Do not break the line following a hyphen

Question

Do not break the line following a hyphen

Is there a solution to avoid line breaks after hyphens - on a case-by-case basis that is universally compatible with all browsers?

For example:

Consider this text: 3-3/8", which in HTML appears as: 3-3/8”

The issue arises near the end of a line where, due to the hyphen, it wraps around to the next line instead of staying together as one word...

3-
3/8"

I've attempted to use the "zero width no break character", , but it hasn't yielded desired results...

3-&#65279;3/8&rdquo;

This problem has been observed in Safari and might be consistent across other browsers as well.

Provided below is my doctype and character encoding information...

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
   "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" />

Is there any effective method to prevent these line breaks following hyphens? I am only looking for a targeted solution rather than one that affects the entire page layout...

Check out the demo provided. Adjust the frame width until you notice the line breaking at the hyphen.

http://jsfiddle.net/RagKH/

html css character-encoding line-breaks hyphenation

Answer 1

Answer №1

Consider utilizing the non-breaking hyphen character ‑. I substituted the dash with this character in your jsfiddle, minimized the frame to its smallest size, and now the line no longer breaks at that point.

Answer 2

Consider utilizing the non-breaking hyphen character ‑. I substituted the dash with this character in your jsfiddle, minimized the frame to its smallest size, and now the line no longer breaks at that point.

Answer 3

Answer №2

There is another option: enclosing the pertinent text in

<span style="white-space: nowrap;"></span>

Answer 4

There is another option: enclosing the pertinent text in

<span style="white-space: nowrap;"></span>

Answer 5

Answer №3

Internet Explorer 8 and 9 display the non-breaking hyphen differently compared to a regular hyphen, appearing as an en-dash instead. This discrepancy in rendering was a major issue for me.

Since I couldn't implement Deb's CSS solution, I decided to utilize no break tags instead.

<nobr>e-mail</nobr>

Furthermore, I encountered a specific scenario where IE8/9 would mishandle a hyphen.

A string contains words separated by non-breaking spaces -  
The width is constrained
Includes a dash

IE renders it incorrectly in this situation.

The following code snippet demonstrates the issue described above. To workaround it, I had to specify a meta tag to force IE9 rendering, as IE10 has already resolved the problem. Unfortunately, there's no way to showcase this on a fiddle due to lack of support for meta tags.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
    <head>
        <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=9" />
        <meta charset="utf-8"/>
        <style>
            body { padding: 20px; }
            div { width: 300px; border: 1px solid gray; }
        </style>
    </head>
    <body>
        <div>      
            <p>If&nbsp;there&nbsp;is&nbsp;a&nbsp;-&nbsp;and&nbsp;words&nbsp;are&nbsp;separated&nbsp;by&nbsp;the&nbsp;whitespace&nbsp;code&nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&nbsp;then&nbsp;IE&nbsp;will&nbsp;wrap&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;dash.</p>
        </div>
    </body>
</html>

Answer 6

Internet Explorer 8 and 9 display the non-breaking hyphen differently compared to a regular hyphen, appearing as an en-dash instead. This discrepancy in rendering was a major issue for me.

Since I couldn't implement Deb's CSS solution, I decided to utilize no break tags instead.

<nobr>e-mail</nobr>

Furthermore, I encountered a specific scenario where IE8/9 would mishandle a hyphen.

A string contains words separated by non-breaking spaces -  
The width is constrained
Includes a dash

IE renders it incorrectly in this situation.

The following code snippet demonstrates the issue described above. To workaround it, I had to specify a meta tag to force IE9 rendering, as IE10 has already resolved the problem. Unfortunately, there's no way to showcase this on a fiddle due to lack of support for meta tags.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
    <head>
        <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=9" />
        <meta charset="utf-8"/>
        <style>
            body { padding: 20px; }
            div { width: 300px; border: 1px solid gray; }
        </style>
    </head>
    <body>
        <div>      
            <p>If&nbsp;there&nbsp;is&nbsp;a&nbsp;-&nbsp;and&nbsp;words&nbsp;are&nbsp;separated&nbsp;by&nbsp;the&nbsp;whitespace&nbsp;code&nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&nbsp;then&nbsp;IE&nbsp;will&nbsp;wrap&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;dash.</p>
        </div>
    </body>
</html>

Answer 7

Answer №4

If you want to implement "the joiner way," consider adding the "U+2060 Word Joiner" character into your content.

In cases where Accept-Charset allows, you can directly include the unicode character in HTML output.

If not possible, utilize entity encoding. For example, to connect "red-brown", use:

red-&#x2060;brown

or its decimal equivalent:

red-&#8288;brown

. Another useful character is "U+FEFF Zero Width No-break Space"^{^{[⁠ ⁠1 ]}}:

red-&#xfeff;brown

and (decimal equivalent):

red-&#65279;brown

^{[1]: Note that while this strategy still functions in popular browsers like Chrome, it has been deprecated since Unicode 3.2.}

Comparison between "the joiner way" and "U+2011 Non-breaking Hyphen":

The word joiner can be applied to all characters, not just hyphens.
Using the word joiner results in consistent rendering across major web browsers such as Chrome, FireFox, IE, and Opera. The display of normal hyphens remains unchanged when compared to using a non-breaking hyphen:

a-⁠b-⁠c-⁠d-⁠e-⁠f-⁠g-⁠h-⁠i-⁠j-⁠k-⁠l-⁠m-⁠n-⁠o-⁠p-⁠q-⁠r-⁠s-⁠t-⁠u-⁠v-⁠w-⁠x-⁠y-⁠z

This differs from the appearance of a text with non-breaking hyphens:

a‑b‑c‑d‑e‑f‑g‑h‑i‑j‑k‑l‑m‑n‑o‑p‑q‑r‑s‑t‑u‑v‑w‑x‑y‑z

. (Browser and font variations may affect the difference. For instance, Firefox and IE11 show bigger disparities than Chrome and Opera when using an `arial` font declaration.)

