http://tc.eserver.org/publisher/Word_MVP_Site,_The A listing of works published by Word MVP Site, The in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Word_MVP_Site,_The http://tc.eserver.org/27234.html http://tc.eserver.org/27234.html Whenever I insert a graphical object (picture, drawing object, etc.) into a Word 2000 table cell I lose the vertical formatting. The text is always aligned at the top of the cell, instead of being centered or at the bottom of the cell. Why, and what can I do about it? http://tc.eserver.org/27232.html http://tc.eserver.org/27232.html Objects in the drawing layer are visible in Page Layout (Print Layout) view and Print Preview but not in Normal view. Interestingly, a frame is a sort of hybrid object that can appear to float (and text can be wrapped around it), but it is actually inline and can be viewed (though not in position) in Normal view. http://tc.eserver.org/27237.html http://tc.eserver.org/27237.html You can use the old Word 2 command: WordBasic.ToolsBulletsNumbers Replace:=0, Type:=1, Remove:=1 This command is particularly useful for removing manually typed numbering from Headings in a document you have been emailed, prior to applying List Numbering. http://tc.eserver.org/27243.html http://tc.eserver.org/27243.html The most reliable way of creating numbered paragraphs is to use paragraph styles to apply the numbering. This makes all paragraphs with the same numbered style belong to the same numbered list, and numbering is continuous through the whole document. http://tc.eserver.org/27238.html http://tc.eserver.org/27238.html If you want to update the style definitions of a document with the style definitions in its attached template, you can manually select Tools + Templates and Add-ins, check the box which says 'Automatically update document styles', click OK; and then, because that setting is sticky (and most of the time, undesirable), immediately select Tools + Templates and Add-ins again, deselect the 'Automatically update document styles' box, and click OK. http://tc.eserver.org/27241.html http://tc.eserver.org/27241.html Publishers call the preliminary pages in a book the 'front matter.' They aren’t always numbered separately—some books start with the title page as page 1 and are paginated continuously throughout—but when there is a significant amount of front matter, it’s conventional to number it using lowercase roman numerals. http://tc.eserver.org/27242.html http://tc.eserver.org/27242.html If you insist on doing this – and if you do, don't say I didn't warn you! – then the best procedure is as follows. http://tc.eserver.org/27239.html http://tc.eserver.org/27239.html If you have applied the latest service release for your version of Word, and you still have the Page X of Y problem, any of the solutions mentioned below will work for you. http://tc.eserver.org/27233.html http://tc.eserver.org/27233.html Word 2000 can be a nightmare when it comes to positioning shapes – Word 97 was much more predictable. http://tc.eserver.org/27240.html http://tc.eserver.org/27240.html Word 2002 will display 0 for all page numbers in headers or footers, and all page numbers in a Table of Contents, in the following circumstances. http://tc.eserver.org/27235.html http://tc.eserver.org/27235.html Because Word is a WYSIWYG application, it will always try to represent on screen the result you will get if you print on the printer that is selected as the default. Changing printer drivers will almost always change the layout at least slightly and sometimes radically. There are a number of ways to minimize the changes. http://tc.eserver.org/27236.html http://tc.eserver.org/27236.html Numbering in Word is difficult to understand because Word attempts to hide 'complexity' from us. In many cases, it provides insufficient detail in the explanation of features. Regrettably, a simplistic explanation does not help understanding of a complex subject. It fills our heads with loose ends, which makes the problem worse! http://tc.eserver.org/27220.html http://tc.eserver.org/27220.html If you can't understand a program, then you can't debug it. Even with code that you have written yourself, if you come back to it six months or a year later, you may find yourself wondering “Why on earth did I write that? What was it for?” It doesn't take long to forget the details of a program when you aren't working on it any more. Make life easier for yourself, and write programs as clearly as possible. Also, provide such defences as you can against the possibility that VBA might change between versions of Word. http://tc.eserver.org/27214.html http://tc.eserver.org/27214.html The ease of copying and pasting text from Web sites and email greatly simplifies many tasks in Word, but problems often arise in making the pasted text conform to the style of the document into which it is pasted. One of the most common chores is getting rid of excess line breaks, which cause the text to wrap short of the right margin. There are several ways to work around this problem. http://tc.eserver.org/27217.html