displaying delta symbol in word/excel

[John Burk]

Whenever I try to type a capital delta symbol (from the symbol font via
the "insert symbol" command) word and excel insert a space, and do not
display the symbol (the delta does display when I put it in through
equation edititor). It also appears in entourage, but when I try to
paste it from entourage to excel or word, it vanishes. Most of the
other symbol characters seem to behave quite normally.

Any ideas?
Thanks,
-john

 

[Fredrik Wahlgren]

Whenever I try to type a capital delta symbol (from the symbol font via
the "insert symbol" command) word and excel insert a space, and do not
display the symbol (the delta does display when I put it in through
equation edititor). It also appears in entourage, but when I try to
paste it from entourage to excel or word, it vanishes. Most of the
other symbol characters seem to behave quite normally.

Any ideas?
Thanks,
-john

Do you use the same font?

/Fredrik

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi John-

This used to mystify me also. Depending on Office & OS versions, when
you use the Insert>Symbol feature, what actually happens is that the
"code" for that symbol (in this case, delta) gets inserted, but not
every font includes all characters. If the code represents an excluded
charcter, a default symbol (usually a hollow box) is what shows up.

Once you insert the delta, select the symbol that appears and change
the fort to Symbol from the list on the Formatting Toolbar or Palette.

Same thing in Excel - just change the font to Symbol or any font that
includes the delta character.

If that doesn't do it & you're in OS X, you may need to go into System
Preferences and enable full keyboard layout.

Hope this helps |:>)

Hope this is useful |:>)

 

[John Burk]

Unfortunetly, these suggestions didn't work. I'm using the latest
version of OS X and Word. I don't get a hollow box when I try to insert
a delta, just a blank space. And when I highlight sthe space and try to
change its font to symbol, nothing hppens.

Thanks for any isights you have,
-john

 

[JE McGimpsey]

Unfortunetly, these suggestions didn't work. I'm using the latest
version of OS X and Word. I don't get a hollow box when I try to insert
a delta, just a blank space. And when I highlight sthe space and try to
change its font to symbol, nothing hppens.

If you're using Word04, you should insert the unicode character using
the character palette, not Insert/Symbol. That way the character is
preserved rather than the index into the particular font.

 

[Bob Greenblatt]

If you're using Word04, you should insert the unicode character using
the character palette, not Insert/Symbol. That way the character is
preserved rather than the index into the particular font.

Delta appears in most fonts. Did you try just keying Option-j instead of
inserting a symbol?

 

[CyberTaz]

John-

Sorry my suggestion didn't work. It has for me in the past, so I
thought it was worth a try. Apparently there is something else
involved, especially if JE's character palette suggestion or Bob's
keystroke don't succeed for you either.

Have you attempted to insert it from a font other than Symbol? I doubt
that will make a difference either, but ya never know.

I have tried to replicate you problem (Word 11.1, Excel 11.1, OS X
10.3.7), but I've had no problem with that character or any other when
using Insert>Symbol, the Character Palette or the Opt-j keystroke in
either program. Can even Copy & Paste back and forth between them
regardless of how it was originally entered. So I guess I'll leave it
to the pros.

Good Luck |:>)