* Brian Barker <[email protected]> [110203 15:12]: > At 14:18 03/02/2011 -0900, Tim Johnson wrote: >> FYI: I'm a programmer but don't use OO Writer myself, ... > > You are welcome to learn! How would you like to be a programmer? >> We have installed the mini-corrector extension which does a good job >> of removing extra spaces from the body of text, but it also removes >> paragraph indentation - which is completely unacceptable. :( > > I haven't seen the extension, but my guess is that removing spaces would > remove such indentation only if you had attempted to achieve the > indentation by inserting consecutive spaces. That's typewriter > thinking; please join this millennium and embrace word processing. Bear in mind that this is second hand, sent on behalf of my wife who is trying to bring a document - novel in fact the ORIGINALLY was written on the typewriter. (See above) > In > any case, if you use Find & Replace to reduce multiple spaces to single > one (no extension required) you can go through them one by one, allowing > the changes you want and denying the ones you don't. It's very easy: > word-processor users do it all the time. > >> I find that *if* I indent a paragraph by using the TAB key, the >> indentation remains, ... > > Good. That's better ... > >> ... but of course a TAB is not a space. > > Indeed, but you don't want spaces and a tab is better. :) Great minds run in the same gutter. ".20" tabstop may be the solution.
>> I find also, that although the specs that my wife is try to meet >> require *5 spaces*, ... > > You should laugh at whoever gave you this specification and tell them > you are doing so. No! No! That would blow the opportunity and burn some very important bridges. Alienating the authority would be *extremely* counter-productive. > It makes no sense in a post-typewriter world. A > typewriter space is a fixed width; in a word-processed document, it > cannot be relied upon to be so. In justified text, five consecutive > spaces will expand to allow the line to span the margins - just as > single spaces do. If five consecutive space characters happen to occur > at a natural line break, they disappear altogether! Your authority needs > to understand this. Fat chance. >> I can't find a way for the TAB action to 'mimic' the 5 spaces and I >> doubt that there are. > > If you know how wide you believe five spaces to be (as I say, there is no > answer to this, in fact), then you can certainly achieve what you want > using tabs. Simply set a tab stop at the appropriate distance from the > paragraph margin. The tab will then indent by the same amount > irrespective of whether the paragraph is left aligned or justified. > > Better still, use the proper technique: set an appropriate indentation in > the paragraph or paragraph style. Just go to Format | Paragraph... | > Indents & Spacing | Indent and set a suitable value for "First line". > Alternatively, go to right-click | Edit Paragraph style... | Indents & > Spacing | Indent and do the same at a stroke for all paragraphs with the > same style. Now, you have nailed it. No doubt that you know your stuff. >> The goal is to remove redundant spaces from within the text, but not >> from paragraph indentation. > > Just don't (mis)use spaces for this purpose. (Or use Find & Replace > intelligently.) Not sure what you mean here.... again, I am really passing on questions from my wife. > By the way, there is another lesson you can teach your authority. > Indentation was necessary to indicate the start of a new paragraph in the > days of handwriting on lined paper. Unfortunately I doubt very much that there is going to be any arguing this with the authority. > It transferred fairly directly to > typewriting, where the vertical spacing of lines was still regimented. > But modern practice with printing and word processing techniques is often > to space paragraphs slightly wider apart vertically than lines of the > text are, and in this case paragraphs are clearly delineated and > indentation serves no purpose. Thanks again. Bear in mind that my wife is dealing with an entrenched mentality. Too bad they aren't listening to you. -- Tim tim at johnsons-web.com or akwebsoft.com http://www.akwebsoft.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
