Inserting Miller Index Bars

A recent notice within “Notes from the Editors” in the January-February 2012 issue of Mineralogical Record (v.43, #1, page 5) told of a method to insert an overbar, or macron, over a numeral, when using Microsoft Word. This is useful when typing Miller indices (used in crystallographic notation). However, I found a snag to be avoided (at least in the version I use, which is msWord-97).

The editor’s warning about blank spaces by the braces must be heeded (mine came with them so I undid those spaces). Also to block and copy the equation to get the desired result. As per the editor’s advice, I prepared a set of nine barred numerals in a document, so that individual barred numerals could be copied later. I separated these by tabs so that I can copy the whole of any one of them even when the equation doesn’t show (it is then invisible), and I am thus able to hook and copy the whole fish at once, and not just snag a piece of it, nor copy nearby stuff that I don’t want.

When I first tried this method it I had a snag, or a problem, due to a detail that I had missed. I had used a macron from the “symbol” font set in the Insert – Symbols menu, and I only got a macron next to the numeral, not above it as I wanted. However, when I used a macron of the same type of font as that of the equation (I was using Times New Roman font), then it worked right; I got into the Insert – Symbols menu, went to the Times New Roman set of symbols, found the macron in that set, used it, and then the method worked: the macron sat on top of the numeral as it ought, after the whole equation was blocked and copied.

This printed out all right in msWord. However, it did not translate when changed to pdf. I do not know what the method is to overbar numerals used in mindat, but our webmaster must know.

We have special formatting codes that we use for mindat, they won't work in office or similar.

Jolyon

I misread the heading as 'Interesting Miller Index Bars'. Wasn't sure whether that meant that we now had some cute custom fonts for overbars, or whether someone had found good places to have a beer or three while poring over their diffraction patterns...

Good one Andy!

Regards,
Ralph