Special characters via keyboard shortcut

[Top Spin]

I just had an experience that I don't understand.

I tried to assign keyboard shortcuts to the single and double quote
symbols -- not the ones on the keyboard, but the (monospace?) ones
that do not leen either left or right. I write a lot of software
documentation in which I need a monospace font (I usually use Courier
New) for the code examples.

For literal strings, I want the plain quotes (single and double), not
the ones that have a left and right version.

For some time now, I have been using Insert / Symbol to get them.
Today, I decided that I would like a keyboard shortcut. I went to
Insert / Symbol as usual and located the ' and " near the top of the
"(normal text)" selection in the font field.

I first inserted them into the document to confirm that they were the
right symbols. They were.

I then assigned Ctrl+' to the single quote symbol and Ctrl+Shift+'
(Ctrl+") to the double quote.

When I retuned to the document, these new shortcuts worked, but they
entererd the same slanted quotes as are on the keyboard. (I can't
recall if it was the left or right one.)

Annoyed, I returned to the symbol panel and found two more quote
symbols about 2/3 of the way down the list of symbols. I reassigned
the same keys to those symbols and it seems to be working.

How come the first symbols showed one way when done by Insert and
another way when assigned to a shortcut?

Thanks

PS: The Ctrl+' key combination was previously assigned to something
called "prefix". What is that? Will I miss it? I couldn't find
anything in the help on it.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Okay, let's back up here. When you type ' and " in Word, you get ' and "
(the straight quotes you want). AutoFormat As You Type then takes over to
convert these characters into the "curly" quotes you don't want. Usually
this happens so quickly that you don't notice it, but if you look at the
Undo list, you'll see that the last action is AutoCorrect (not quite
correct, since this setting is really an AutoFormat setting, but close
enough). If you press Ctrl+Z (Undo) immediately after the conversion, you'll
get the straight quotes back.

I suspect that even when you assign a specific shortcut key to these
characters instead of entering them directly from the keyboard, Word still
recognizes them as "straight quotes" that you want converted to "smart
quotes" because you still have this AutoFormat As You Type option enabled
(Tools | AutoCorrect [Options] | AutoFormat As You Type: Replace as you
type: "Straight quotes" with "smart quotes").

You have two possible courses here that do *not* involve assigning a
shortcut key to the straight quote (which obviously doesn't work):

1. Disable replacement of straight quotes with smart quotes when you're
typing code.

2. Press Ctrl+Z immediately after entering straight quotes; this is no more
trouble than using your shortcut key to enter them in the first place.

FWIW, the "prefix" key is for use in inserting "smart quotes" either when
you don't have that AutoFormat option enabled or when it misfires. For
example, if you're trying to type 'n' to mean "and" with the first and last
letters omitted, what you want is apostrophe-n-apostrophe. What Word gives
you is opening single quote-n-closing single quote. To insert a (curly)
apostrophe manually, you press Ctrl+' (the prefix or setup key) and then the
apostrophe key again. If you want closing double quotes and aren't getting
them, you press Ctrl+' and ". Conversely, to get opening single and double
quotes manually, you use Ctrl+` and ' or ". All this is detailed (a bit more
graphically) at http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/InsertSpecChars.htm.

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

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all may benefit.

 

[Top Spin]

Suzanne,

Thank you. That was one of the more helpful replies I have received is
quite some time. Much appreciated.

Okay, let's back up here. When you type ' and " in Word, you get ' and "
(the straight quotes you want). AutoFormat As You Type then takes over to
convert these characters into the "curly" quotes you don't want. Usually
this happens so quickly that you don't notice it, but if you look at the
Undo list, you'll see that the last action is AutoCorrect (not quite
correct, since this setting is really an AutoFormat setting, but close
enough). If you press Ctrl+Z (Undo) immediately after the conversion, you'll
get the straight quotes back.

I suspect that even when you assign a specific shortcut key to these
characters instead of entering them directly from the keyboard, Word still
recognizes them as "straight quotes" that you want converted to "smart
quotes" because you still have this AutoFormat As You Type option enabled
(Tools | AutoCorrect [Options] | AutoFormat As You Type: Replace as you
type: "Straight quotes" with "smart quotes").

You have two possible courses here that do *not* involve assigning a
shortcut key to the straight quote (which obviously doesn't work):

1. Disable replacement of straight quotes with smart quotes when you're
typing code.

2. Press Ctrl+Z immediately after entering straight quotes; this is no more
trouble than using your shortcut key to enter them in the first place.

FWIW, the "prefix" key is for use in inserting "smart quotes" either when
you don't have that AutoFormat option enabled or when it misfires. For
example, if you're trying to type 'n' to mean "and" with the first and last
letters omitted, what you want is apostrophe-n-apostrophe. What Word gives
you is opening single quote-n-closing single quote. To insert a (curly)
apostrophe manually, you press Ctrl+' (the prefix or setup key) and then the
apostrophe key again. If you want closing double quotes and aren't getting
them, you press Ctrl+' and ". Conversely, to get opening single and double
quotes manually, you use Ctrl+` and ' or ". All this is detailed (a bit more
graphically) at http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/InsertSpecChars.htm.