[Originally appeared 1999]

Word of Law No. 5 introduced some of the issues that arise when a law practice or other large organization ties to balance personal and enterprise wide use of AutoText.

A full set of functional goals for AutoText can be intricate. There may be one or more standard collections of AutoText entries. Some may be used across the entire organization; others may be used on a departmental basis. Still others may be specific to a particular type document. Firm logos or letterhead mastheads could be organization-wide. A department might have phrases in common use in their work. In law practice, a litigation department might use the proper names of courts and agencies in which they practice. Alternative or optional text segments such as forms of notarizations for real estate documents can be maintained as AutoText in a specific document template.

The organizational AutoText entries may be changed from time to time, and the changes need to be distributed to users. Users should be able to create their own AutoText entries and see them if they log on at different computers. Each user should see their personal AutoText entries if they share a computer.

Several of you have written detailed descriptions of the strategies you have adopted to meet the challenge. A writer from one law firm described their use of Normal.dot. They maintain a master copy on their network, including the firm wide AutoText entries. User customization, including their own AutoText entries, are stored in their copies of Normal.dot, which are backed up automatically to their network. Corruptions of Normal.dot are addressed by replacing it with the backup personal copy, or, if necessary, the backup network copy.

A writer from Scotland described a very “organization-centric” approach that leaves out personalization. In this approach, the organization global templates are maintained in a network directory for which only a small number of administrators have permission to write files. All other users are read-only. This assures the integrity of the AutoText in the global templates.

We attempted a solution to personal AutoText based on a Firm.dot or FirmAutoText.dot file for the organization wide AutoText entries and other customization. Personal customization of AutoText entries, toolbars and macros were to be stored in a “Userid.dot” where “Userid” is the user’s network identification. An AutoExec macro that runs when word starts would have loaded the Userid.dot file as a global template, as well as setting the custom dictionary to “Userid.dic.” The AutoExec macro would also compare the time and date of each of Userid.dot and Userid.dic to identically named files stored on the network, and synchronize the files to the more current copy. This method would support portability, sharing of individual machines, and coordination with laptop usage. The file used a Windows API call that returns the UserID. While these concepts worked within the macro itself, we ran into problems with it in the client’s environment. The concepts seem valuable enough to be worth sharing to see if others may have pursued and achieved a similar solution.

It should be no surprise that the connections between AutoText entries and styles present challenges and opportunities. Word 97 includes special links between an AutoText entry and the style in which it was created. These support the operation of the AutoTextList Field and the AutoText inserter menu on the standard AutoText toolbar. An AutoText entry is characterized by the style in which it was created (if the AutoText entry is less than a paragraph) or by its first paragraph (if the AutoText entry consists of more than one paragraph). On the AutoText toolbar, the AutoText insertion menu lists either “All Entries” if the cursor is in a Normal style paragraph, or in a paragraph for which no AutoText entries have been classified, as described above. If there are such AutoText entries, the menu changes to the name of the current style, and a pull down can be accessed with the names of the styles classified to that style.

The AutoTextList field can also use the style linkages. It has a switch that allows a style to be specified. If AutoText Entries have been classified to the style, only the ones assigned to the style assigned to the field will appear as choices when right clicking on the field. If no style is assigned to the field, all AutoText entries will be accessed.

This technique is used in the sample letter template from Microsoft for the alternative forms of salutation and closing.

One needs to be careful about the styles of text being stored in an AutoText entry. If the AutoText entry uses styles of the same name as the document in which the AutoText is being inserted, the text will take on the formats of those styles in the receiving document. For documents constructed in accordance with the Laws of Styles stated in issue 20, this behavior will be correct under most circumstances. If the AutoText entry is supposed to have a distinctive appearance unrelated to the balance of the formatting in the recipient document, it should be formatted with a styles named specially for this purpose.

This can have subtle consequences, which we will explore further in future columns. Note that if AutoText is to be inserted through macro code, to cause the AutoText to be inserted with its stored styles applied requires the RichText:=True. Notice the use of this command in the code listed below.

AUTOTEXT LISTING

A complex set of AutoText entries needs a set of management tools. The AutoText entries can be printed using the “Print what:” setting of “AutoText entries.” A more interesting approach is to create a document that lists the names and content of a template’s AutoText entries. The following code will list all of the AutoText entries in a document’s attached template. Be very careful to save before running the macro, since the macro deletes the text of the current document. We will describe strategies for use of these documents in a future column.