http://tc.eserver.org/27217.html Word's macro recorder can help you acquaint yourself with macros and with Office 97's VBA programming language. http://tc.eserver.org/27228.html http://tc.eserver.org/27228.html The first questions is – why do you need to know the index number? http://tc.eserver.org/27213.html http://tc.eserver.org/27213.html Word's draw layer is a metaphysical space where floating objects reside. It really isn't a layer, since floating objects can be sent behind the text layer or brought out in front of it. Either way, they continue to reside in the draw layer. http://tc.eserver.org/27227.html http://tc.eserver.org/27227.html There are two ways to use Automation (or OLE Automation) to programmatically control another application. http://tc.eserver.org/27229.html http://tc.eserver.org/27229.html There are two Help topics in Word VBA Help that are required reading to get you started with built-in dialogs: 'Displaying built-in Word dialog boxes' and 'Built-in dialog box argument lists'. Unfortunately, in the latter article, Microsoft listed the arguments you can use but forgot to mention what the arguments mean or what values they can take! Fortunately, the dialog box arguments are almost identical to the arguments of the commands of WordBasic, so if you know one, you can work out the other. Therefore, the WordBasic Help file is at present by far the best resource for programmers wanting to use the dialogs. It is an absolute must-have. http://tc.eserver.org/27218.html http://tc.eserver.org/27218.html I can't turn you into a VBA expert but I can suggest a way to explore VBA that you may find helpful. Below, I've listed 22 steps that can be completed in approximately 15 minutes, assuming someone is kind enough to read them to you as you sit at your keyboard. If you have to read them by yourself and turn your attention alternately to the keyboard and back to the steps, then you may need a half hour or longer to complete the steps. Either way, the steps should give you a feel for what it's like to program in Word. http://tc.eserver.org/27216.html http://tc.eserver.org/27216.html Do you re-use some of your documents over and over again, making slight changes just before you print, fax, or email it each time? Do you, for example, send the same basic letter to each new customer, but edit the letter each time so that it refers to the specific product purchased by that customer? Starting with Word 97, there's an easy way to add a pop-up list of choices to any Word document. This new feature lets you point at a word or phrase and simply right-click the mouse to switch to some other word or phrase. http://tc.eserver.org/27219.html http://tc.eserver.org/27219.html This example will step you through the process of creating a template that contains an autonew macro which, when you create a new document from the template, will cause a Userform to be displayed, into which you can enter some information that you want to appear in the document. http://tc.eserver.org/27230.html http://tc.eserver.org/27230.html Supposing you frequently need to add Multiline Text Boxes to your UserForms, with the EnterKeyBehavior property set to True. Or let's say you want to drag a 'Next' button straight onto your userform and not have to change the text in it to say 'Next', and not have to change the dimensions of the button. http://tc.eserver.org/27215.html http://tc.eserver.org/27215.html Word's sorting capability is fairly rudimentary, especially for those migrating to it from WordPerfect (though it's surprising how many people don't realize Word can sort paragraphs, not just tables – or maybe not so surprising, given where the item is in the menus! The ability to sort on word 2 in field 3 would certainly be very useful (in Excel as well). But there are various things you can do in the meantime. http://tc.eserver.org/27231.html http://tc.eserver.org/27231.html If you want a macro to be fired whenever any document is opened, regardless of which template the document is attached to, the simplest way is to write an AutoOpen macro and store it in Normal.dot. http://tc.eserver.org/27226.html http://tc.eserver.org/27226.html The most important thing you need to know when working with bookmarks in Word is that there are two 'types' of bookmarks: 'placeholder' bookmarks and 'enclosing' bookmarks. http://tc.eserver.org/27195.html http://tc.eserver.org/27195.html Microsoft Word supports many file formats which can be used as a Data Source for a mail merge. This article covers specifications and frequently asked questions on the most commonly used Data Sources, along with how to set up a Data Source in Word. http://tc.eserver.org/27183.html http://tc.eserver.org/27183.html The natural tendency of most users of word processing applications is to create a document and use it as a model for future documents. That is, you format a letter the way you want all (or most) of your letters to look, save it, and then, when you want to write a letter, open this document and save it under another name as the starting point for your letter. In WordPerfect, until