How to make em dash an easy quick character

I know there are utilities that allow the user to assign key combinations to
any character. I don't want an extra utility for this. I want to change
the key itself.

Thanks.




"Larry" <larry328NOSPAM RemoveThis @att.net> wrote in message
news:eOTBdnr%23GHA.4544@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> For example, the key just above the Enter key, when pressed with Shift,
> types the vertical line character: < | >. I almost never use this.
> Could this key be reconfigured so that it produces the em dash? And if I
> ever wanted that the vertical line character back, would there be some way
> to toggle the two settings for that key?
>
>
>
>
> "Larry" <larry328NOSPAM RemoveThis @att.net> wrote in message
> news:eID2Ugr%23GHA.4268@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> > I am so tired of having to type Alt+(NUM)0151 whenever I want to type an
> em
> > dash in a Windows application such as Outlook Express.
> >
> > Is there some way I can reconfigure my keyboard to be able to type an em
> > dash as easily as I type an exclamation mark or a question mark—with a
> > single key?
> >
> > This is not a problem in MS Word, because in Word you can easily assign
> the
> > em dash to any key combination you want. But I don't know how re-assign
a
> > key for all Windows applications.
> >
> > I use Windows 98.
> >
> > Larry
> >
>
 >> Stay informed about: How to make em dash an easy quick character 

"Larry" <larry328NOSPAM RemoveThis @att.net> wrote in message
news:O3$Rbrr%23GHA.1200@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> I know there are utilities that allow the user to assign key combinations
to
> any character. I don't want an extra utility for this. I want to change
> the key itself.

Most (all?) of the old utilities for this were TSR
apps written for DOS. Windows is different, in
that its specific installations control the keyboard
(e.g. 1 set language character set, e.g. 2 thus
recognize the special Windows key.) So if you
want to reassign a key in Windows you must
rewrite that part of Windows that addresses the
keyboard. This must be why nearly all users
remember the Alt & keypad assignments for
non-standard characters.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)
 >> Stay informed about: How to make em dash an easy quick character 

Or they use a third-party utility. That's the only way to do it, AFAIK.

--

Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

"Don Phillipson" <d.phillipsonSPAMBLOCK DeleteThis @rogers.com> wrote in message
news:uJn9WTs%23GHA.3952@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> "Larry" <larry328NOSPAM DeleteThis @att.net> wrote in message
> news:O3$Rbrr%23GHA.1200@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>
>> I know there are utilities that allow the user to assign key combinations
> to
>> any character. I don't want an extra utility for this. I want to change
>> the key itself.
>
> Most (all?) of the old utilities for this were TSR
> apps written for DOS. Windows is different, in
> that its specific installations control the keyboard
> (e.g. 1 set language character set, e.g. 2 thus
> recognize the special Windows key.) So if you
> want to reassign a key in Windows you must
> rewrite that part of Windows that addresses the
> keyboard. This must be why nearly all users
> remember the Alt & keypad assignments for
> non-standard characters.
>
> --
> Don Phillipson
> Carlsbad Springs
> (Ottawa, Canada)
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: How to make em dash an easy quick character 

Gary,

There needs to be a campaign by computer users to get computer hardware and
software companies to make the em dash a regular character with a regular
key assignment like any other frequently used punctuation mark. It is
ridiculous that the em dash, which is more commonly used than, say, the
exclamation mark for most writers, does not have its own key, and
furthermore that so many applications cannot even display the em dash! As a
result, most online writers use a double hyphen, even in published articles
(which of course printed publications do not use--they use the em dash), or
worse, they use a single hyphen with spaces around it, or, worse yet, they
use a single hyphen with no spaces around it.

Larry


"Gary S. Terhune" <grystnews DeleteThis @mvps.org> wrote in message
news:es$4H%23s%23GHA.4712@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> Or they use a third-party utility. That's the only way to do it, AFAIK.
>
> --
>
> Gary S. Terhune
> MS-MVP Shell/User
> http://grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
> http://grystmill.com/articles/security.htm
>
> "Don Phillipson" <d.phillipsonSPAMBLOCK DeleteThis @rogers.com> wrote in message
> news:uJn9WTs%23GHA.3952@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> > "Larry" <larry328NOSPAM DeleteThis @att.net> wrote in message
> > news:O3$Rbrr%23GHA.1200@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> >
> >> I know there are utilities that allow the user to assign key
combinations
> > to
> >> any character. I don't want an extra utility for this. I want to
change
> >> the key itself.
> >
> > Most (all?) of the old utilities for this were TSR
> > apps written for DOS. Windows is different, in
> > that its specific installations control the keyboard
> > (e.g. 1 set language character set, e.g. 2 thus
> > recognize the special Windows key.) So if you
> > want to reassign a key in Windows you must
> > rewrite that part of Windows that addresses the
> > keyboard. This must be why nearly all users
> > remember the Alt & keypad assignments for
> > non-standard characters.
> >
> > --
> > Don Phillipson
> > Carlsbad Springs
> > (Ottawa, Canada)
> >
> >
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: How to make em dash an easy quick character 

I can't argue that it it would be a good thing. You want to do the leg work,
I'll sign the petition, ,s>. Fact is, Word, and I think WordPerfect, will
automatically convert a double-hyphen into an em-dash. Close as they've come
to accomodating us em-dash users. For now, though, the third-party key
re-assigners, or Franc's method for editing the keyboard files, are what you
have to work with.