Sub ListAllAutoText()
Dim aText As AutoTextEntry
Dim i
Selection.WholeStory
Selection.Delete
For Each aText In ActiveDocument.AttachedTemplate.AutoTextEntries
On Error GoTo CreateAutoTextNameStyle
Selection.TypeParagraph
Selection.TypeText (aText.Name)
Selection.Style = “AutoTextName”

StatusBar = “Creating AutoText Entry ” & aText.Name
Selection.TypeParagraph

Selection.Style = “Normal”
aText.Insert Where:=Selection.Range, RichText:=True
Next aText
Selection.Style = “Normal”
Selection.TypeBackspace
Exit Sub

CreateAutoTextNameStyle:
ActiveDocument.Styles.Add Name:=”AutoTextName”, Type:=wdStyleTypeParagraph
Resume

End Sub

This 1999 article originally appeared in Office Watch.  Subscribe to Office Watch free at http://www.office-watch.com/.

[Originally appeared 1999.]

The e-mails to WordofLaw@woodyswatch.com have raised many interesting issues, many of which need time to sort out. Several correspondents have asked where the numbering settings are stored. That tale will take us into the intricacies of the ListTemplate objects, their interaction with the Bullets and Numbering (aka List Galleries) dialog, and the related registry settings.

One question with an easier answer was asked by several writers. They wished to turn off the automatic numbering ”as you type.” When this feature is on, if one types a paragraph beginning with”1.”, upon pressing ENTER at the end of the paragraph, the next paragraph automatically begins with “2.” and so forth.

This and several other automatic formatting settings can be turned off on the Tools|AutoCorrect menu, AutoFormat as You Type tab. At the top of that dialog are 5 “Apply as you type” settings. We recommend that none of them be checked. Following the Laws of Styles in Word of Law No. 1 , such formatting characteristics should be applied intentionally by the selection of the appropriate style.

This example points to a strategy that we recommend for organizations using Word. The design for Word should consider all of the controllable default options. Chapter 2 Word 97 Annoyances, “Vital Changes,”is an essential reference. A macro should be prepared that resets Word’s options to the organization’s default settings. This allows users, support and help staff to get Word working “right” again, from the organization’s point of view.

The following macro disables the AutoFormat as You Type settings mentioned above. A complete macro to set Word’s options would include the entire set of options.

Sub CorrectAutoFormatasYouTypeOptions()
With Options
.AutoFormatAsYouTypeApplyHeadings = False
.AutoFormatAsYouTypeApplyBorders = False
.AutoFormatAsYouTypeApplyBulletedLists = False
.AutoFormatAsYouTypeApplyNumberedLists = False
.AutoFormatAsYouTypeApplyTables = False
End With
End Sub

This 1999 article originally appeared in Office Watch.  Subscribe to Office Watch free at http://www.office-watch.com/.

[Originally appeared 1999.]

We continue the saga of automatic numbering. Many of you have written about familiar and not so familiar issues with automatic numbering. We hope to answer many of the questions, but we are not ready for a Q&A column just yet.

First, I strongly encourage reference to resources that have attacked paragraph numbering and related issues. Several Microsoft Word newsgroups have had active discussions, including microsoft.public.word.numbering, microsoft.public.word.applicationerrors and microsoft.public.word.formatting.longdocs groups.

Microsystems Engineering has presented several terrific documents on numbering and other aspects of excellent use of Word, as well as conversion from WordPerfect, at http://www.microsystems.com/resources/word-tips-and-tricks.php. “The Seven Laws of Word’s Outline Numbering” have been an inspiration, including the title for the first of these columns. Sherry Kappel at Microsystems recommends “Learning Word Programming” by Steven Roman, O’Reilly & Associates; ISBN: 1-56592-524-6, especially for its coverage in Chapter 17 of the List object (and its cousins, the ListTemplates Object and ListGalleries Object) the powers for good and evil behind the scenes of Word 97’s numbering feature.There is much to absorb from these sources, and this column won’t attempt to reproduce all of it.

The last column’s explored the tab settings that reappear when changing numbering formats (whimsically entitled “Jason tabs” in the Microsystems article for their refusal to die). At the end, we mentioned the use of List Gallery settings to avoid shifts of left indents and first line indents when changing paragraph numbering formats. For instance, a document may contain a numbering format scheme attached to a series of heading styles, and the left indents and first line indents are supposed to be different from those in the default settings for the paragraph numbering scheme. If the changes are made by changing the formatting settings of the styles, a change of numbering formats using the List Gallery will undo these custom settings. If the changes are made through the List Gallery, however, the custom settings will stick.

