Macro of the Month – December 2023 – CaseNextChar
Changes the case of the character to the right of the cursor; useful for letters that fall inside a word
This month's newsletter features another capitalization macro. It will help you capitalize a letter inside a word. Best wishes to everyone for a peaceful new year.
CaseNextChar
Sometimes we need to change the capitalization of a single character in the middle of a word, such as in PayPal and Airbnb. CaseNextChar makes this task easier.
How it works: When you encounter a word that contains an internal lowercase letter that should be capitalized or vice versa, use CaseNextChar to do the work for you. It also tracks the change (if Track Changes is enabled in the document).
How to use it: Place the cursor immediately to the left of the letter you want to change and run CaseNextChar. That’s all you need to do.
CaseNextChar changes the capitalization of the letter to the right of the cursor—so make sure to precisely position the cursor.
CaseNextChar lowercases a capital letter, as in this example, and uppercases a lowercase letter, as shown in the prior example.
Additional feature: When you select the entire word, CaseNextChar will change the case of the entire word, from all caps to lowercase or vice versa.
Download the code: www.wordmacrotools.com/macros/C/CaseNextChar
Related macros: Last month's newsletter introduced CaseThisWord, which changes the capitalization of the first letter of a word and advances the cursor to the next word (in case that too needs a capitalization edit). The May 2022 newsletter discussed CapperMax and CapperMin, which change the capitalization of headlines, titles, and subheads.
Learn to Use MultiSwitch
Paul and I have collaborated to create a free self-paced guide that teaches you how to use MultiSwitch. MultiSwitch is a text-switching macro. It helps correct common situational errors, such as replacing "compliment" with "complement," or vice versa. While some edits can be done globally using Word's Find and Replace or the FRedit macro, others edits are situational, like compliment/complement. You must first assess the context to determine if an edit is needed. MultiSwitch speeds up these situational edits.
The MultiSwitch from Square One guide explains what MultiSwitch is and how it works and provides exercises that help you understand how to use it.
Download your copy here: http://www.archivepub.co.uk/documents/MSSO
Other Resources
It can be difficult for people to understand the potential of macros. For a clear and comprehensive explanation of how editors and writers can benefit from them, check out this article by Lynda Dietz of Easy Reader Editing.
Upcoming Training
The next Macros A to Z course starts on January 31. This six-week hands-on course teaches you the essential skills for finding, installing, and using Paul Beverley’s macros to improve your efficiency. It is suitable for both PC and Mac users as well as existing macro users who want to maximize their benefits.
Here is what some past attendees have said about the course:
Jennifer is a clear instructor with an approachable style. She made it easy to break the material down and get it to stick!
I really enjoyed how you set up the course and how approachable it is. I didn't know what to expect with the class, but it was a great experience to feel like I was learning valuable things each week that I could employ at work right away.
Thank you for offering so much encouragement to students during the course! To have content shared in an understandable way and an instructor who will go out of their way to explain things or find a solution was really wonderful.
To learn more about or to register for the course, please click here. Members of CIEP, IPEd, PEG, and Editors Canada are eligible for a discounted rate. Please check with your editing organization for details.
If you have any questions or would like the newsletter to cover a certain macro, reply to this email and let me know.
Regards,
Jennifer