nisus.com

Hello,

I've recently moved to NWP from Wordperfect and so far have been quite enjoying it. However, in a file that I just loaded in, I'm getting a consistent line spacing problem whenever a line has an em-dash in it: the line spacing just above the line containing the em-dash appears to be greater than the normal line spacing, although the line spacing always shows as "1 lin" in the paragraph palette. I've tried removing attributes and styles as well as removing font attributes, but nothing seems to work. The problem isn't just a display problem, it appears when the file is printed as well.

I think the problem is associated with some code that has carried over from Wordperfect that is coming right after the em-dash, and does not have to do with the em-dash itself (when I start with the a new document and type lines with an em-dash, there is no line spacing problem). I also suspect it has something to do with the font, because the font name in the character palette changes from black to red when the cursor is placed just after the em-dash. (The document is in Adobe Jenson Pro.)

I tried to attach a sample of the problem, but received the error message "The extension rtf is not allowed."

Any ideas?

Josh

I have had that problem too and never could figure out how to resolve it. hmmm. Not only me then too. Curious to see what the answer is.

I get it occasionally in mixed language .docs produced in the Chinese Windows version of Word. Since NWP doesn't have a "reveal codes" my solution has always simply been to delete and retype the text surrounding the offending bit. In the OP's case that would just have to be the preceding and following words; unfortunately in my case, it is impossible to pin down exactly where in the line the offending gremlin is hidden, and it is necessary to retype at least one, maybe two lines.

Mark

goldste4 wrote:[...]I tried to attach a sample of the problem, but received the error message "The extension rtf is not allowed." [...]

You can zip the rtf file before uploading it.

I followed Mark's advice, just deleting the offending em-dashes and retyping them and that solved the problem. A bit time consuming, but probably no more than the time spent searching for some automated solution. Fortunately for me, whatever gremlin was causing the problem didn't appear anywhere else but after every em-dash.

If anyone is still interested in finding a solution to the problem, I've attached a one page sample from the offending rtf file, uploaded as a zip file as Hamid suggested.

Thanks,
Josh

Ah, I see what the problem is. It is using the Horizontal Bar instead of the em dash. You can use PowerFind Pro to replace all occurrences:

Find what: \x{2015}
Replace with: \x{2014}

or save this as a Nisus Writer Macro (with extension nwm):

Hello Hamid,

Thanks very much, this comes is very handy for many other Wordperfect files that I need to convert and work on! I assume that it must be quirk of the way the Wordperfect file was converted to rtf (or I've accidentally been using the horizontal bar instead of the em-dash all these years!). In case a similar problem happens again (say with the en-dash), how do you tell what the character actually is so that I can modify the macro?

Thanks,
Josh

Hello Josh,

in NWP you can select a character and convert it to its Unicode code point from the menu Edit:Convert:To Unicode Code Points.

For a detailed exploration of all the characters, you can use UnicodeChecker:
http://earthlingsoft.net/UnicodeChecker/

Hello Hamid, thanks, again, very helpful. Josh