The settings to use are found in the “Customize Outline Numbered List” dialog that appears when one of the numbering format sets is selected and the “Customize” button is executed on the Bullets and Numbering dialog. The Customize dialog includes settings for “Number Position” and “Text Position.” The Number Position sets a first line indent for the paragraph (and linked style) and the Text Position sets the left indent for the paragraph (and linked style). To the uninitiated, these settings look like modifications of the linked style. They show up as Paragraph Style settings in Help|What’s This. They also get reported as properties of the appropriate style under VBA. Yet (and it’s a big yet) they behave specially (a euphemism) when interacting with the List Gallery.

As an antidote to negativity and complexity, here is a very effective and powerful keystroke shortcut to use when working with numbering linked to styles. By default, the “Promote” and “Demote” numbering level functions are assigned to ALT SHIFT LEFT ARROW and ALT SHIFT RIGHT ARROW, respectively. These keystrokes raise or lower the numbering level of the currently selected text, and, if styles are linked, change to the appropriate linked style. If the text is not in a numbering level (such as text in a Body Text Style), the level will be promoted to Level 1. The keystrokes perform the same function as the promote and demote buttons on the Outlining toolbar. For folks converting from WordPerfect, their function achieves similar or greater power than the [Par Num:Auto] code did.

Will Word 2000 save the day? How did Word’s automatic numbering get like this anyway? The answer to the first question is easy, the second mysterious. No, there have been no changes in the functionality of automatic numbering in Word 2000. Answering the second question is difficult because there is so little documentation from Microsoft, and no one I have spoken to can identify the persons responsible for the present system.

As best one can reconstruct, versions of Word prior to Word 97 could apply numbering directly to paragraphs, without linkage to styles, or could link numbering to Heading styles. There were limits on the variations of number format that did not meet the expectations for legal documents and other complex numbering formats, especially those that have combined levels, such as Section 1.1.1 (or its cousins Chapter I followed by a second level such as 1.1).

There was (and still is) a second approach to creating numbering sequences using {SEQ} fields. One way to see these fields is to convert a WordPerfect document with a full set of numbering levels. The WordPerfect automatic numbering will be converted to those fields. Some who have struggled with AutoNumbering have concluded that {SEQ} fields are the only safe alternative. We will explore the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches in later columns.

Word 97’s design included the direction to provide significantly greater numbering flexibility. The enhancements included the ability to link numbering formats to any style and to use a mix of direct number formatting and style linked formatting. Number formats could include prior levels, without inheriting the text prefixes and suffixes of the prior levels. These capabilities were added to the Bullets and Numbering dialog, which retained its basic look and feel from the prior versions. It looks like this project was never finished, and we are left with a very mixed environment.

One imagines that the programmers were assigned to the key projects for Word 2000, such as the HTML round trip. After all, paragraph numbering is not an Internet issue. From the comments of some of the Microsoft staff, we would do best if we could describe it as one. Let’s consider ourselves challenged.

This 1999 article originally appeared in Office Watch.  Subscribe to Office Watch free at http://www.office-watch.com/.

[Originally appeared 1999]

THE SEVEN LAWS OF STYLES

LAW 1. All paragraph formatting should be applied through appropriate paragraph styles. Use the least possible direct formatting. Do not use the Format Painter.

The documents of legal practice should be highly consistent in formatting and structure. Sometimes they must follow prescribed formatting rules, such as those of courts. Legal documents get reworked intensely and reused constantly. Documents need to be reformatted in whole, whether to meet the requirements of different courts, or the practices of different departments. Portions of documents should be able to be moved and reused, with a minimum of reformatting.

Thorough use of styles, backed by appropriate templates, enables Word to work just this way. Direct formatting may seem to be a quick solution to special formatting needs, but it makes it difficult to “see” the source of formatting and to allow clean reformatting when a document needs to travel. The Format Painter is even worse, creating invisible formatting links that ought to be controlled by proper application of styles.

Note that this discussion applies to paragraph styles. Character styles have much less use. They will be covered in a future column.

LAW 2. Format Follows Function.

With a nod of the head to our architect friends, this law tells us to name styles for the function text performs in a document, rather than the method of formatting. For instance, the most common text in many documents will use Body Text style. If in some documents it needs to be single spaced, while in others double spaced, don’t use a “Single Space” style for one and a “Double Spaced Style” for the other. Use Body Text in both, but change the settings for Body Text (preferably through application of a grouped set of styles maintained in a template). Then the document will be instantly and accurately transformed from the formats required by one practice to those of another, with no fiddling around with formatting.

LAW 3. Use common names for styles across the body of legal documents.

