Macro of the Month – July 2023 – DoubleQuotesSingleTopical / SingleQuotesDoubleTopical

Replaces a set of double quotation marks with single quotes and vice versa

This month’s macro is another one that deals with quotation marks. And for those who haven’t yet dipped their toes into macros, Paul and I are doing an introductory webinar in August. See below for details. 

DoubleQuotesSingleTopical / SingleQuotesDoubleTopical

Do you frequently need to change double quotes to single quotes, or vice versa?  DoubleQuotesSingleTopical/SingleQuotesDoubleTopical will do just that for you.

How it works: DoubleQuotesSingleTopical changes a pair of double quote marks to single, while SingleQuotesDoubleTopical does the opposite.

How to use it: When you come across a pair of double quotes that need to be single, place your cursor somewhere inside the quotation marks and run DoubleQuotesSingleTopical. If you need to change single quotes to double quotes, run SingleQuotesDoubleTopical. SingleQuotesDoubleTopical is designed to not mistake an apostrophe-s as an end quote. See the below instructions for dealing with an s-apostrophe. 

To run DoubleQuotesSingleTopical or SingleQuotesDoubleTopical, you simply need to place the cursor somewhere inside the quotation marks. Note how SingleQuotesDoubleTopical isn’t tripped up by the apostrophe-s.

When using SingleQuotesDoubleTopical, if a word contains an s-apostrophe, roughly select at least one letter on either side of the apostrophe and then run the macro.

Customize the code: You can tell the macro to place the punctuation mark inside or outside the closing quote by toggling the doUSpunctuation line in the fifth line of the code. Set it to true to place punctuation inside the closing quote, and false to place it outside the closing quote.

Download the code: DoubleQuotesSingleTopical and SingleQuotesDoubleTopical

Related macros: Refer to May’s newsletter to learn about QuotesAddDouble / QuotesAddSingle, which insert double/single quotation marks around word(s), and for a list of additional quotation-related macros. 

Upcoming Training – Introductory webinar

If you have been wanting to learn about Paul Beverley's macros, join me on Saturday, August 12 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time for Journey Through the World of Macros. This two-hour webinar hosted by SD/PEN will show you how macros increase your editing speed and will feature some of the most popular macros among editors. Paul Beverley will be on hand for demonstrations and to answer questions. Note that this will be a demonstration-only event with plenty of time for questions. The webinar is two hours and is US$15 for SD/PEN members and US$30 for nonmembers. Refer to the event listing for more details and to register.


Have you recently discovered a new macro? Reply to this email and let me know.

Regards,
Jennifer