Word 2002 Search/Replace : a bug/feature or is it me?

[Mal Ice]

Hi!

Problem:

Replace occurrences of "[" (without the " ") or "]" with "«" or "»"

I get the "[" replaced with " i.e a double quote. Why? Are these replacement
characters special for word use?

Thanks.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Because "«" and "»" are quotation marks in French (and possibly other
languages), Word is parsing them as being the same as "curly quotes." If you
replace " with ", you get curly or straight quotes depending on the current
setting in AutoFormat As You Type. I suspect that the result you're seeing
is somehow due to AutoFormat. You might try what happens if you set the
language for the "Replace with" box to French.


--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Mal Ice]

Because "«" and "»" are quotation marks in French (and possibly other
languages), Word is parsing them as being the same as "curly quotes." If you
replace " with ", you get curly or straight quotes depending on the current
setting in AutoFormat As You Type. I suspect that the result you're seeing
is somehow due to AutoFormat. You might try what happens if you set the
language for the "Replace with" box to French.

I changed the language to French but the replace still insisted on changing the
« with "
The auto correct settings are "out of the box" and so I am at a loss as to why
an auto correct feature should be doing this.

If replace "[" with " «" (space«) I actually get " «" . Very odd behaviors.

Mal

 

[Mal Ice]

Because "«" and "»" are quotation marks in French (and possibly other
languages), Word is parsing them as being the same as "curly quotes." If you
replace " with ", you get curly or straight quotes depending on the current
setting in AutoFormat As You Type. I suspect that the result you're seeing
is somehow due to AutoFormat. You might try what happens if you set the
language for the "Replace with" box to French.

I changed the language to French but the replace still insisted on changing the
« with "
The auto correct settings are "out of the box" and so I am at a loss as to why
an auto correct feature should be doing this.

If replace "[" with " «" (space«) I actually get " «" . Very odd behaviors.

Mal

An update....... I turned of the smart quotes auto type setting and the replace
works fine.

I still say that's odd behavior for an English O/s with English language
changing a standard ASCI character to a different character because of smart
quotes rules in another language. Perhaps auto-type / auto correct should be
turned off for search and replace functions.

Mal