Consistent Spacing in WordBasic

There is an unwritten rule in typesetting that there should only be one space after the end of a sentence. This provides the best visual appearance on a printed page, particularly when using proportional typefaces. (If you are using monospace fonts, as you would on a typewriter, then you should use two spaces after the end of a sentence.) The problem is that it is easy to add additional spaces at the end of a sentence without even realizing it. The following WordBasic macro, CheckSpaces, is a tool you can use to double-check the end of your sentences.

Sub MAIN
MakeChanges("Body text", ".")
MakeChanges("Body text", "!")
MakeChanges("Body text", ":")
MakeChanges("Body text", Chr$(34))
End Sub

Sub MakeChanges(StyName$, PuncMark$)
FromWord$ = PuncMark$ + "   "
ToWord$ = PuncMark$ + " "
StartOfDocument
EditFindStyle .Style = StyName$
EditReplace .Find = FromWord$, .Replace = ToWord$, \
   .WholeWord = 0, .MatchCase = 0, .Format = 1, .ReplaceAll = 1
FromWord$ = PuncMark$ + "  "
EditReplace .Find = FromWord$, .ReplaceAll = 1
End Sub

CheckSpaces will only take extra spaces out of paragraphs formatted with the Body text style. This ensures you won't mess up formatting in tables or other design elements where you may want extra spaces after periods. If you want to change the type of punctuation searched for, or search in different style paragraphs, add additional calls to MakeChanges after the fifth line in the macro.