One way you *can* directly impact the design of future word-processors,
etc., is to join the various beta programs. That is where user input into
design specs gets listened to. Whether or not it is implemented would depend
on the demand, but that is where such demands are listened to.

--

Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

"Larry" <larry328NOSPAM.DeleteThis@att.net> wrote in message
news:%23sQQ1Qv%23GHA.4268@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Gary,
>
> There needs to be a campaign by computer users to get computer hardware
> and
> software companies to make the em dash a regular character with a regular
> key assignment like any other frequently used punctuation mark. It is
> ridiculous that the em dash, which is more commonly used than, say, the
> exclamation mark for most writers, does not have its own key, and
> furthermore that so many applications cannot even display the em dash! As
> a
> result, most online writers use a double hyphen, even in published
> articles
> (which of course printed publications do not use--they use the em dash),
> or
> worse, they use a single hyphen with spaces around it, or, worse yet, they
> use a single hyphen with no spaces around it.
>
> Larry
>
>
> "Gary S. Terhune" <grystnews.DeleteThis@mvps.org> wrote in message
> news:es$4H%23s%23GHA.4712@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>> Or they use a third-party utility. That's the only way to do it, AFAIK.
>>
>> --
>>
>> Gary S. Terhune
>> MS-MVP Shell/User
>> http://grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
>> http://grystmill.com/articles/security.htm
>>
>> "Don Phillipson" <d.phillipsonSPAMBLOCK.DeleteThis@rogers.com> wrote in message
>> news:uJn9WTs%23GHA.3952@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>> > "Larry" <larry328NOSPAM.DeleteThis@att.net> wrote in message
>> > news:O3$Rbrr%23GHA.1200@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>> >
>> >> I know there are utilities that allow the user to assign key
> combinations
>> > to
>> >> any character. I don't want an extra utility for this. I want to
> change
>> >> the key itself.
>> >
>> > Most (all?) of the old utilities for this were TSR
>> > apps written for DOS. Windows is different, in
>> > that its specific installations control the keyboard
>> > (e.g. 1 set language character set, e.g. 2 thus
>> > recognize the special Windows key.) So if you
>> > want to reassign a key in Windows you must
>> > rewrite that part of Windows that addresses the
>> > keyboard. This must be why nearly all users
>> > remember the Alt & keypad assignments for
>> > non-standard characters.
>> >
>> > --
>> > Don Phillipson
>> > Carlsbad Springs
>> > (Ottawa, Canada)
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>
 >> Stay informed about: How to make em dash an easy quick character 

Would somebody tell me what an em dash is? I'm a little dense today.

Thanks.

Jack



--
 >> Stay informed about: How to make em dash an easy quick character 

typographically, a dash as wide as the widest character in any typeface, the
capital M
A measurement that varies with the type face and font size, an em is always
larger than
a normal hyphen, (which is as wide as the average character width).
used to signify break or change in thought, parenthesis, list items etc


--
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Catalog of removal tools (1)
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Cool Web Shredder http://www.trendmicro.com/cwshredder/
links provided as a courtesy, read all instructions on the pages before
use
Grateful thanks to the authors/webmasters
_
<jyazel DeleteThis @ds.net> wrote in message
news:4838k2dsu7rdfv3oju2pp0pq7b22bhfl71@4ax.com...
>
> Would somebody tell me what an em dash is? I'm a little dense today.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Jack
>
>
>
> --
 >> Stay informed about: How to make em dash an easy quick character 

And then there's the en dash, <s>.

--

Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

"AlmostBob" <anonymous1 DeleteThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:uk9Hdnw%23GHA.3860@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> typographically, a dash as wide as the widest character in any typeface,
> the
> capital M
> A measurement that varies with the type face and font size, an em is
> always
> larger than
> a normal hyphen, (which is as wide as the average character width).
> used to signify break or change in thought, parenthesis, list items etc
>
>
> --
> -
> Adaware http://www.lavasoft.de
> spybot http://www.safer-networking.org
> AVG free antivirus http://www.grisoft.com
> Etrust/Vet/CA.online Antivirus scan
> http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
> Super Antispyware http://www.superantispyware.com/
> Panda online AntiVirus scan http://www.activescan.com
> Panda online AntiSpyware Scan
> http://www.pandasoftware.com/virus_info/spyware/test/
> Catalog of removal tools (1)
> http://www.pandasoftware.com/download/utilities/
> Catalog of removal tools (2)
> http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/newsinfo/collateral.aspx?CID=40387
> Trouble Shooting guide to Windows http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/
> Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts file
> http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
> Cool Web Shredder http://www.trendmicro.com/cwshredder/
> links provided as a courtesy, read all instructions on the pages before
> use
> Grateful thanks to the authors/webmasters
> _
> <jyazel DeleteThis @ds.net> wrote in message
> news:4838k2dsu7rdfv3oju2pp0pq7b22bhfl71@4ax.com...
>>
>> Would somebody tell me what an em dash is? I'm a little dense today.
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>> Jack
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: How to make em dash an easy quick character 

The em dash is used to indicate a sudden break in thought:

They came and saw-but they did not conquer.

People often use the double hyphen instead of the em dash:

They came and saw--but they did not conquer.

The double hyphen is used with Courier font (which cannot properly print the
em dash) and also is used very commonly online because of the problem I
described in my original post. It is almost never used in printed
publications. Except for Courier, the double hyphen should never be used,
but it is used because the lack of a regular key assignment for it and
because in some e-mails it doesn't display properly.


<jyazel.TakeThisOut@ds.net> wrote in message
news:4838k2dsu7rdfv3oju2pp0pq7b22bhfl71@4ax.com...
>
> Would somebody tell me what an em dash is? I'm a little dense today.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Jack
>
>
>
> --
 >> Stay informed about: How to make em dash an easy quick character 

My sample of em dash did not work well in the sent message, at least as
viewed in my computer. Instead of looking like an em dash, it looks like a
hyphen, though when I was drafting the message it looked correct. I don't
know why that happened. In fact I've never seen that happen before.


"Larry" <larry328NOSPAM RemoveThis @att.net> wrote in message
news:ewfjkby%23GHA.3952@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> The em dash is used to indicate a sudden break in thought:
>
> They came and saw-but they did not conquer.
>
> People often use the double hyphen instead of the em dash:
>
> They came and saw--but they did not conquer.
>
> The double hyphen is used with Courier font (which cannot properly print
the
> em dash) and also is used very commonly online because of the problem I
> described in my original post. It is almost never used in printed
> publications. Except for Courier, the double hyphen should never be used,
> but it is used because the lack of a regular key assignment for it and
> because in some e-mails it doesn't display properly.
>
>
> <jyazel RemoveThis @ds.net> wrote in message
> news:4838k2dsu7rdfv3oju2pp0pq7b22bhfl71@4ax.com...
> >
> > Would somebody tell me what an em dash is? I'm a little dense today.
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
> > Jack
> >
> >
> >
> > --
>
 >> Stay informed about: How to make em dash an easy quick character 

Larry wrote:
> I am so tired of having to type Alt+(NUM)0151 whenever I want to type an em
> dash in a Windows application such as Outlook Express.
>
> Is there some way I can reconfigure my keyboard to be able to type an em
> dash as easily as I type an exclamation mark or a question mark-with a
> single key?
>
> This is not a problem in MS Word, because in Word you can easily assign the
> em dash to any key combination you want. But I don't know how re-assign a
> key for all Windows applications.
>
> I use Windows 98.
>
> Larry

If you select SYMBOL, from the INSERT menu in Word, it has a SPECIAL
CHARACTERS tab.
Top of that tab it says ALT+CTRL+NUM - gives you an em dash but it only
works in Word.

Carole
 >> Stay informed about: How to make em dash an easy quick character 

Larry wrote:

> The em dash is used to indicate a sudden break in thought:
>
> They came and saw-but they did not conquer.
>
> People often use the double hyphen instead of the em dash:
>
> They came and saw--but they did not conquer.

I think this looks strange without any spaces.
Makes me think, what is "saw-but" / "saw--but"?
Shall it really be like that?
I think that with spaces looks better, like:
I'm staying out of this -- now, here's my opinion.

> The double hyphen is used with Courier font (which cannot properly print the
> em dash) and also is used very commonly online because of the problem I
> described in my original post. It is almost never used in printed
> publications. Except for Courier, the double hyphen should never be used,
> but it is used because the lack of a regular key assignment for it and
> because in some e-mails it doesn't display properly.

Why is Courier special?
Do you really mean "Except for Courier, ..." or rather "Except when
using non-proportional (fixed-width) fonts, ..."?

--
Nah-ah, i'm staying out of this -- now, here's my opinion.

Please followup in the newsgroup.
E-mail address is invalid due to spam-control.
 >> Stay informed about: How to make em dash an easy quick character 

On Sat, 28 Oct 2006 22:09:19 -0400, jyazel.DeleteThis@ds.net wrote:

>
> Would somebody tell me what an em dash is? I'm a little dense today.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Jack
> =================================

Thanks very much for all of the responses.

Jack


--
 >> Stay informed about: How to make em dash an easy quick character