Main Operations

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The nuts and bolts of working with text require a certain amount of expertise, which you need to master. In this section, you'll learn how to do the following:

  • Insert data.

  • Select and edit data.

  • Copy, move, and delete data.

  • Search and replace text.

Insert Data

Data comes in all shapes and sizes, which includes plain text and other special characters and symbols. In this section, you'll learn how to insert both.

Inserting Text

Insert text.


Once you have a document to work with, inserting data is the simplest thing you'll do. Simply grab your keyboard and start typing.

Inserting Special Characters

Insert special characters, symbols.


Inserting normal text is easy, but the keyboard doesn't offer every character you might need. When you need to insert a special character or symbol, position the cursor at the point within your document where you want to insert the special character or symbol. Then, choose Symbol from the Insert menu to display the Symbol dialog box, shown in Figure 4.11.

Figure 4.11. Insert special characters.


This dialog offers hundreds of special characters and symbols: You might want to spend a little time reviewing all the possibilities. There's a tab for special characters and a tab for symbols. To insert either, select it, and click Insert. Click Close to return to the document and the newly inserted symbol or special character.

Select Data

The easiest way to select data is to simply drag the mouse pointer over the text. But there are a number of shortcuts that can make selection easier.

Selecting Text

Select character, word, line, sentence , paragraph, entire body text.


Not everyone wants to grab the mouse to select data. Table 4.2 lists a number of keystroke and mouse combinations for selecting text. All work from the current insertion point.

Table 4.2. Selecting Text

Keystroke

Results

Double-click

Selects the word under the cursor.

Triple-click

Selects the paragraph containing the cursor.

Click in left margin

Selects the line that you clicked next to.

Ctrl+click

Selects the sentence under the cursor.

Click+drag

Selects text that you drag the mouse over, as long as you hold the button down.

Shift+right arrow

Selects the next character.

Shift+left arrow

Selects the previous character.

Shift+up arrow

Selects all the previous characters in the current line and the previous line up to the point of insertion.

Shift+down arrow

Selects all the characters to the right of the insertion point and up to that point in the next line. The insertion point is the point where the text entry cursor is currently displayed.

Ctrl+Shift+right arrow

Selects from the insertion point to the end of the current word.

Ctrl+Shift+left arrow

Selects from the insertion point to the beginning of the current word.

Shift+End

Selects from the insertion point to the end of the current line.

Shift+Home

Selects from the insertion point to the beginning of the current line.

Ctrl+Shift+down arrow

Selects from the insertion point to the end of the current paragraph.

Ctrl+Shift+up arrow

Selects from the insertion point to the beginning of the current paragraph.

Shift+PgDn

Selects one screen down from the insertion point.

Shift+PgUp

Selects one screen up from the insertion point.

Ctrl+Shift+Home

Selects from the insertion point to the beginning of the document.

Ctrl+Shift+End

Selects from the insertion point to the end of the document.

Ctrl+A

Selects the entire document.


When you select text, Word shows it highlighted in reverse (by default, this means white characters on a dark background), as shown in Figure 4.12.

Figure 4.12. Word displays selected text in reversed colors.

Edit Data

Editing text is just about as simple as entering it, and fortunately, Word supports a number of methods for doing so.

Inserting Text Within Existing Text

Edit content by inserting new characters within existing text, overtyping to replace existing text.


You can edit a document by inserting new characters or by replacing existing characters with new ones. To insert new characters, follow these steps:

  1. Word's default is Insert mode. You can tell whether the document's in the right mode by checking the Status bar for the OVR icon. If it's dimmed, you're in Insert mode. Otherwise, you're in what's known as Overtype mode. Press the Insert key to toggle between Insert and Overtype mode.

  2. Position the cursor where you want to add the new character or characters.

  3. Start typing.

Remember, you're adding characters to the existing text, so you'll use this method to add missing words, change a word from singular to plural by adding an s character, and so on. In contrast, you can replace existing characters in much the same way, but you must work in Overtype mode. To do so, press the Insert key and check the status bar. The OVR icon must not be dimmed. Once you're in Overtype mode, select the cursor where you want to start replacing characters and start typing. Word will write right over the existing characters, one for one.

