How do I bind a minus sign to a number to remain on same line?

baugd

unread,

Jan 19, 2010, 10:17:02 AM1/19/10

to

I want to bind a minus sign to a number so that the entire construct remains
on the same line and not split between two lines (e.g., -21% on same line
versus - on one line and 21% on next line).

Thanks,
Drew Baughman

DeanH

unread,

Jan 19, 2010, 10:37:01 AM1/19/10

to

You use a Non-Breaking-Hyphen. Press Ctrl+Shft+Hyphen to create.
Hope this helps
DeanH

Yves Dhondt

unread,

Jan 19, 2010, 12:33:46 PM1/19/10

to

Strictly speaking, Ctrl+Shift+Hyphen defines an open xml noBreakHypen
element which only exists in Word. This is neither a non-breaking hyphen nor
a non-breaking minus sign. There does exist a real non-breaking hyphen
(U+2011) and a minus sign (U+2212).

You should try displaying the three symbols next to each other on a line in
Word to see the difference.

Yves

"DeanH" <De...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:412B393F-90B8-40B1...@microsoft.com...

Peter T. Daniels

unread,

Jan 19, 2010, 1:34:41 PM1/19/10

to

Hyphen isn't acceptable as a minus sign (en-dash, which is Ctrl-minus
on the keypad, is) -- but Suzanne has discovered (and I confirmed)
that the minus sign identified by Yves _is_ a non-breaking minus. Type
2212 on the regular keyboard and press Alt-X. If you're going to use
it a lot, open Insert Symbol (if the character is selected, Insert
Symbol will open right to it) and assign a keyboard shortcut (button
left of middle on the bottom of the Insert Symbol panel).

> > Drew Baughman-

DeanH

unread,

Jan 20, 2010, 6:28:02 AM1/20/10

to

Hi Yves and Peter, many thanks for you comments, and yes I have never really
been happy with the Ctrl+Shift+Hyphen. The U+2212 works well and is
non-breaking as you say, but I tend not to use minus signs that much in my
work.
Nnon-breaking hypens I do, unfortunately the U+2011 does not bring up the
hyphen but a square box. Checking my Symbol listing and 2011 is not in the
General Punctuation listing, going from 200F (Right to Left Mark) to 2013 (En
Dash).
Any ideas?
DeanH

"Peter T. Daniels" wrote:

> .
>

Peter T. Daniels

unread,

Jan 20, 2010, 8:23:27 AM1/20/10

to

Are you using a font from a less than reputable source? Have you tried
the standard fonts?

When you have typed Ctrl-Shift-Hyphen and Show Non-Printing
Characters, do you see an en-dash? (Similarly, the optional hyphen
used for forcing a word to break at only a specific point, Ctrl-
Hyphen, shows up as logical-not sign.)

DeanH

unread,

Jan 20, 2010, 9:03:02 AM1/20/10

to

Hi Peter.
All the fonts are standard MS issue, the only addition is a corporate font
based on Helvetica. The fonts I have tried in the symbol listing include
Arial, TNR, Helvetica, and the corporate font, as well as (normal text) and
the option for 2011, Alt+X does not appear.
I tend to work with Non-printing Characters always showing and the
Ctrl+Shift+Hyphen does look like an En Dash, only a little thinner if viewed
at high zoom (200%).
Correct the optional hyphenation sign is the NOT sign (00AC or Shft+`).
DeanH

"Peter T. Daniels" wrote:

> .
>

Peter T. Daniels

unread,

Jan 20, 2010, 1:20:20 PM1/20/10

to

I take no position on the special nonbreaking hyphen character at
2011. Didn't Word have such a thing before Unicode was invented, so it
would still use its old technique rather than try to accommodate the
new invention?

Selecting a nonbreaking hyphen inserted the traditional way yields no
code at all with Alt-X, showing that it is indeed a Word artifact and
not a special character. (Likewise for soft hyphen.)

DeanH

unread,

Jan 21, 2010, 4:42:01 AM1/21/10

to

Yves, thanks for the response. As you can probably see from the other
postings, I cannot find U+2011 in the symbols listing.
I am on 2003/XP does this affect the listing?
DeanH

"Yves Dhondt" wrote:

> .
>

Yves Dhondt

unread,

Jan 21, 2010, 7:28:34 AM1/21/10

to

It will depend on the available fonts and their version.

I noticed on Word 2007, when I use the default font (Calibri) and type 2011,
ALT+X, my font gets automatically switched to MS Gothic. I'm guessing this
is the work of uniscribe behind the curtains, but I can't say for sure.

On my system, the following fonts seem to support U+2011:
Arial Unicode MS
Lucida Sans Unicode
Meiryo
MS Gothic
MS Mincho
MS PGothic
MS PMincho
MS UI Gothic
Palatino Linotype

According to http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA011872311033.aspx you
should have at least 2 of these, but they might be the wrong versions:
Arial Unicode MS
Palatino Linotype

Yves

"DeanH" <De...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:AA3FB174-D76F-4E28...@microsoft.com...

DeanH

unread,

Jan 22, 2010, 6:24:01 AM1/22/10

to

Yves, many thanks. I have found the non-breaking hyphen 2011 character under
Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode and Palatino Linotype.
Thanks again, all the best.
DeanH

"Yves Dhondt" wrote:

> .
>