recently, this was the only way to create a template. Word uses a different approach. http://tc.eserver.org/27200.html http://tc.eserver.org/27200.html This article tells you how to create a template to produce a software manual. http://tc.eserver.org/27204.html http://tc.eserver.org/27204.html Wildcards are like the blank pieces in Scrabble, or like the Jokers you can use in some card games to stand in for any card. http://tc.eserver.org/27203.html http://tc.eserver.org/27203.html How to find text that has particular formatting and replace it with different text, but without changing the formatting. http://tc.eserver.org/27190.html http://tc.eserver.org/27190.html Many Word users don't realize how easy it is to insert special characters. There are at least four ways to do it: through the Symbol dialog, using shortcut keys, automatically with AutoCorrect, or by direct keypad entry. http://tc.eserver.org/27207.html http://tc.eserver.org/27207.html Saving when resources are low can cause corruptions. If you notice Word start to slow down noticeably it's always best to quit and restart Word immediately; to close any other applications that are open; and to clear the clipboard, by selecting any character and copying it. http://tc.eserver.org/27201.html http://tc.eserver.org/27201.html The Microsoft Word Help suggests that you can automatically generate an index. Sorry, but you can't (the 'result' looks like an index, but the reader can't use it). You can automatically mark index entries: however, the amount of work required to edit the result into a usable index is usually double the effort required to manually mark the index entries one-by-one. http://tc.eserver.org/27202.html http://tc.eserver.org/27202.html Word's page numbering scheme isn't directly obvious but it isn't needlessly complex, either. Indirect might be a good term for it. Once you understand how it works, all sorts of possibilities open up. Unfortunately, the built-in tools that simplify the insertion of page numbers also happen to make it more difficult to tell what's really going on. So, for the moment, forget everything you've learned or think you know about page numbers. http://tc.eserver.org/27194.html http://tc.eserver.org/27194.html Mail merge is for simplifying repetitive documents and tasks. Mail merge can be used for creating many documents at once that contain identical formatting, layout, text, graphics, etc., and where only certain portions of each document varies. Mail merge is also used for generating mailing labels, envelopes, address lists, personalised training handouts, etc. As well as hard copy mailshots, it can be used to generate multiple emails and electronic faxes. And it can even be used to create a 'friendly' front-end to spreadsheet or database information. http://tc.eserver.org/27208.html http://tc.eserver.org/27208.html Notice how this article starts off with the cheerful assumption that you want to 'recover' a Master Document? I bet you were hoping that we would tell you how to 'fix' one! We can't. If you are having a problem with a master document, the problem is the master document. Any attempt you make to repair one will inevitably make your problem worse. http://tc.eserver.org/27186.html http://tc.eserver.org/27186.html Word's Outline View is wonderful for long documents and – used properly – can cut the time taken to write a typical report, proposal, thesis, or dissertation by as much as 50%. http://tc.eserver.org/27206.html http://tc.eserver.org/27206.html WordPerfect considers a document to be a 'type stream.' If you picture WordPerfect sitting on the end of the printer cable, sending characters one-by-one, and every now and again inserting a COMMAND to change what the printer is doing, you'll get the idea. For example, WP sends the commands for 'Arial' font and 'bold'. It then expects the printer to print every character that way until it tells the printer to do something else. Word, on the other hand, considers a document to be a 'container.' Within this container are more containers and, within them, still more. Into each of these containers, Word inserts objects. The objects can be bits of text, or bits of pictures, or complete files created by other applications. http://tc.eserver.org/27205.html http://tc.eserver.org/27205.html There is nothing in Word directly comparable to Reveal Codes in WordPerfect. There is a very good reason for this. WordPerfect can be thought of (and I understand is) basically a text stream with codes interspersed (for more on this, see John McGhie's article on Word vs. WordPerfect). This is what you see when you Reveal Codes. You have codes or markers that turn on and off certain formatting characteristics. Word, on the other hand, is a series of nesting containers, characters inside words inside paragraphs inside sections inside documents. The formatting of these is by styles and by pointers at the beginning and end of the document. http://tc.eserver.org/27196.html http://tc.eserver.org/27196.html Almost any mail merge will work better if you use IF fields, as the