Contrasting "the joiner way" with CSS `

<span class=c1></span>

` (using .c1 {white-space:nowrap;}) and `<nobr></nobr>`:

The word joiner is suitable for scenarios where usage of HTML tags is restricted, like web forms and forums.
When considering the separation between presentation and content, many will view the word joiner as closer to content compared to tags.

^{• Tested on Windows 8.1 Core 64-bit platforms with:

    • IE 11.0.9600.18205

    • Firefox 43.0.4

    • Chrome 48.0.2564.109 (Official Build) m (32-bit)

    • Opera 35.0.2066.92}

Answer 8

If you want to implement "the joiner way," consider adding the "U+2060 Word Joiner" character into your content.

In cases where Accept-Charset allows, you can directly include the unicode character in HTML output.

If not possible, utilize entity encoding. For example, to connect "red-brown", use:

red-&#x2060;brown

or its decimal equivalent:

red-&#8288;brown

. Another useful character is "U+FEFF Zero Width No-break Space"^{^{[⁠ ⁠1 ]}}:

red-&#xfeff;brown

and (decimal equivalent):

red-&#65279;brown

^{[1]: Note that while this strategy still functions in popular browsers like Chrome, it has been deprecated since Unicode 3.2.}

Comparison between "the joiner way" and "U+2011 Non-breaking Hyphen":

The word joiner can be applied to all characters, not just hyphens.
Using the word joiner results in consistent rendering across major web browsers such as Chrome, FireFox, IE, and Opera. The display of normal hyphens remains unchanged when compared to using a non-breaking hyphen:

a-⁠b-⁠c-⁠d-⁠e-⁠f-⁠g-⁠h-⁠i-⁠j-⁠k-⁠l-⁠m-⁠n-⁠o-⁠p-⁠q-⁠r-⁠s-⁠t-⁠u-⁠v-⁠w-⁠x-⁠y-⁠z

This differs from the appearance of a text with non-breaking hyphens:

a‑b‑c‑d‑e‑f‑g‑h‑i‑j‑k‑l‑m‑n‑o‑p‑q‑r‑s‑t‑u‑v‑w‑x‑y‑z

. (Browser and font variations may affect the difference. For instance, Firefox and IE11 show bigger disparities than Chrome and Opera when using an `arial` font declaration.)

Contrasting "the joiner way" with CSS `

<span class=c1></span>

` (using .c1 {white-space:nowrap;}) and `<nobr></nobr>`:

The word joiner is suitable for scenarios where usage of HTML tags is restricted, like web forms and forums.
When considering the separation between presentation and content, many will view the word joiner as closer to content compared to tags.

^{• Tested on Windows 8.1 Core 64-bit platforms with:

    • IE 11.0.9600.18205

    • Firefox 43.0.4

    • Chrome 48.0.2564.109 (Official Build) m (32-bit)

    • Opera 35.0.2066.92}

Answer 9

Answer №5

Although I'm a bit late to the party, I believe that this solution is truly the most elegant. Simply utilize the WORD JOINER Unicode character ⁠ before and after your hyphen, em dash, or any other character.

For example:

&#8288;—&#8288;

By employing this method, you can seamlessly connect the symbol to its neighboring characters (without introducing an additional space) and prevent any unnecessary line breaks.

Answer 10

Although I'm a bit late to the party, I believe that this solution is truly the most elegant. Simply utilize the WORD JOINER Unicode character ⁠ before and after your hyphen, em dash, or any other character.

For example:

&#8288;—&#8288;

By employing this method, you can seamlessly connect the symbol to its neighboring characters (without introducing an additional space) and prevent any unnecessary line breaks.

Answer 11

Answer №6

Expanding upon @den's JSX strategy, I found success with the following approach:

<h2>{props.name.replace('-', '-\u2060')}</h2>

Answer 12

Expanding upon @den's JSX strategy, I found success with the following approach:

<h2>{props.name.replace('-', '-\u2060')}</h2>

Answer 13

Answer №7

Below is an example of a JSX solution that incorporates the word joiner unicode character:

<div>{`Here's an example using ${'\u2060'}word joiner in JSX.`}</div>

Answer 14

Below is an example of a JSX solution that incorporates the word joiner unicode character:

<div>{`Here's an example using ${'\u2060'}word joiner in JSX.`}</div>

Answer 15

Answer №8

In case you find yourself in need of this solution for handling JavaScript strings...

This code snippet was crafted with the help of @CanSpice's response, which leverages the non-breaking hyphen. Be cautious not to combine it with hyphen break or auto features.

// Function to replace regular dashes with non-breaking dashes in a string
function convertToNonBreakingDashes(inputString) {
  return inputString.replace(/-/g, '\u2011');
}

Answer 16

In case you find yourself in need of this solution for handling JavaScript strings...

This code snippet was crafted with the help of @CanSpice's response, which leverages the non-breaking hyphen. Be cautious not to combine it with hyphen break or auto features.

// Function to replace regular dashes with non-breaking dashes in a string
function convertToNonBreakingDashes(inputString) {
  return inputString.replace(/-/g, '\u2011');
}

Do not break the line following a hyphen

Answer №1

Answer №2

Answer №3

Answer №4

Answer №5

Answer №6

Answer №7

Answer №8

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