Hellp request: non-break blocks; hard spaces

[Jane Van Tassel 101233.342@xxxxxxxx]

Can the collective wisdom assist me with two problems whose solutions are
probably staring me in the face?

(1) Non-breakable blocks:

Why don't my non-breakable blocks break? I've tried inserting ≪NB≫...≪BB≫
both (a) via a subroutine that inserts those strings in the appropriate places
and (b) via a subroutine that defines the block and then keys F5, N, B, F9. The
blocks in question aren't particularly long -- two that I've just checked at
random are under 700 characters, 16 words.

Is it a problem if there are too many formatting commands? The strings in
question are part of a fairly long file that's fairly "busy" in design -- when I
wanted to put together a sample string to transmit by e-mail, I found that I had
to translate
introduce a number of simplifications because I use various non-alphanumeric
characters (herewith their ASCII numbers are placed within [...], e.g. [384]
etc.) as well as s, s, and (of course) guillemets = {...} --
	{NB}{MD+BO}An den Schlaf{MD-BO} D.447 {MD+IT}Uz{MD-IT}
{SZ7PT}(no[32]edn){SZ9.5PT}
	[7]#18:Schreier
	[384]FD[32]box[32]2:19[32](p.44){BB}

(2) Hard space ASCII 32:

I haven't been able to write an XPL routine that will accept ASCII 32 on the
command line, even though I can input it on the command line manually. I've
tried scroll lock, which produces [NI] [R3] [NI] [R2], and when executed yields
a Cannot Find Item; I've tried inputting in clear, which produces something that
looks like an ASCII 32 (inverted triangle) in the program file but when executed
fails to distinguish between hard and soft spaces.

Thanks.
					Eric Van Tassel