Macro of the Month – February 2024 – HyphenAlyse

Helps you identify hyphenation inconsistencies

last updated: 12/12/2024

Open, closed, hyphenated? A document can contain many inconsistencies regarding hyphenation. This month’s macro will help you find them. You are also invited to share your ideas about macros training. And did you know that you can use AI to write macros for you?

HyphenAlyse

HyphenAlyse is one of a series of document-analysis macros focused on consistency. It helps you find inconsistencies among one-word, two-word, and hyphenated variants (as well as words joined by an en dash).

How it works: Run HyphenAlyse at the start of a project. It analyzes all the variants of hyphenated terms in a document and produces a report listing potential inconsistencies. Use this report to identify errors.

How to use it: Follow these steps to use HyphenAlyse and incorporate it into your workflow. The graphic explains how to interpret the results.

1. Run HyphenAlyse on your working document before you begin editing. Note: It may take a while to run; it needs to analyze all the words, after all. A 60,000-word document could take 10 minutes. While the macro is running, avoid touching your keyboard or mouse to prevent Word from crashing.

2. The macro will beep and display a “Hyphenation use” report when it finishes running.

3. Use the report to identify terms that need correcting. Scan the rows of variants to determine potential mistakes. You may need to look up how the variants are used in the document or consult your style guidelines.

   

   The “Hyphenation use” report arranges variant spellings in columns for easy comparison. (Note that the first row does not appear in the report.) The text is color-coded to help you quickly identify potential inconsistencies. The number after each entry indicates the frequency.

   • Red text: Alerts you to likely inconsistencies.

   • Black text: Indicates words that may be inconsistent, but more research is needed.

   • Blue text: Indicates words containing common prefixes, such as anti, inter, mid, multi, over, post, pre, and sub. The macro automatically lists all words with common prefixes—even if they aren’t functioning as prefixes. This information tells you if an author has used hyphens with prefixes.
   • Gray text: Indicates that there is no variant to review. The macro automatically lists all hyphenated words, even if there are no variant forms.

4. After identifying words that need correcting, you can use Word’s find-and-replace tool or the FRedit find-and-replace macro to correct them. You may also want to add this information to your style sheet. 

Download the code: www.wordmacrotools.com/macros/H/HyphenAlyse

 
Related macros: To quickly locate a term from the Hyphenation Use report in your working document, use FindSamePlace. Open the working document, place the cursor inside the word in the report (select the text when there is more than one word), and run the macro. It will jump to the first instance of the term in your working document. If there is more than one instance of the term you searched on, use FindFwd to toggle through each one until you reach the end of the document. This macro also works with the Proper Noun Queries report that ProperNounAlyse generates.

Read the February 2023 newsletter to learn how to use ProperNounAlyse to find inconsistencies among proper nouns.

You can correct the errors that HyphenAlyse helps you find with FRedit, a global find-and-replace macro. You can learn how to use FRedit through the free FRedit from Square One self-guided training document.

A Survey About Macro Training

Paul Beverley wants to create more free training materials for his macros. Please help him learn what training you would find valuable by completing a short survey. He wants to hear from everyone, whether you are an experienced macro user or you don’t currently use them.

Individual answers will not be shared; an aggregate of the responses may be shared publicly. It should take 4–10 minutes. Complete the survey here.

Using AI to Write Macros

Did you know that you can use ChatGPT to write macros? The AI for Editors course by Erin Servais teaches editors how to write prompts to code macros. It also covers how to use AI for making copy and line edits, fact-checking, and other skills. The next sessions begin on March 13 and April 17. (Note that only the Full Course includes a lesson on macros.)

Questions? Have you recently discovered a macro you want to share with other editors? Comment on this post. 

Regards,
Jennifer