click soon after I sent off my last email to you. That was kind of an accident but good accidents are fun. I had wanted to put in {ADVANCE r0} to advance 0 points to the right. After choosing the Advance field, you have to choose Options to get the r0 (if you don’t know it). But I double clicked on Advance to choose it – instead of clicking once and then going into the Options. Word took it as I was done with just {ADVANCE} and terminated the dialog. Since it worked, I didn’t ask too many questions but did go back to add r0, my original intent. That’s why I forgot about the double click.

Fred

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Fred,

I know very little about the field commands, but I gather they’re quite powerful. I’m a relative novice in Word (a long-time WordPerfect user). I’ve learned a few new things just from our discussion here. Thanks again.

Russ

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