How can I create a macro to capitalize sentences in Word?

September 1, 2008 8:51 AM

How do I make a macro for Microsoft Word to capitalize lines in an interview?

I'm working with interview transcripts in which I am manually selecting text and selecting "all caps" to capitalize sentences from the interviewer. Needless to say, this is time-consuming and I'm pretty sure there's a faster way to do it, but I don't know where to start.

Oh great hive mind, how do I get from the sample input to the desired output below?

I: Hello, my name is John.

P: Hello, my name is Mary.

(they both laugh)

I: Hello, my name is John again.

P: That's very interesting. Please, tell me more.

I: Hi, my name--

P: Mary.

I: Don't interrupt.

---

Desired output:
I: HELLO, MY NAME IS JOHN.

P: Hello, my name is Mary.

(they both laugh)

I: HELLO, MY NAME IS JOHN AGAIN.

P: That's very interesting. Please, tell me more.

I: HI, MY NAME--

P: Mary.

I: DON'T INTERRUPT.

posted by perpetualstroll to computers & internet (3 comments total)

You need to record a macro and (I think) follow this order:

Ctrl+F (find) I:
Home
Select paragraph (three quick clicks of the mouse)
Change case to all caps (in the view menu? Can't remember now)

Stop recording macro.

I would assign a key to the macro to make it easier to use.
posted by stenoboy at 9:14 AM on September 1, 2008

If there's a line break after every line, you can use find and replace with the following settings:

Find: I:*^l
Replace: ^&

[x] Use Wildcards

Replace > Format > Font > All Caps
or, if you want to change the style in the future you can create a style and select this:
Replace > Style > Custom Style.

This is in Word 2007 but Word 2003 or 97 should work in the same manner.
Screenshot of the find & replace window. (in spanish, sorry).
posted by Memo at 9:17 AM on September 1, 2008

No macro is necessary. Select the line [shift - arrow-up ], and type shift - F3.
posted by ijsbrand at 11:17 AM on September 1, 2008