Autocorrect double spacing possible?

[Peter in New Zealand]

Word 97 SP2 on Windows XP Pro SP2. I have a wireless keyboard I love for its
smooth feel and action. However when typing reasonably fast the space bar
occasionally double hits, giving me a slightly wider space between a couple
of words. At times this can happen every second line or so. Now, I could
go get a new kb, but I love the feel of this one, and so have been trying
to see if I can persuade Word to autocorrect two adjacent spaces to one, as
I normally never need to double space. It won't accept it into the
autocorrect list, and so I am wondering if some gracious person might be
able to suggest something to help me. Many thanks.

 

[Terry Farrell]

You can do this using Find and Replace by Pattern Matching. There's a good
FAQ here: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/UsingWildcards.htm

 

[Guest]

Search and replace when you have finished the document. Replace two spaces
with one.

 

[Peter in New Zealand]

Thank you Terry. I worked my way through the article (love the Zen hint),
but am I correct in assuming this is to do with running Find/Replace on an
existing block of text or document? What I was really hoping for is a way
to somehow persuade Autocorrect to do it as I type. I apologise if I am
missing something here, and thank you for your patience.

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

You don't really need Wildcards, Rae's simple version will do. You can
record it as a macro to run it easily.

Yes, you have to run the macro on existing text. There will NOT be a way
to get AutoCorrect to do this. AutoCorrect triggers when you type a
space (or punctuation). You can't autocorrect the thing that
AutoCorrect reads as a trigger, I think the resulting loop would make
Word explode.

 

[Jay Freedman]

Hi Peter,

Terry's suggestion is the best you'll get. AutoCorrect does _not_ work
with spaces. Sorry for the bad news...

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

 

[Peter in New Zealand]

Bother! I really appreciate the helpful comments here, and I understand how
Word's autocorrect actions are triggered by a space (among others). Hmmm,
like the image of Word exploding - sort of Monty Python-esque in a way.
Really, I should stop being so mean and shout myself a nice new keyboard.
Anyway, thanks heaps for the patience and helpful ideas.

 

[Terry Farrell]

You can set the Grammar checker to 'Check for # spaces' and it will
highlight with the green squiggle all instances of double spaces - but I
find that it is easy to miss some of these if it is a very long document.
(Tools, Options, Spelling and Grammar, then under grammar sections select
Settings button.) A macro is the more reliable solution.

Terry

 

[Peter in New Zealand]

Someone kindly offered a suggested macro several posts ago but I cannot seem
to locate it any more. Please, can I ask some patient person to repost
it? Many thanks.

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

You can't find it because it wasn't really there.

I suggested that you record a macro while doing a Find for "[hit
spacebar two times]" and a Replace with "[hit spacebar once]". It works,
although you may have to run it multiple times to catch three spaces. A
more sophisticated macro would find any multiple number of spaces and
only need to be run once, and Terry Farrell's first post gave you a link
with advice on creating that.

Some relevant links (the macro I use to Replace two spaces with one is
below--I have to select all first):

Creating a macro with no programming experience using the recorder
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/macrosvba/UsingRecorder.htm

How to modify a recorded macro
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/MacrosVBA/ModifyRecordedMacro.htm

How to assign a Word command or macro to a toolbar or menu
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/customization/AsgnCmdOrMacroToToolbar.htm

What do I do with macros sent to me by other newsgroup readers to help me
out?
I don't know how to install them and put them to use
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/MacrosVBA/CreateAMacro.htm

Idiots Guide to Installing Macros
http://www.gmayor.com/installing_macro.htm

Sub TwoSpacesToOne()
'
'
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find
.Text = " "
.Replacement.Text = " "
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchWildcards = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
End Sub

 

[Peter in New Zealand]

Goodness me, I must be projecting my desires onto my memory cells or
something. I am sorry - I just got a little muddled. Thank you for patiently
explaining to me, and for the helpful links. I will work this one through.

Kind regards, Peter.

You can't find it because it wasn't really there.

I suggested that you record a macro while doing a Find for "[hit spacebar
two times]" and a Replace with "[hit spacebar once]". It works, although
you may have to run it multiple times to catch three spaces. A more
sophisticated macro would find any multiple number of spaces and only need
to be run once, and Terry Farrell's first post gave you a link with advice
on creating that.

Some relevant links (the macro I use to Replace two spaces with one is
below--I have to select all first):

Creating a macro with no programming experience using the recorder
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/macrosvba/UsingRecorder.htm

How to modify a recorded macro
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/MacrosVBA/ModifyRecordedMacro.htm

How to assign a Word command or macro to a toolbar or menu
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/customization/AsgnCmdOrMacroToToolbar.htm

What do I do with macros sent to me by other newsgroup readers to help me
out?
I don't know how to install them and put them to use
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/MacrosVBA/CreateAMacro.htm

Idiots Guide to Installing Macros
http://www.gmayor.com/installing_macro.htm

Sub TwoSpacesToOne()
'
'
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find
.Text = " "
.Replacement.Text = " "
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchWildcards = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
End Sub

Someone kindly offered a suggested macro several posts ago but I cannot
seem to locate it any more. Please, can I ask some patient person to
repost it? Many thanks.

 

[Larry]

Here's a macro I use that changes all multiple spaces in document to one
space:

' Changes all double (or more than double) spaces in document to one.
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find
.Text = " {2,}": .Replacement.Text = " ": .Forward = True:
.Wrap = wdFindContinue; .MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll

'Clear Find parameters
With Selection.Find
.Text = "": .Replacement.Text = "": .MatchWildcards = False
End With

Goodness me, I must be projecting my desires onto my memory cells or
something. I am sorry - I just got a little muddled. Thank you for patiently
explaining to me, and for the helpful links. I will work this one through.

Kind regards, Peter.

You can't find it because it wasn't really there.

I suggested that you record a macro while doing a Find for "[hit spacebar
two times]" and a Replace with "[hit spacebar once]". It works, although
you may have to run it multiple times to catch three spaces. A more
sophisticated macro would find any multiple number of spaces and only need
to be run once, and Terry Farrell's first post gave you a link with advice
on creating that.

Some relevant links (the macro I use to Replace two spaces with one is
below--I have to select all first):

Creating a macro with no programming experience using the recorder
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/macrosvba/UsingRecorder.htm

How to modify a recorded macro
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/MacrosVBA/ModifyRecordedMacro.htm

How to assign a Word command or macro to a toolbar or menu
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/customization/AsgnCmdOrMacroToToolbar.htm

What do I do with macros sent to me by other newsgroup readers to help me
out?
I don't know how to install them and put them to use
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/MacrosVBA/CreateAMacro.htm

Idiots Guide to Installing Macros
http://www.gmayor.com/installing_macro.htm

Sub TwoSpacesToOne()
'
'
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find
.Text = " "
.Replacement.Text = " "
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchWildcards = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
End Sub

Someone kindly offered a suggested macro several posts ago but I cannot
seem to locate it any more. Please, can I ask some patient person to
repost it? Many thanks.