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10 Minute Guide to Microsoft Exchange 5.0
- Lesson 9 -
Editing, Spell Checking, and Formatting Text
In this lesson, you learn how to edit and format the text you enter in your
Exchange messages. You also learn how to use the spelling tool.
Using the Edit Functions
Microsoft Exchange Client provides the standard editing functions you find in
most word processors, a spell-checker, and a robust set of features for formatting
text. Editing makes working with text easier and faster; spell checking saves embarrassment;
and formatting lets you add emphasis, style, and desktop publishing standards to
your message.
If you regularly use a Windows-based word processor, you can skip this section
because the Edit menu functions in the Exchange message window are the same as those
in your word processor. However, in case word processing is not part of your daily
work, here is an overview of the functions available in the Edit menu:
- Undo undoes the last action you performed. For example, if you accidentally delete
some text, choose Undo to bring it back. Ctrl+Z is a shortcut for Undo.
- Cut removes selected (highlighted) text from your message and places it on the
Clipboard. Ctrl+X is a shortcut for Cut.
- Copy makes a copy of selected text (the text remains in the message) and places
it on the Clipboard. Ctrl+C is a shortcut for Copy.
- Paste places a copy of the data that's on the Clipboard into your message, at
the insertion point. (The data remains on the Clipboard for other Paste procedures
until you place something else on the Clipboard.) Ctrl+V is a shortcut for Paste.
- Find opens a dialog box in which you can enter specific text you want to look
for in your message. For long messages, this is faster than scrolling through the
message and looking for the word or phrase you need. Ctrl+Shift+F is a shortcut for
Find.
- Replace opens a dialog box in which you can enter specific text you want to find
and replace with other particular text. For example, you might need to Find all instances
of "Smith" and replace them with "Smythe." Ctrl+H is a shortcut
for Replace.
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Clipboard An area of memory in which Windows holds specified data until you
replace it with new data or you exit Windows. You place data on the Clipboard using
either the Cut or Copy command from the Edit menu. You can place Clipboard data in
any document prepared in a Windows software application by selecting Edit, Paste.
Using the Spelling Tool
Exchange provides a spelling tool that you can use to check all the words in your
message. The spelling tool looks for any word that is not in its internal dictionary;
when it finds one, it displays the word in the Spelling dialog box.
The spelling tool works in two different ways:
- If you select (highlight) text, it checks that text for spelling errors. This
is useful if you've just typed a word, and it doesn't look right. After checking
the spelling of the selected text, the spelling tool asks if you want it to check
the entire document.
- If you have not selected text, the spelling tool begins checking at the location
of your insertion point and moves down through the message. It then returns to the
top of the message and works downward until it reaches the original starting point.
In addition to checking the message text, the spelling tool checks the text in
the Subject box of the message header. Attachments are not checked for spelling.
To spell-check your messages, follow these steps:
- 1. Open the message that you want to spell-check.
2. Choose Tools, Spelling. If the spelling tool finds an error, it displays the
Spelling dialog box shown in Figure 9.1.
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Figure 9.1 The Spelling dialog box.
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- 3. When the spelling tool displays a word that's thought to be misspelled,
you have a number of choices:
- Choose Ignore if you want to skip this specific occurrence of the word.
- Choose Ignore All if you want to skip this word every time it appears in the
text.
- Choose Add to add the word to the spelling dictionary so the spelling tool will
recognize it the next time you use it.
- Choose Suggest to have the spelling tool display some words in the Suggestions
list that come close to your misspelled word.
- Choose Change if the suggested word in the Change To box is the correct spelling.
(You can also double-click a word in the suggested word list to change the misspelled
word to the correct one.)
- Choose Change All if you want to replace all occurrences of the misspelled word
throughout the document with the word in the Change To box.
No Misspelled Words? The spelling tool displays the Spelling dialog box only
if it finds a word that is not in its internal dictionary. Those words may be misspelled
or they may just be proper names or technical jargon that are missing from the dictionary.
If all the words in your text are in the dictionary, the dialog box never appears,
and you receive an informational message telling you that the spelling check is complete.
4. The spelling tool stops at each misspelled word in your message. For each
misspelled word, select one of the options outlined in step 3.
5. When the spelling tool has checked all the text, an informational message
tells you that the spelling check is complete. Click OK to close the spelling tool.
Double Words The spelling tool also checks for double words, such as "the
the." When double words are displayed in the Spelling dialog box, a Delete button
replaces the Change button, and you can delete one of the words.
Setting Spelling Options
You can configure the way the spelling tool works by configuring the Spelling
options. There are three ways to reach the Options dialog box:
- Click the Options button on the Spelling dialog box while it is displaying an
unrecognized word.
- Choose Tools, Options in the Message window, and then choose the Spelling tab.
- Choose Tools, Options in the Exchange window, and then choose the Spelling tab.
No matter which of these methods you use, the spelling Options dialog box appears
(see Figure 9.2).

Figure 9.2 You can establish spelling options to suit your own convenience.
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Always Suggest It's probably a good idea to select Always Suggest, because
it saves you the trouble of clicking the Suggest button when you are facing a misspelled
word.
Most of the available options should be chosen within the parameters of the type
of message you usually send. For example, if you use a lot of acronyms, it's probably
wise to configure the spelling tool to ignore "Words in UPPERCASE."
Formatting Text
You can change the characteristics of your text or the way specific lines are
displayed in your message by using the formatting tools available on the formatting
toolbar of the message window (see Figure 9.3).

Figure 9.3 Use the features on the formatting toolbar to enhance your
messages.
The features available in the formatting toolbar are easy to understand; they
are described in Table 9.1.
Table 9.1 Formatting Buttons
Button
|
Name
|
Description |
|
Font
|
Displays a list of available fonts, from which you can select
the one you want to use |
|
Font size
|
Displays a list of available font sizes, from which you can
select the one you want to use |
|
Bold
|
Turns bold on and off |
|
Italic
|
Turns italic on and off |
|
Underline
|
Turns underline on and off |
|
Color text
|
Displays a list of colors you can choose from to change the
color of the displayed text (and the printed text if you have a color printer) |
|
Bullets
|
Places a bullet at the beginning of each paragraph |
|
Decrease Indent
|
Decreases the indentation of a paragraph by one tab stop |
|
Increase Indent
|
Increases the indentation of a paragraph by one tab stop |
|
Align Left
|
Lines text up on the left, creating a jagged right edge |
|
Center
|
Centers each line of text between the margins |
|
Align Right
|
Lines text up on the right, creating a jagged left edge |
You can add formatting as you type, or after you finish entering text. Here's how:
- If you want to add formatting as you go, select the appropriate formatting button,
and then begin entering text. The buttons are toggles, which means that when
you want to end a particular formatting style, you just click the button again to
turn it off.
- If you want to format existing text, select (highlight) the text, and then click
the appropriate formatting button.
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Complex Formatting You can choose multiple formatting options, such as Bold
and Italic, Underline and Center, or any other combination.
When to Avoid Formatting The formatting features supplied with Exchange Client
are called Rich Text Formatting (RTF). A recipient must have an e-mail client that
supports RTF to be able to view formatting. If you are unsure of a recipient's e-mail
capabilities, consult your administrator or, to be safe, don't use formatting.
In this lesson, you learned about Microsoft Exchange Client's editing, formatting,
and spell checking tools. In the next lesson, you'll learn about the options you
have when receiving messages.
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