Doing away with long dashes

Logseman · 03-21-2010, 04:55 AM

I'm working on a little project which has exactly 1179 long dashes. None of them are needed, so I would like to know how I can subsitute them with a space.

Thanks in advance.

HarryT · 03-21-2010, 05:02 AM

Forgive the obvious question, but why can you not simply do a search and replace?

Logseman · 03-21-2010, 06:54 AM

Because the "space" character is not recognized as such. Nothing happens if I just click on "replace" having a long dash in the search field and a blank space in the lower field.

HarryT · 03-21-2010, 07:10 AM

Oh, I see the problem!

You could try replacing it with the HTML character code for a space, which is "" (without the quotes). That should work, too.

EDIT: Sorry, that didn't work for some reason. The value is (without the spaces):

& # 2 0 ;

neilmarr · 03-21-2010, 09:49 AM

Use the replace-all, Logseman. Enter the long dash in the top window and in the replace-with window enter space x space. Then go back and simply remove that isolated x. Voila. Cheers. Neil

PS: If you find you've accidentally left too much space, simply go back to replace-all. Enter two spaces in the top window and one space in the lower window. N

HarryT · 03-21-2010, 10:47 AM

But the OP said that using "space" as the replace text didn't work, Neil.

neilmarr · 03-21-2010, 02:16 PM

It works that way, Harry, though you can't replace a letter or punctuation with a space. I use it every day because many writers (especially in the US) tend to leave two spaces after a full stop (period) and I have to lose thousands of those extra spaces in almost every manuscript I work on. Of course, I'm guessing that Logseman is working in Word. Cheers. Neil

Logseman · 03-21-2010, 02:25 PM

I'm working on Sigil (that's why this post is here) and it's my maiden project, as you may well notice

In my case, it's a Project Gutenberg ePub file, a theater piece I'm editing (Emilia Galotti, a short German classic). Once I do away with the dashes it'll be almost ready to publish here in MR, though I'll still need to validate it, another thing I'd like to ask how to do.

neilmarr · 03-22-2010, 02:29 AM

Woops. Sorry for the muddle, Logseman. Good luck. Neil

03-21-2010, 04:55 AM	#1
Logseman Orisa Posts: 2,000 Karma: 1035571 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Ireland Device: Onyx Poke 5	Doing away with long dashes I'm working on a little project which has exactly 1179 long dashes. None of them are needed, so I would like to know how I can subsitute them with a space. Thanks in advance.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
txt to mobi - dashes becoming ?	cybmole	Calibre	5	10-14-2010 11:02 AM
Stripping out dashes on epub convert?	toddos	Calibre	5	08-01-2010 03:29 PM
em-dashes & Kindle	hkdorama	Kindle Formats	7	07-27-2010 09:12 AM
CSS for line breaks after dashes?	JaneFancher	Sigil	4	04-05-2010 12:18 PM
BD and dashes problem	Otter	Sony Reader	1	09-25-2007 05:47 AM

03-21-2010, 05:02 AM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Forgive the obvious question, but why can you not simply do a search and replace?

03-21-2010, 06:54 AM	#3
Logseman Orisa Posts: 2,000 Karma: 1035571 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Ireland Device: Onyx Poke 5	Because the "space" character is not recognized as such. Nothing happens if I just click on "replace" having a long dash in the search field and a blank space in the lower field.

03-21-2010, 07:10 AM	#4
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Oh, I see the problem! You could try replacing it with the HTML character code for a space, which is "" (without the quotes). That should work, too. EDIT: Sorry, that didn't work for some reason. The value is (without the spaces): & # 2 0 ;

03-21-2010, 09:49 AM	#5
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,215 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	Use the replace-all, Logseman. Enter the long dash in the top window and in the replace-with window enter space x space. Then go back and simply remove that isolated x. Voila. Cheers. Neil PS: If you find you've accidentally left too much space, simply go back to replace-all. Enter two spaces in the top window and one space in the lower window. N

03-21-2010, 10:47 AM	#6
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	But the OP said that using "space" as the replace text didn't work, Neil.

03-21-2010, 02:16 PM	#7
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,215 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	It works that way, Harry, though you can't replace a letter or punctuation with a space. I use it every day because many writers (especially in the US) tend to leave two spaces after a full stop (period) and I have to lose thousands of those extra spaces in almost every manuscript I work on. Of course, I'm guessing that Logseman is working in Word. Cheers. Neil

03-21-2010, 02:25 PM	#8
Logseman Orisa Posts: 2,000 Karma: 1035571 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Ireland Device: Onyx Poke 5	I'm working on Sigil (that's why this post is here) and it's my maiden project, as you may well notice In my case, it's a Project Gutenberg ePub file, a theater piece I'm editing (Emilia Galotti, a short German classic). Once I do away with the dashes it'll be almost ready to publish here in MR, though I'll still need to validate it, another thing I'd like to ask how to do.

03-22-2010, 02:29 AM	#9
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,215 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	Woops. Sorry for the muddle, Logseman. Good luck. Neil

Advert

Advert