frequently used scenarios discussed below attempt to illustrate. http://tc.eserver.org/27185.html http://tc.eserver.org/27185.html If your problem manifests with just one document (or a specific subset of documents), but not with all documents, it is probable that you’re suffering from document corruption. Symptoms may include weird page numbering (drag the thumb down the right vertical margin and watch the page number counter – it will go crazy when you pass a corruption) infinite repagination, incorrect document layout and formatting, unreadable characters on the screen, hangs or crashes when you load or view a particular file. Such corruption is generally carried in the very last paragraph mark in a document, which is the marker for a hidden container in which Word stores all document properties including formatting information. http://tc.eserver.org/27191.html http://tc.eserver.org/27191.html If you work for a company of any size at all, then simply getting your staff to use the ruler properly will save them many hours every week, and significantly increase your company's profitability. http://tc.eserver.org/27188.html http://tc.eserver.org/27188.html This list doesn't attempt to be comprehensive, but is a list of the shortcuts which save me the most time. http://tc.eserver.org/27192.html http://tc.eserver.org/27192.html When you open a new blank document in Word, you begin typing at the left side of the screen/page and continue typing to the right margin, where Word wraps your text back to the left so you can start again. All your lines of text are full width. But sometimes you need to divide your text into two or more columns. http://tc.eserver.org/27184.html http://tc.eserver.org/27184.html If you have no clue what is causing your problem with Word, work through The Basics and all the General Troubleshooting topics. Beyond the basics, probably 70% of the problems in Word are caused by a corrupt Normal template or corrupt Preferences. http://tc.eserver.org/27197.html http://tc.eserver.org/27197.html Purists might argue that the power it gives ordinary users isn't necessary because they should use Access queries for this sort of thing and link the merge to the query. But in my experience, many people who are very comfortable working with Word and Excel find Access (or any full-fledged database application) very difficult to work with, and can get the job done far more quickly and easily using a combination of Word and Excel. At the end of the day, getting the job done is what matters. The vast majority of the world's databases (in terms of number of databases, rather than in terms of amount of data) are stored in Excel spreadsheets. http://tc.eserver.org/27199.html http://tc.eserver.org/27199.html In one form or another, Word is ubiquitous. If you buy a new computer, chances are good that it will come with some version of Office or Works Suite (which includes Word) installed. Word is a powerful word processing program that incorporates many of the features of a page layout application, but there are times when a page layout or desktop publishing application is what is needed. If you are using the Small Business Edition of Office 97 or Office 2000 SBE, Professional, or Premium, you have such a program: Microsoft Publisher. http://tc.eserver.org/27198.html http://tc.eserver.org/27198.html The macrobutton field can be used as a text marker within a template, or, as the name implies, it can be used to run a macro. http://tc.eserver.org/27187.html http://tc.eserver.org/27187.html Occasionally a new user of Word is alarmed to discover that his previously pristine document is full of strange symbols – dots, arrows, paragraphs marks, and the like. For experienced users, the usual reaction of such a user seems almost comical because experienced users know how invaluable the display of nonprinting characters can be both in formatting and in troubleshooting documents. http://tc.eserver.org/27209.html http://tc.eserver.org/27209.html The complete explanation would be a book in itself. For now, it is enough to know that a Word document is a great big 'list' of objects. An object can be anything you can put in a Word document. Each of these objects has many, many 'properties' that determine how it appears and how it behaves. http://tc.eserver.org/27189.html http://tc.eserver.org/27189.html Word has a built-in command ListCommands, which produces a table of all the Word commands with their current key and menu assignments. However, it does not list the commands using their actual names; nor does it include descriptions of what the commands actually do. http://tc.eserver.org/27193.html http://tc.eserver.org/27193.html When you delete a section break, or move an entire section to another part of the document, you get what seem to be very strange results. For instance, deleting a Continuous section break causes the preceding Next Page section break to convert to a Continuous one, or deleting a section break causes an important Header to disappear from the document, or causes the entire document to become landscape.