Using Undo and Redo

Use the Undo, Redo commands.


Editing doesn't always involve adding or replacing new text. For instance, you might decide to italicize or bold a word or phrase or you might delete characters altogether. Occasionally, you even change your mind, and then sometimes you even change your mind again! That's when the Undo and Redo buttons come in handy.

The Undo button acts as a sort of cancel feature, and the Redo button cancels the last cancel action. Don't let that confuse you, though; it's really very simple.

The Undo button tracks your actions, and any time you want to cancel (or retract) an action, you simply click Undo. Alternately, you can choose Undo Typing from the Edit menu or press Ctrl+Z. For a quick example, type a character and then press Undo to erase it. If you decide you want the character back, click Redo.

Clicking Undo or pressing Ctrl+Z works backward through your last actions. The Undo button maintains a list of actions, which you can select from its drop-down list, as shown in Figure 4.13. That way, you can choose to undo more than one action with a single mouse click. The Redo button is similar in that it tracks your Undo actions and also allows you to select them in bulk from its drop-down list.

Figure 4.13. Select an item from the Undo control's drop-down list.

Duplicate, Move, and Delete

Editing might require that you copy, move, or even delete text from an existing document or between documents.

Duplicating Text

Duplicate text within a document, between open documents.


To duplicate or make a copy of text, follow these steps:

  1. Select the text you want to copy using any of the methods discussed earlier. (See the section "Selecting Data.")

  2. Choose Copy from the Edit menu or press Ctrl+C.

  3. Position the cursor at the point where you want to copy the text to. If you're copying the text to another open document, select that document from the Window menu or from the minimized document icon on the taskbar first. Then, position the cursor within the target document.

  4. Once the cursor is in the right position, select Paste from the Edit menu or press Ctrl+V.

Moving Text

Move text within a document, between open documents.


To move text, use the same process discussed in the last section. However, instead of choosing Copy from the Edit command, select Cut (or press Ctrl+X). Doing so deletes the selected text. (You can always click Undo if necessary. See the "Using Undo and Redo" section.)

Next, position the cursor to the section of the document to which you want to move the text, and choose Paste from the Edit menu (or press Ctrl+V). Just like with duplicating, you can move the text to another open document by selecting the document from the Window menu or the Word icon on the Windows taskbar.

Sometimes, the drag and drop method is the easiest way to move text. Just highlight the text and then drag it to the new position.


Deleting Text

Delete text.


Don't let the idea of deleting text frighten you. Until you save the document, the delete isn't really final. You can close the document without saving it and reopen it to recover deleted text. Or an easier solution might be to use the Undo feature. Just don't save the document until you're absolutely sure that it's correct. Or if you really want to protect yourself, make a copy of the file by renaming it. Then, if the worst happens, you can quickly revert to the original by opening the copy.

To delete text, select it using any of the selection methods discussed earlier in this chapter (see "Selecting Data") and then press the Delete key. It's that simple!

Search and Replace

It's easy to find a specific word or phrase in a small document, but the larger the document is, the harder this visual task becomes. When you need to find something, use the Find command.

Searching for a Specific Word or Phrase

Use the search command for a specific word, phrase.


Word's Find command can help you find words and phrases in a document. To find a specific word or phrase in the current document, choose Find from the Edit menu or press Ctrl+F. Enter the word or phrase in the Find and Replace dialog (the Find tab will be selected for you) and click Find Next. Word highlights the first occurrence of the entered text. To continue finding more occurrences, press Ctrl+F and click Find Next again.

Using this feature, you can quickly replace text. For instance, suppose you want to replace each occurrence of St. with Street. To do so, you select Replace from the Edit menu (or press Ctrl+H). In the resulting Find and Replace dialog box, enter the search and replace text, which in this case is St. and Street, respectively, as shown in Figure 4.14.

Figure 4.14. Replace text using the Find and Replace feature.

To quickly replace each occurrence of St. with Street, click the Replace All button. Or you can pick and choose which occurrences to replace by clicking Find Next and then clicking Replace when you want to replace the highlighted text. To skip an occurrence, click Find Next without clicking Replace.

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ICDL Exam Cram 2
ICDL Exam Cram 2
ISBN: 0789730928
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 142

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