Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007 and 2010. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Automatically Formatting an ASCII File.

Automatically Formatting an ASCII File

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 4, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 2007 and 2010

One of the biggest problems in formatting what was previously an ASCII file is modifying it so there are only hard returns at the end of paragraphs. Most ASCII files have a hard return at the end of every line of the file, and two hard returns at the end of every paragraph. If you have an ASCII file that is formatted like this, such as something you downloaded off the Internet, the following macro will be invaluable. It formats an entire file so there are only hard returns at the end of paragraphs.

Sub ConvertASCII()
    Fmt "^p^p", "{|}"
    Fmt "^p", " {@}"
    Fmt " {@}", " "
    Fmt "{@}", " "
    Fmt "{|}", "^p"
End Sub

Sub Fmt(sFromWord, sToWord)
    Set myRange = ActiveDocument.Content
    myRange.Find.ClearFormatting
    myRange.Find.Execute FindText:=sFromWord, _
      ReplaceWith:=sToWord, MatchCase:=0, _
      Replace:=wdReplaceAll
End Sub

You should run the ConvertASCII macro. It calls the Fmt macro several times to replace various combinations of return characters to get toward the desired result.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (10810) applies to Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Automatically Formatting an ASCII File.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Cross-Referencing to Line Numbers

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to do cross-referencing to line numbers within a document? Word doesn't have a built in ...

Discover More

Replacing without Automatically Finding

When you use Word's Find and Replace capability, clicking the Replace button performs the replacement and automatically ...

Discover More

Making Bottoms of Pages Line Up

Want to make your text look good on the finished page? This tip discusses a common speed bump in this quest--making the ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! Are you ready to harness the full power of Word 2013 to create professional documents? In this comprehensive guide you'll learn the skills and techniques for efficiently building the documents you need for your professional and your personal life. Check out Word 2013 In Depth today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Limiting the Options when Saving as a Copy

Word allows you to save your documents in a wide variety of formats. If you want to limit the formats that are available, ...

Discover More

Determining If a File Exists

Your macro may need to know if a particular file exists. This is easy to figure out using the Dir command, and even ...

Discover More

Complex Searches for Documents

When working with lots of documents, you may have need from time to time to discover which of those documents contain ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 5 - 3?

2011-12-16 11:44:48

Richard Godfrey

The second cmd of "Sub ConvertASCII()" is
Fmt "^p", " {@}"

Looking at the next 2 cmds that follow it, it looks like that cmd should be
Fmt "^p", "{@}"
instead of
Fmt "^p", " {@}"

That way, the 2 cmds that follow would replace both " ^p" and "^p" with a single space. Isn't that your goal?

Am I wrong?

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.