[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Both methods are absurd given that Word provides a simple, easy way to
accomplish the task (using centered and right-aligned tabs, which are
already present by default in the Header and Footer styles or can be easily
inserted using the ruler), but note that neither method actually centers the
center text; it merely creates the same amount of space between the central
portion and those on the left and right. Sometimes this might be desirable,
but usually it is not what is wanted.

To see an example of this, set a center-aligned tab in the center of the
line and a right-aligned tab at the right margin (or apply the Header or
Footer style). Then enter the following text (which might be a typical
second-page header for a letter):

John Q. SampletabAugust 9, 2008tab2

Now do the same thing with the sample text and either of our methods and
observe the distance in spacing. You can judge which would be the more
pleasing in a given situation.

Also, FWIW, I did not criticize you for attacking Microsoft. I do believe
that the behavior you're seeing with owner files is anomalous and therefore
unexpected. In Word 2003, I've frequently been surprised to see that Word
will actually release xxx.doc for editing after I've saved it as yyy.doc
(despite the fact that ~$xxx.doc is still open).

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

"Three Lefts" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 9 Aug 2008 11:31:40 -0500, "Suzanne S. Barnhill"
wrote:

This is an absurd way to achieve a simple task,

Absurd? Apparently, MVPs are allowed more latitude in being crabby
than are others. How come I am criticized for attacking M$FT, but you
are allowed to attack me -- and for no good reason. I offered a
solution that works and is simple to use. I admit that you have a
better solution, but mine is simpler (does not involve non-breaking
spaces, understanding the difference between a line break and a
paragraph mark, or hidden paragraph marks). I'd wager that if 100
random Word users were assigned to two groups and each group were
given one of these solutions, more of the group using my solution
would get it right and more quickly. I still agree that yours is
better, but mine is simpler.

but if you're going to do it
this way, you can equally well insert a single space between the parts,
nonbreaking spaces within the parts, and a line break at the end of the
(Justified) line, formatting the paragraph mark as Hidden.

That's a very clever solution. I hadn't thought of using non-breaking
spaces to make each part behave like a single word and then using
Justify to space them out evenly. The line break is required because
Word does not justify the last line of a paragraph, then the paragraph
mark, now on the next line, needs to be hiddne to prevent an extra
space (which will not be obvious in the source). It also works with
any number of parts and will adjust automatically if the margins
change, which is a problem with tabs. I'll add it to my toolkit.

Thanks.


But if you're going to try to center text with spaces, you might as well
go
back to a typewriter.

This is also kinda crabby and it's inaccurate. I presume you are
making a reference to the old says when we had to count the number of
characters in a title, subtract that from the line width, divide by 2,
then enter that number of spaces before the title to get it centered.
My suggestion involved no counting or dividing. Just add a few spaces
in one gap then add the same number (OK, I guess there is a little
counting, but it's much simpler) in the other gap. Repeat until it
looks OK.