Tabs Problem
Tabs Problem
I reset all the tabs in the "Normal" document template to .25. On a new line, when I tab and then start typing, the type backtracks to the margin. Any tabs I input after the first one, goes fine, I can tab all I want - until I come to the next new line. I can fix the line by going back to the margin when I'm through typing and hitting tab again. However, this is tiresome. Is this a glitch?
No, I didn't know "Ctrl+M" was the standard procedure, but then, I've only been using computers since the days of DOS. Oh well, I was pretty amazed a couple of years ago when someone popped up the clock on an XP system. You'd think I'd have known that too.Robert wrote:Hi,
This is not happening on my system.
Now, why start a new line with a tab character? A left indent is the usual (standard) procedure. If you press "Ctrl+M", you'll insert a (default) left indent of precisely ".25".
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Robert
I tried the Ctrl+M and, sure enough, got a .25 indent. However, when I typed an entry and then used "tab" (on the same line), the next letters I typed backedtracked right up next to the previous text with not even a space in between. The problem seems to be related to the first tab used on any line.
I don't know why you can't recreate the problem on your system. My system is XP SP2 Home. Could I have set some option in Atlantis that might cause this?
Hi,
Here is how I understand things.
A tabulator character is a nonprinting arrow character that pushes the typed text forward up to the next tab stop.
If you display the nonprinting characters in Atlantis (“View | Special Symbols”), you’ll see that the tabulator characters have a given length and need screen space to display in their entirety.
So if you set the default tab stop value to a size that is smaller than the space required to display the tabulator characters, they simply won’t show onscreen. There aren’t enough pixels in between two tab stops to display the tabulator arrow.
Note that the same glitch is happening in MS Word 2007 if you define too small a tab stop value.
So it is inadvisable to define tab stops that are too small. As a rule, it seems that the tab stops should not be (much) smaller than the screen space allocated to the space characters themselves.
Hope this helps.
Robert
By the way, why do you want to define such small tab stops?
Here is how I understand things.
A tabulator character is a nonprinting arrow character that pushes the typed text forward up to the next tab stop.
If you display the nonprinting characters in Atlantis (“View | Special Symbols”), you’ll see that the tabulator characters have a given length and need screen space to display in their entirety.
So if you set the default tab stop value to a size that is smaller than the space required to display the tabulator characters, they simply won’t show onscreen. There aren’t enough pixels in between two tab stops to display the tabulator arrow.
Note that the same glitch is happening in MS Word 2007 if you define too small a tab stop value.
So it is inadvisable to define tab stops that are too small. As a rule, it seems that the tab stops should not be (much) smaller than the screen space allocated to the space characters themselves.
Hope this helps.
Robert
By the way, why do you want to define such small tab stops?
Robert wrote:Hi,
Here is how I understand things.
A tabulator character is a nonprinting arrow character that pushes the typed text forward up to the next tab stop.
If you display the nonprinting characters in Atlantis (“View | Special Symbols”), you’ll see that the tabulator characters have a given length and need screen space to display in their entirety.
So if you set the default tab stop value to a size that is smaller than the space required to display the tabulator characters, they simply won’t show onscreen. There aren’t enough pixels in between two tab stops to display the tabulator arrow.
Note that the same glitch is happening in MS Word 2007 if you define too small a tab stop value.
So it is inadvisable to define tab stops that are too small. As a rule, it seems that the tab stops should not be (much) smaller than the screen space allocated to the space characters themselves.
Hope this helps.
Robert
By the way, why do you want to define such small tab stops?
I am not concerned with showing tabulator characters onscreen. I turned them on to see what they looked like and they do display. The first one used overlaps the next entry, the rest display normally. However, I then made the mistake of looking at auto-correct to see if there was something I could turn off and tried turning off "Replace manual bulleting or numbering with automatic". When that didn't help, I turned it back on. Now the tabs don't work at all. Every time I start typing after a tab, the type starts backing up filling in all the space. So now I can't use tabs at all.
Why I need them smaller than the usual huge .5 is really not very important. Suffice it to say that I use them a lot and don't use word processors that don't allow me set them up the way I need them. Except for the small inconvenience of having to go back and put in an extra tab for the first one in every line, it worked fine - until a few minutes ago. Now I have somehow rendered the program useless.
Can you tell me how to undo what I did?
Do you have a "hanging indent" in your document? When the first line of a paragraph is outdented, the left indent of this paragraph is normally used as the first tab stop of the first line of this paragraph. Things work similarly in other word processors too. Please choose the "Format | Paragraph..." menu command in Atlantis, and check the "First line" item on the "Indents & Intervals" page. Does it say "Outdent"?
No hanging indent. Checked out the dialog box. It just says "none".admin wrote:Do you have a "hanging indent" in your document? When the first line of a paragraph is outdented, the left indent of this paragraph is normally used as the first tab stop of the first line of this paragraph. Things work similarly in other word processors too. Please choose the "Format | Paragraph..." menu command in Atlantis, and check the "First line" item on the "Indents & Intervals" page. Does it say "Outdent"?
Since yesterday - after I briefly changed the manual bulleting setting.
