PUB2: Imported Text Contains End-of-Paragraph Marks

Q130872

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The information in this article applies to:

 - Microsoft Publisher for Windows, versions 2.0, 2.0a
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SYMPTOMS
========

When you import a plain ASCII text file into Microsoft Publisher, you will
sometimes find that there is an end-of-paragraph mark after each line of
text. (To see the end-of-paragraph marks, press CTRL+Y, and every hidden
format character will become viewable. To hide them, press CTRL+Y again.)

These extra end-of-paragraph marks can make formatting the text into
paragraphs difficult and tedious, increasing the time it takes to produce a
final version of your publication.

CAUSE
=====

Some word processors place an end-of-paragraph mark after every line when
saving formatted text as plain ASCII text. With some word processors (such
as plain text editors), this may be the only choice for saving text.

RESOLUTION
==========

To remove unwanted end-of-paragraph marks within your entire document or
within highlighted sections of text, do the following:

1. After importing the text file into your document, determine how
   paragraphs are delimited. For example, are paragraphs separated by blank
   lines, or is the first line of each paragraph indented?

2. Use the Publisher search and replace function to find these paragraph
   delimiters and replace them with a unique placeholder. To search and
   replace, do the following:

   a. Click within the text frame where you want to replace end-of-
      paragraph marks, making sure that the flashing cursor at the front of
      the first line of text.

   b. From the Edit menu, choose Replace. In the Find What box, type in
      the appropriate search string:

       - If the paragraphs are separated by one blank line, search on two
         end-of-paragraph marks, one for the end of the paragraph and the
         other for the blank line itself. The search string therefore would
         be "^p^p" (without the quotation marks). The caret (^) character
         tells Publisher that what follows is a formatting character, and
         the "p" designates an end-of-paragraph mark.

       - If the paragraphs are not separated by blank lines and first line
         of each paragraph is indented by a set number of spaces, the
         search string would be "^p" followed by the number of spaces in
         the indent. For example, if the first line of each paragraph is
         indented five spaces, the search string would be
         "^p     " (without the quotation marks).

   c. In the Replace With box, type in a placeholder string. The best
      placeholder is a series of characters that do not appear in imported
      text at all. Here are three possible placeholders: ###@@@, #$#$#$,
      @#@#@#.

   d. After typing the placeholder, you can test how well your search and
      replace strings work by choosing the Replace button a few times. Once
      you are satisfied that your search string is working right, choose
      Replace All. This may take a few minutes to complete.

3. After Publisher replaces all the paragraph delimiters with placeholders,
   replace all the remaining end-of-paragraph marks in the text by
   searching on "^p" (without the quotation marks) and replacing with a
   single space. This also may take a few minutes.

4. Once Publisher has replaced all the remaining end-of-paragraph marks
   with spaces, you can replace the placeholders with end-of-paragraph
   marks. In the Find What box, type in the placeholder you specified in
   step 2. In the Replace With box, type (for example) "^p^p" (to specify
   that paragraphs be separated by one blank space) or "^p     " (to
   specify that they be indented five spaces but not separated by a blank
   line).

Once these steps have been completed, you now can easily apply normal
paragraph formatting styles to the imported text.

Additional query words: 2.00 2.00a pub20 pub20a linefeed mspub