What does a no-width non break symbol do in Word?

[mikeg3]

What does a no-width non break symbol do in Word 2003?
This is in a list box under Insert->Symbol->Special characters.
I was trying to control which special characters create two words in the
middle of a character string and I came across this odd symbol, which is not
in any doc I could find.
Thanks.

 

[Jezebel]

The idea is to mark places where you explicitly don't want a line break: for
example, Word thinks it's OK to insert a line break immediately after an
en-dash. You mightn't want this if the en-dash is in the middle of a phone
number. So the idea is to insert a no-width, non-break after the dash.

The reason you've never seen it is probably related to the fact that it
doesn't work. Not that I've seen, anyway.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

En dashes have no place in phone numbers. Phone numbers use hyphens, and
non-breaking hyphens can be used.

 

[mikeg3]

Well, it certainly doesn't stop Word from breaking after an en-dash.

Since it doesn't actually work, how do you know what a no-width non break
special character is supposed to do?

Is there really detailed doc for Word 2003 - way beyond "Word 2003 Inside
Out"?

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Ahh, but use hyphens in phone numbers only when the 'figure dash' is not available per this article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dash
and the U.S. Gov't Printing Office Style manual does suggest using an en dash in phone numbers.
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/stylemanual/2000/chapter_txt-8.html (section 8.72)
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/stylemanual/ 'by act of Congress...' <g>

I guess it may depend on which style guide you need to follow for a given job


======
En dashes have no place in phone numbers. Phone numbers use hyphens, and
non-breaking hyphens can be used.

 

[Jezebel]

Do a Google. You'll find a number of threads covering it. It's possible that
there are Asian fonts for which it is implemented.

It's the counterpart of the 'no-width optional break', which DOES work.
(Used for strings like asdasd/asdasda, if you want to permit a break after
the slash, but not see a space if the string is not broken.)

 

[Jezebel]

Any number of work-arounds, but that's hardly the point here, is it?

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Mike,

Insert=>Symbol=>Special Characters 'No width non-break'
inserts a "zero width joiner" (HTML entity &#8205 or &zwj, Unicode U+200D)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-width_joiner
http://www.digitalmediaminute.com/reference/entity/index.php

It's actually a bit surprising that it is listed in the Special Characters dialog even when there are no languages such as Persian
or Arabic are enabled, since it does not appear in Edit=>Replace=>More=>Special except when a cursive language is enabled for
Office.

========
Well, it certainly doesn't stop Word from breaking after an en-dash.

Since it doesn't actually work, how do you know what a no-width non break
special character is supposed to do? >>
--
Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

Pricing and Packages for '2007 Microsoft Office System'
http://microsoft.com/office/preview

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Interesting. I've never seen (or noticed) either a "figure dash" or an en
dash used in phone numbers. Using one would make the phone number longer (an
en dash is about twice as wide as a hyphen), and that's not always
desirable.