Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 11, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
One of the biggest problems in formatting what was previously an ASCII file is modifying it so there are only hard returns at the end of paragraphs. Most ASCII files have a hard return at the end of every line of the file, and two hard returns at the end of every paragraph. If you have an ASCII file that is formatted like this, such as something you downloaded off the Internet, the following macro will be invaluable. It formats an entire file so there are only hard returns at the end of paragraphs.
Sub ConvertASCII()
Fmt "^p^p", "{|}"
Fmt "^p", " {@}"
Fmt " {@}", " "
Fmt "{@}", " "
Fmt "{|}", "^p"
End Sub
Sub Fmt(sFromWord, sToWord)
Set myRange = ActiveDocument.Content
myRange.Find.ClearFormatting
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:=sFromWord, _
ReplaceWith:=sToWord, MatchCase:=0, _
Replace:=wdReplaceAll
End Sub
You should run the ConvertASCII macro. It calls the Fmt macro several times to replace various combinations of return characters to get toward the desired result.
Note:
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2023-12-04 15:06:32
Bill Jeffrey
Re formatting an ASCII file - paragraph marks. Assuming you are doing this as a one-off, and not habitually, Word's FIND and REPLACE can do the same thing without the bother of creating a macro. Just FIND ^p^p and REPLACE it with a tilde, for example. Then FIND ^p and REPLACE it with a space. Then FIND the tilde and REPLACE it with ^p (or with ^p^p if you want a blank line between paragraphs). Add ^t in the REPLACE field if you want a tab at the beginning of the paragraph.
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