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  1. #1
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    Default How to type an "En space" or an "Em space" (but not in Excel)?

    I'm a bit of a fan of the Alt keyboard for special characters but I can't find a way of typing an En or Em space (double or triple space). In excel I can insert a symbol from the special characters tab, but then I have to copy and paste it each time I want use it somewhere else (like a folder name).

    Anyone know how to type it? I've looked everywhere I can think of, and....nup.

    It makes my folders look like this, which is very readable (to me, anyway), and there are other practical reasons for using them (selecting the space with a mouse/pen is super easy and accurate)
    Piano Concerto #5 in E♭ 'Emperor' [Op.73] ©1810 ®1990 A.Brendel–P, Z.Mehta→Vienna SO [SACD]
    Regards, FenceFurniture

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  3. #2
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    What's wrong with hitting the space bar 2 or 3 times?

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    Quote Originally Posted by FenceFurniture View Post
    I'm a bit of a fan of the Alt keyboard for special characters but I can't find a way of typing an En or Em space (double or triple space). In excel I can insert a symbol from the special characters tab, but then I have to copy and paste it each time I want use it somewhere else (like a folder name).

    Anyone know how to type it? I've looked everywhere I can think of, and....nup.

    It makes my folders look like this, which is very readable (to me, anyway), and there are other practical reasons for using them (selecting the space with a mouse/pen is super easy and accurate)
    Piano Concerto #5 in E♭ 'Emperor' [Op.73] ©1810 ®1990 A.Brendel–P, Z.Mehta→Vienna SO [SACD]
    That takes me back to my apprenticeship in type setting, 2 x en = 1 x em from memory but then memory from 55 years ago might be a bit suspect so a grain of salt might be needed.
    CHRIS

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bohdan View Post
    What's wrong with hitting the space bar 2 or 3 times?
    Sometimes that is ok, but one of the things I have to do is keep the total file path as short as I can because they can get very long indeed, and then they get truncated.

    Also, try selecting the left two spaces or all of the spaces hereafter the colon : , and then try selecting the whole space here : , and you'll find there is a significantly less degree of accuracy required with your mouse (I use a pen/Wacom pad which makes it easier than a mouse, but still a little tricky).

    Edit: not possible to type three spaces into a post......the software turns them into one space
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    En dash – (alt 0150)
    Em Dash — (alt 0151)
    are also characters I use in place of hyphen - sometimes.
    Regards, FenceFurniture

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    Isn't an en-space Alt - and and em space Alt + (Alt-Shift-Minus)?

    On Win & Linux keyboards, anyway...
    I may be weird, but I'm saving up to become eccentric.

    - Andy Mc

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    Quote Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!! View Post
    Isn't an en-space Alt - and and em space Alt + (Alt-Shift-Minus)?

    On Win & Linux keyboards, anyway...
    It just makes rude noises at me Skew.
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    Quote Originally Posted by FenceFurniture View Post
    Edit: not possible to type three spaces into a post......the software turns them into one space
    This is HTML. It ignores extra spaces.

    This argument raged in 1994 (I remember the flame wars on BBS) and only just again last week on Reddit.

    People went nuts over it.

    It was agreed by layout experts to be Officially Dead. It was only a fashion imposed by typewriters to ease reading of monotyped/monospaced text. Now, with automatic pagination and fonts, it is entirely irrelevant.

    Personally, it made my life hell as a programmer. Parsing text for importing into databases (which I was lumped with A LOT) was a major PITA.

    Like the apostrophe, its time for it to die. Nay, be murdered.

  10. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by woodPixel View Post
    Like the apostrophe, its time for it to die. Nay, be murdered.
    Oh no, no, no you don't. Apostrophes sort the men from t' boys, and the boys from t' boy's boys. Like good diction and spelling, they just require a modicum of effort.
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    Quote Originally Posted by FenceFurniture View Post
    Oh no, no, no you don't. Apostrophes sort the men from t' boys, and the boys from t' boy's boys. Like good diction and spelling, they just require a modicum of effort.
    Well, not to be one that might disagree with you, but I disagree with you.

    See - I have a BOOK on the subject AND Ive read it.

    As my loving family likes to trivialise me at every opportunity they bought, for my Christmas gift this year, an eclectic little thing called... well, best to put the link as it is in the forums Very Naughty Word list: https://www.amazon.com/ing-Apostroph.../dp/1785781413

    Bonza thing. It explains every rule. The reasons for them. When to include them. When not to. The rules, not rules, exceptions and exceptions TO those exceptions.

    In the end, a writer and editor of some esteem, proclaims them complete BS and that they add zero to the language other than to drive editors and pedants mad.

    Ahem, next subject: split infinitives....


  12. #11
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    It's the thin edge of the wedge of dumbing down, and I refuse to be part of it. Next thing you know, punctuation goes out the window, along with capital letters, no more paragraphs, and everything ends up completely unreadable and without any character or expression. I have a member on block because their posts are just too damn hard to read as a result of that.
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    untested, but En Space is unicode 2002 and Em Space is unicode 2003 (apparently) so ALT-2002 should get you there?

  14. #13
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    Thanks poundy, but no cigar.
    Alt 2002 is Ê (same as 0202 or 210)
    Alt 2003 is Ë (same as 0203 or 211)
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    Quote Originally Posted by FenceFurniture View Post
    It's the thin edge of the wedge of dumbing down, and I refuse to be part of it. Next thing you know, punctuation goes out the window, along with capital letters, no more paragraphs, and everything ends up completely unreadable and without any character or expression.
    Couldn't've or shou'dn't I'd've used less or fewer?*

    Whomst'd've thunk it mightn't've been......easier to leave them out completely?

    No MoRe CaPiTaLs! Out the window! Defenestrate those paragraphs....


    *Now, is it less or fewer... or both? Eeeekkk!

  16. #15
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    I solved this problem recently with a very groovy little script courtesy of AutoHotKey and they have a very helpful forum to boot. I set it up to do much quicker entries for the characters than e.g. using Alt 0176 to get a ° (now I just Ctrl 0). The script is super simple, and I have it in the Start-Folder so that it executes every time I start up.

    This is the script for my most commonly used characters:
    ^-::Send – ; En dash
    !-::Send — ; Em dash
    ^0::Send °
    !b::Send ♭
    !2::Send ½
    !4::Send ¼
    !3::Send ¾
    !c::Send ©
    !r::Send ®
    !a::Send á
    !e::Send é
    !n::Send ñ
    !o::Send ó
    !+n::Send   ; En Space
    !+m::Send   ; Em space
    !;::Send :
    !.::Send ►
    !,::Send ◄
    !+.::Send »
    !+,::Send «

    space ; space means a comment can be entered
    ! is for the Alt key
    + is for the shift key
    ^ is for the Ctrl key
    and they can be combined as you can see in the last entry I have !+, so I press Alt Shift comma and it gives me «

    I dunno how many 1000s of times in the last 18 months I have done Alt 0150 to get – (En dash), but now it's just Ctrl - which is so much faster.
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