After every tab, not just the first one anymore, the typing backs up until it reaches either the previous word or the previous tab. When I turn on the special symbols and scroll the line up close to the ruler bar, I can see that after a tab, the arrow gets shorter and shorter as the text backtracks. I can also see that the tabbing jumps the cursor to the exact spot it should, then starts backing up exactly to where the previous tab is the minute I start typing. If I tab twice before typing, the text backs up one tab space, never more than that. If I tab three times, the same thing happens, so now I have to tab twice for every tab space I need.
No. No automatic multilevel (outline) list involved. I am not talking about a paragraph or a document. I am talking about a general issue that involves every Atlantis document I have on my system.admin wrote:Does your paragraph belong to an automatic multilevel (outline) list, either bulleted or numbered?
Is the "Tab and Backspace change list levels" option checked on the "Edit" tab of the "Tools | Options..." dialog in your Atlantis?
Yes. The "Tab and Backspace change list levels" option is checked.
No laptop.
HP Pavilion - Pentium(R) 4CPU
160GB HDD 512 MB RAM
Windows XP SP2 Home
Hey! I figured it out. The tabs were set as decimal tabs. I am trying to fix it now but can't find any way to change them, so that leaves only the option of deleting them and starting over. The only way I can find to do that is to drag them off the window one at a time. Is that how it's supposed to work? I have a lot of templates to change and if there is a simpler solution it would be appreciated.admin wrote:Does your paragraph belong to an automatic multilevel (outline) list, either bulleted or numbered?
Is the "Tab and Backspace change list levels" option checked on the "Edit" tab of the "Tools | Options..." dialog in your Atlantis?
Thanks.
You can double-click any tab stop on the ruler, and change its alignment in the "Tabs" dialog that would pop up.
Hi,writenow wrote:Hey! I figured it out. The tabs were set as decimal tabs. I am trying to fix it now but can't find any way to change them, so that leaves only the option of deleting them and starting over. The only way I can find to do that is to drag them off the window one at a time. Is that how it's supposed to work? I have a lot of templates to change and if there is a simpler solution it would be appreciated.Thanks.
I am not sure this will serve your purpose, but you might give it a try.
As I understand things, you have decimal tab stops that you’d like to replace with non-decimal tab stops. Here is what might do the trick:
1. Open one of your templates.
2. Press “F6” to display the Atlantis Control Board.
3. Click to display the Control Board “Styles” panel.
4. Select the “Normal” style in the panel.
5. On the toolbar at the bottom of the panel, press the “Modify style” button.
6. In the “Edit Style” dialog, press the “Tabs…” button.
7. In the “Tabs” dialog, press the “Add” button.
8. Add a tab position at 0.25". Make sure it is left-aligned.
9. OK out of all open dialogs.
If I am not mistaken, all your decimal tab stops should be converted into left-aligned non-decimal tab stops, provided they are placed in paragraphs belonging to the Normal style.
If you have decimal tab stops to convert in paragraphs belonging to other styles, repeat steps 5 to 9 after selecting the appropriate style in the panel first.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Robert
Thanks! I tried it on one of the templates and it works - almost perfectly. I can "Add" one left aligned tab from there. Doing that doesn't change the rest of the tabs only the first one. However, if I then select "Tabs" from the Format drop down list, it is possible to change the rest of them by setting the Default tab position to 0.25. I was unable to get that to work until after I tried your suggestion to change the tab from the Styles box.Robert wrote:Hi,writenow wrote:Hey! I figured it out. The tabs were set as decimal tabs. I am trying to fix it now but can't find any way to change them, so that leaves only the option of deleting them and starting over. The only way I can find to do that is to drag them off the window one at a time. Is that how it's supposed to work? I have a lot of templates to change and if there is a simpler solution it would be appreciated.Thanks.
I am not sure this will serve your purpose, but you might give it a try.
As I understand things, you have decimal tab stops that you’d like to replace with non-decimal tab stops. Here is what might do the trick:
1. Open one of your templates.
2. Press “F6” to display the Atlantis Control Board.
3. Click to display the Control Board “Styles” panel.
4. Select the “Normal” style in the panel.
5. On the toolbar at the bottom of the panel, press the “Modify style” button.
6. In the “Edit Style” dialog, press the “Tabs…” button.
7. In the “Tabs” dialog, press the “Add” button.
8. Add a tab position at 0.25". Make sure it is left-aligned.
9. OK out of all open dialogs.
If I am not mistaken, all your decimal tab stops should be converted into left-aligned non-decimal tab stops, provided they are placed in paragraphs belonging to the Normal style.
If you have decimal tab stops to convert in paragraphs belonging to other styles, repeat steps 5 to 9 after selecting the appropriate style in the panel first.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Robert
You've saved me hours of tedious work.
Here is a simpler method which might also do the trick:
1. Press “Ctrl+A” to select the whole document, hence all the paragraphs.
2. Double-click the horizontal ruler to open the “Tabs” dialog.
3. Set the default tab stop at 0.25”.
4. OK out of the dialog.
All the tab intervals should be reset to 0.25” and left-aligned.
1. Press “Ctrl+A” to select the whole document, hence all the paragraphs.
2. Double-click the horizontal ruler to open the “Tabs” dialog.
3. Set the default tab stop at 0.25”.
4. OK out of the dialog.
All the tab intervals should be reset to 0.25” and left-aligned.