How do you override Word's <period> default in {XE} \t switch?

[baobob]

A Word 2002 indexing newbie asks:

Word has the great facility to substitute desired text instead of page
numbers in an index entry. This lets you create cross-references. To
specify this line in the index:

Mencken, H. L. See Authors

you say:

{XE "Mencken, H.L" \t " See Authors"}

But there are three problems:

1. Word automatically adds a period after the base entry. So if you
punctuate the string -correctly-:

{XE "Mencken, H. L." \t " See Authors"}

then Word misspells its own document:

Mencken, H. L.. See Authors

namely, with -two- periods.

You must then go thru your entire doc, as I had to do, and remove the
period after all terminating initials in -some- instances (in {XE}
index entries), but leave them in others (live text). This is
hideous.

2. Word also adds a space. So far, that hasn't a problem for me. But
since I'm of the "two spaces after a period" school, I want two spaces
after "Mencken, H. L." Hence my initial extra space in substring "
See ..."

3. Because of the default period, you are hence stylistically required
to capitalize your x-ref term -- in my case "See".

Yeah, well, capitalizing a cross-reference term looks like hell. And
Microsoft ought to know that. It is tedious on the eyes to have to
see propercase "See"'s populating your index.

And guess what? it is unprofessional. Take for example David
McCullough's new book about Americans in Paris. His cross-reference
style is:

Mencken, H. L., see Authors

Much easier on the eyes.

Conversely, you surely don't want the following (changing the example
to a terminate in a full name to force illustration of Word's
perversity:

Williams, Ted. [ ]see Baseball

Spelling "see" as lowercase, after a period looks equally bad.

***

So, how do you tell Word either to use a different default symbol than
a period with its \t switch; or else call off its smarter-than-thou,
consequently unacceptable, period entirely?

Or, is there a better way to create x-ref entries in an index I don't
know about?

Thanks -very- much.

***

 

[Peter T. Daniels]

(1) Eliminate the second period in a single Find-Replace operation at
the very end.

(2) Don't type two spaces after a period.

 

[baobob]

Peter:

Thanks -very- much for reply. Will do.

***