Microsoft KB Archive/22439

Translating Characters with Proportionally Spaced Fonts

PSS ID Number: Q22439 Article last modified on 11-02-1994

2.x 3.x 4.00 5.00

MS-DOS

Question:

If the Character Translation Table has been used to create a new character by overtyping two (or more) characters using the backspace character, will issues such as justification and centering the overtyped character still be addressed correctly?

Response:

Centering of the overtyped characters normally is not addressed, but the result is satisfactory in most cases. In Word Versions 3.x and later, if centering is crucial, variable-length translation sequences are permitted. This feature allows possible use of a movement command (probably the same one used at byte:28) in the translation sequence to move the printhead the exact amount required to center the character.

Also, if the overtyped character is very small, a movement command might be needed at the end of the translation sequence to move the printhead a bit to the right to prevent the next character in the text from overlapping the redefined character. The use of the backspace character and the movement command could potentially make the translation sequence for an overtyped character very long.

No problem should occur concerning justification and column/tab alignment as long as the width-table entry for the redefined character contains the width of the resulting movement of the printhead from the current position to the position after the entire translation sequence has been issued. Calculation of this resulting width requires knowing the width of all the characters and movement commands in the translation sequence, including the negative width of the backspace character.

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