Microsoft KB Archive/102708

Spelling Checker Flags Words Formatted with All Caps

PSS ID Number: Q102708 Article last modified on 10-13-1994

2.00 2.00a 2.00a-CD 2.00b 2.00c | 3.00 3.01 3.02 4.00 5.00 5.10

WINDOWS | MACINTOSH

= SYMPTOMS =

Word’s Spelling command may flag a word formatted in All Caps as improperly capitalized. For example, if All Caps character formatting is applied to the word “teSt” to appear as “TEST”, the Spell Checker will flag it as misspelled. The specific error message in the Spelling dialog box will be

Capitalization: teSt

or in Word for the Macintosh versions 3.x/4.0:

Unknown Word: teSt

Similarly, misspelled words formatted in All Caps will be flagged even if the Ignore All Caps feature is on. For example, if All Caps character format is applied to the word “city” to appear like “CITY”, the Spell Checker will flag it as misspelled. The specific error message in the Spelling dialog box will be

Not in Dictionary: city

or in Word for the Macintosh versions 3.x/4.0:

Unknown Word: city

= WORKAROUND =

Changing the case of the characters to true uppercase allows the spelling checker to perform as expected. To change the case of characters, follow the appropriate steps outlined below. (Note: Word for the Macintosh versions 3.x and 4.0 have no method to change lowercase characters into uppercase characters.)

Word for Windows
Select the characters to be changed, and then press SHIFT+F3 to change the case of the selection to all capital letters. For more information on SHIFT+F3, refer to page 151 of the Word for Windows “User’s Guide.”

Word for the Macintosh
In Word 5.0 and 5.1, select the characters to be changed and choose Change Case from the Format menu. Select Uppercase and choose OK.

= MORE INFORMATION =

Word’s spelling checker identifies uppercase and lowercase characters by their ASCII value. For example, the ASCII value of “a” is 97, and the ASCII value of “A” is 65. The All Caps character format does not change the ASCII value of lowercase characters. If All Caps is applied to a lowercase character, although the character appears uppercase in the document, the characters still retain their lowercase ASCII values.

To ignore words in uppercase during a spelling check, select Options/Preferences from the Tools menu, select the Spelling category, and select Words In UPPERCASE in the Ignore section. Choose the close box.

= REFERENCES =

Word for Windows “User’s Guide,” version 2.0, page 151 Word for the Macintosh “User’s Guide,” version 5.0/5.1, pages 140-141

KBCategory: kbproof KBSubcategory: kbfont Additional reference words: 3.00 winword macword 3.01 3.02 4.00 5.00 5.10 2.00 2.00a 2.00a-CD 2.00b 2.00c speller checking wrongchecked ignored

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Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1994.