Difference between revisions of "Template:Spaced en dash/doc"

Revision as of 04:11, 12 August 2007

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This template looks like this " – ".

It works similarly to the html markup sequence " – ". That is, a non-breaking space, a short dash and a normal space. However this template includes some extra code that makes it behave slightly better than the html markup sequence.

This template is used when you want something stronger than a bold middot "·" or a bullet "•", but shorter than a mdash "—".

Normal usage

The recommended usage is to use no space before the template and one space after the template, like this:

[[Salt]]{{ndash}} [[Pepper]]

It will render one space on each side of the dash, like this:

Salt – Pepper

If it line breaks then the line break will come after the dash, not before, like this:

Salt –

Pepper

For long dashed lists each list item can be put on its own line, with no spaces between each item and the template. Like this:

 [[Salt]]{{ndash}}
 [[Pepper]]{{ndash}}
 [[Curry]]{{ndash}}
 [[Saffron]]

(It doesn't matter if there are no or some spaces at the end of the lines, after the templates.)

As before it will render one space on each side of the dashes, like this:

Salt – Pepper – Curry – Saffron

And if it line breaks then the line break will come after one of the dashes, not before, like this:

Salt – Pepper –

Curry – Saffron

Incorrect usage

If the template is used slightly wrong it will in most cases still behave well. For instance if there are no or several spaces after the template. Like these examples:

[[Salt]]{{ndash}}[[Pepper]]
[[Salt]]{{ndash}}   [[Pepper]]

Both of them will render exactly as before, with just one space on each side of the dash, like this:

Salt – Pepper

And it will still only line break after the dash, like this:

Salt –

Pepper

But putting one or more spaces before the template can cause problems, like these examples:

[[Salt]] {{ndash}}[[Pepper]]
[[Salt]]   {{ndash}}[[Pepper]]
[[Salt]] {{ndash}} [[Pepper]]
[[Salt]]   {{ndash}}   [[Pepper]]

Then it will still only render just one space on each side of the dash, like this:

Salt – Pepper

But if it line breaks it might break before the dash, like this:

Salt

– Pepper

Technical details

The space before the dash is a "non-wrapping" but "collapsing" space. That means it will not line break, but it will collapse together with normal spaces that come before the template to form one single space. It is not simply a   since that one will not collapse.

The space after the dash is a normal space. That is it wraps and it collapses.

Dot size reference list

See also

There are several other templates with similar functionality:

• {{·}} - Bold middot "·" is mostly used for dotted lists.
• {{•}} - Bullet "•" is mostly used for dotted lists that use small font sizes.
• {{mdash}} - Mdash "—" is a long dash.