How to get a long hyphen!

[tjtops]

Please can someone tell me how to get a 'long hyphen' -- ie like this only solid! -- on my (English) keyboard?
Ctr+alt+minus has been suggested, but it doesn't work..........

[Colinm]

if you use the minus on the top right corner of the numeric keyboard, then ctrl,alt minus gives a long hyphen in a word document ok, but not in a txt file etc

[tjtops]

Thanks Colin,..but I don't have a numeric pad on my laptop.....(haven't bothered with a full compy for years, lol)!!

[Colinm]

just booted out the lapdog to check and it works the same way if you have the numerics as a function on the keyboard (k=2,L=3 and : = -). They work when you hold down the Fn key.
So if you hold ctrl + alt + Fn and - you will get a long hyphen!

[chrissiehope]

She's going to need very flexible hands.....

[tjtops]

Er ....you've completely lost me Colin!!!
I have NO idea how to have 'numerics as a function' on my laptop I'm afraid...I always use the numbers along the top!!!!...(it's a Tosh Satellite L300 BTW)....

[.Griff.]

- —

If you're really stuck you could just copy/paste the long hyphen from this post (Normal first, long second)

[chrissiehope]

On your keyboard, as well as the usual letters/numbers, some keys will have a smaller number (often in a different colour). There will also be a key with 'Fn' on it (probably in the same colour as the little numbers) - on my lappy it's next to the Ctrl key.

So, you hold down this Fn key, at the same time as the Alt key and the Ctrl key, then press th '-' key, it should work

edit:
just googled images of your Tosh, and your Fn key is between the Ctrl & the Windows key -
http://www.nt-computerservices.co.uk/im ... 00_Key.jpg

[Mowser]

How long? ALT 0151 gives you

—

[tjtops]

hold down this Fn key, at the same time as the Alt key and the Ctrl key, then press th '-' key, it should work

Er...nope!!! Well, not in Word anyway and that's where I need it to work -- it's used a lot! (Doesn't do anything, actually!)...
Mowser....no comprendo.....
And Griff....re copy/paste...is there a clever way I could copy it (from here) and save the resulting symbol as an easily-usable 'shortcut' .....or summat???

[Mowser]

tjtops

Hold down the "ALT" key and at the same time type the numbers 0151 on the numeric keypad then release. You'll then get a —

ALT 0141 gives you 

[tjtops]

lol...Mowser...I did try that....still a big fat 'nowt'......!!!!

[Mowser]

It must be the numeric keypad!

[.Griff.]

It must be the numeric keypad!

Thanks Colin,..but I don't have a numeric pad on my laptop.....(haven't bothered with a full compy for years, lol)!!

[Colinm]

Mowser - its a laptop without numerics pad.
TJ, if you look at the letter K on your keyboard, there should be a numeral 2, in a different colour, on the same key. Open a work document and hit the k key and a k appears on the screen. Now hold down the Fn key and hit the k key and a number 2 should appear. Now, on my laptop the minus sign is on the key that has colon/semicolon, so if I hold down the Fn key and hit the colon/semicolon key, then a minus appears. If you then hold down the Ctrl key, Alt key and Fn key and at the same time hit the colon/semicolon key, you will get a long minus!

[chrissiehope]

I just saw Colinm's post after writing this, but will post anyway in case it helps

OK, I'm on my laptop now, so here goes !

This is what I get with a normal hyphen ----------------

and this is what I get with Ctrl Alt Fn and the numeric hyphen (mine is on the 'P' key) except it isn't working here ! This is copy & paste from Word —————————————

If this still isn't right, how about this:
(assuming you're using OfficeWord 2007)
go to the 'Insert' tab (next to 'Home') and choose the drop down arrow under 'Shapes'. You will get a selection, including 'Lines'
Choose the first one (a straight line) and then position the little cross of your cursor where you want the hyphen.
Click to start the line, move the mouse a little to the side and then click again to close the line.
You will have to create a space with the space bar for the line to fit into, like this

Alha mbra (in Word there is a hyphen in the middle, but it won't transfer here !)

I know this seems very long winded, but it might be your only option

Re Mowser's suggestion, it doesn't seem to work for me either

I will have a little play and post back if I find anything else !

[chrissiehope]

Just pressed F1 for OfficeWord help and found the following:

Insert a special character
1. Click where you want to insert the special character.
2. On the Insert tab, in the Symbols group, click Symbol, and then click More Symbols.
3. Click the Special Characters tab.
4. Click the character that you want to insert, and then click Insert.
5. Click Close.

This does the same as pressing all those keys bat once ! The one you want is an 'Em dash', but you can try all sorts !!

edited to say I've just noticed you can then nominate a key to generate this automatically - I set it with Ctrl and 'Z' (it didn't want to accept just one key, but was happy with Ctrl and one other)

[tjtops]

YAY.... Chrissie!!!! goddit now! And Colin, your suggestion works too, so many thanks to all of you
FTR...I've set it to ctrl + Alt + - so hopefully that will work all the time now!

[chrissiehope]

Great !

[Enrique]

Hi tjtops.
There is always the Character Map.................

— long

- normal

Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools