Bug - Deleting line when next line begins with a single space

[William Bub]

Open a new document and enter the following 5 lines of text (where "b"
represents a blank space):
12345
b2345
12345
bb345
12345
Move the cursor to the left side of the 1st line and drag straight down 1
line, to highlight the first line. Press delete. The blank space on line 2
will also be deleted.
This fails on any line being deleted when the next line begins with a single
space. It does not fail if the next line begins with multiple spaces, or no
spaces.
This bug should be submitted to Microsoft, but when I tried, their web site
said my product ID had no free support. I am using MS Word 2003
(11.5604.5606). It is installed with a large site license for a New Yory
State agency.
I cannot see any way it can be a user error, but I have been wrong before.

 

[Jay Freedman]

Hi William,

No, not a bug. Go to Tools > Options > Edit and uncheck "Smart cut and
paste", then try your test again -- the space will stay where it is.

This feature is intended to make it easier to delete, copy, or paste
by removing or inserting a space after a word automatically. If you
don't like it, just turn it off.

I'm not an expert on the labyrinthine Microsoft product support
system, but I'm pretty sure there's a separate route for handling
problems in site-licensed installations. Talk to your IT department
about it.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
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[William Bub]

Thanks. Now, is there any way to turn that off temporarily, or only while a
macro is executing? I think it might be useful sometimes. Plus, I want the
macro to work the same on different machines, without requiring every user to
have exactly the same setup.

 

[Jay Freedman]

Sure thing... use code like this:

Sub MySub()
Dim UserOption As Boolean
' save the user's current choice
UserOption = Options.SmartCutPaste
' change to what you want
Options.SmartCutPaste = False

' do whatever work you need

' restore the user's choice
Options.SmartCutPaste = UserOption
End Sub

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.