Documentation/AOO4 User Guides/Writer Guide/Working With Text/Inserting special characters/Inserting en and em dashes

Apache OpenOffice 4.1 Writer Guide

Chapter 3: Working with Text

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• Introduction
• Selecting Text
  • Selecting Items that are not Consecutive
  • Selecting a Vertical Block of Text
• Cutting, Copying, and Pasting Text
• Finding and Replacing Text
  • Find and Replace Specific Formatting
  • Find and Replace Paragraph Styles
  • Use Wildcards (regular expressions)
• Inserting Special Characters
  • Inserting Non-breaking Spaces and Hyphens
  • Inserting en and em Dashes
• Formatting Paragraphs
  • Setting Tab Stops and Indents
  • Changing the Default Tab Stop Interval
• Formatting Characters
• Autoformatting
• Creating Numbered or Bulleted Lists
  • Using the Bullets and Numbering toolbar
  • Example: Configuring a Nested List
• Using Footnotes and Endnotes
  • Inserting Footnotes/Endnotes
  • Defining the Format of Footnotes/Endnotes
• Checking Spelling and Grammar
• Using Built-in Language Tools
  • Using Paragraph and Character Styles
  • Using Tools > Language
  • Using language settings in Options
  • Using the Status Bar
• Using Synonyms and the Thesaurus
• Hyphenating Words
  • Automatic Hyphenation
  • Manual Hyphenation
• Using AutoCorrect
  • Using Word Completion
• Using AutoText
  • Creating AutoText
  • Inserting AutoText
  • Printing a List of AutoText Entries
• Line Numbering
• Tracking Changes to a Document
  • Preparing a Document for Review
  • Recording Changes
  • Accepting or Rejecting Changes
  • Merging Modified Documents
  • Comparing Documents
• Adding Other Comments
• Linking to Another Part of a Document
  • Using Cross-References
  • Using Bookmarks
  • Using Hyperlinks
  • Inserting Hyperlinks Using the Navigator
  • Inserting Hyperlinks Using a Dialog Box
  • Editing Hyperlinks
• Switching Between Insert and Overwrite Mode
• Counting the Words in a Selection
• Changing the Case of Selected Text

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Inserting en and em Dashes

To enter en and em dashes, you can use the Replace dashes option under Tools > AutoCorrect Options (Figure 16). This option replaces two hyphens, under certain conditions, with the corresponding dash.

In the following table, the A and B represent text consisting of letters A to z or digits 0 to 9.

Another means of inserting en or em dashes is through the Insert > Special Characters menu. Select the U+2013 or U+2014 character, respectively. A third method uses keyboard shortcuts. These shortcuts vary depending on your operating system.

Text that you type:	Result
A - B (A, space, minus, space, B)	A – B (A, space, en-dash, space, B)
A -- B (A, space, minus, minus, space, B)	A – B (A, space, en-dash, space, B)
A-B (A, minus, B)	A—B (A, em-dash, B)
A--B (A, minus, minus, B)	A-B (unchanged)
A -B (A, space, minus, B)	A -B (unchanged)
A --B (A, space, minus, minus, B)	A –B (A, space, en-dash, B)

You can also record macros to insert en and em dashes and assign those macros to unused key combinations, for example Ctrl+Shift+N and Ctrl+Shift+M. For more information, see Chapter 17 (Customizing Writer).

Hold down one of the Alt keys and type on the numeric keypad: 0150 for an en dash or 0151 for an em dash. The dash appears when you release the Alt key.

Linux

Hold down the Compose key and type two hyphens and a period for an en dash, or three hyphens for an em dash. The dash appears when you release the Compose key.

The key that operates as a Compose key varies with the Linux distribution. It is usually one of the Alt or Win keys, but may be another key, and should be user selectable.

macOS

Hold down the Option (Alt) key and type a hyphen for an en dash. For an em dash, the combination is Shift+Option+Hyphen.