Use Body Text as the style for the body text of all documents, Headings 1 through 9 as the style names for heading levels, and so on. Then, to change the overall formatting of documents, store the appropriate style settings in a template, and use the Style Gallery to switch formats.

LAW 4 Avoid applying Normal style.

Use Normal style as a base for other styles. Using Normal Style itself violates LAW 2.

LAW 5 Change locally, then propagate globally, but do not use the “Automatically Update” setting for any styles.

The Automatically Update setting can cause nearly instantaneous havoc with document formatting. It represents a solution to an intrinsic issue in ease of use for Word. While styles have all the power we have described, modifying and managing them can be difficult to learn, and often, even for experienced users, difficult to do. To modify styles, users must dig through 5 levels of menus and dialogs, then climb back again. When you get there, the connection between the settings and text may be very difficult to see.

Automatically Update was supposed to solve that. For instance, changing Left and Right Indents or tab settings could be accomplished directly and visually with the controls on the Ruler. Then, with Automatically Update on, these changes would immediately change the style settings the same way. Unfortunately this can also happen accidentally, leaving users confused and frustrated.

Word has a better, more controllable way to spread local formatting changes to the style applied to a paragraph. Make the font, spacing and indent changes to one paragraph of the appropriate style. Then, select the paragraph including its paragraph mark. With the formatting toolbar on, press CTRL SHIFT S (or mouse click on the style name in the toolbar) and press ENTER. If (and only if) you have changed the formatting of the paragraph from that of its style, a “Modify Style” dialog will appear asking whether “you wish to modify the style to reflect recent changes” or reapply the formatting of the style to the paragraph. Choosing the first will then propagate the local changes to the style and change all paragraphs in the document with that style.

Catch 1. This technique does not work unless a toolbar is showing with the style name (standard in the default Formatting toolbar).

Catch 2. Spacing and indent changes can propagate using this technique whether or not the paragraph mark for the paragraph has been selected. Font changes for the paragraph as a whole can propagate only if the paragraph mark has been selected. If not, this technique will cause the font to revert to that of the style. Thus, learning the technique by selecting the whole paragraph, including its paragraph mark, achieves more consistent results.

Catch 3. This technique can leave hidden direct formatting. In a future column, we will look at a macro shortcut that will support these technique without the catches.

The following macro will remove the Automatically Update setting from all styles in a document for Word 97 and 2000.

Public Sub RemoveAutomaticallyUpdate() Dim aSty As Style For Each aSty In ActiveDocument.Styles aSty.AutomaticallyUpdate = False Next aSty End Sub

LAW 6 Use no empty paragraphs.

Empty paragraphs are a relic of typing. They have no text except the paragraph mark. When documents use them for spacing, instead of styles set with proper paragraph spacing, they corrupt the clean global transformation of document formats.

Again, a brief macro can clean out empty paragraphs.

Public Sub CleanEmptyParagraphs() Dim aPara As Paragraph For Each aPara In ActiveDocument.Paragraphs If Asc(aPara.Range.Characters.First) = 13 Then aPara.Range.Delete End If Next aPara End Sub

LAW 7 Tie automatic numbering to heading styles.

This law deserves its own column, next time.

 

This 1999 article originally appeared in Office Watch.  Subscribe to Office Watch free at http://www.office-watch.com/

[Originally appeared 1999]

At the end of a few weeks of participation in the beta testing of Woody

[Originally appeared 1999.]

Word of Law No. 2 began the journey through the labyrinth of Word 97’s automatic paragraph numbering. This week we continue that journey. We may not make it past where the last column ended, but we will dig deeper. Up to our hips, at least.

In the short time since Word of Law No. 1 was distributed, many of you have sent detailed questions and comments, especially about automatic numbering. Eventually, we will try to cover as many of those questions as possible. Your questions also show a range of understanding and experience with the structure and tools of Microsoft Word. We will try to address those at several levels, and trust you will be patient with materials either too simple or advanced for your needs.

We started with Law 7 of the Laws of Styles stated in Word of Law No. 1, “Tie automatic numbering to heading styles” and ended with the direction to prepare templates with proper settings for numbering and all other heading style formatting, then using the Style Gallery to apply numbering formats. There will be exceptions, of course.

Before diving back into the List Gallery, let’s explore in greater detail the strategy for using Heading styles to organize the structure, formatting (and, where applicable) numbering of legal documents.

The following three examples illustrate (within the limits of the plain text formatting of WOW), the use of Heading and Body Text styles to organize the structure and formatting of three types of legal documents. In each case, the name of the style used for each paragraph can be found in brackets preceding the text of the paragraph (but not the paragraph numbering. Please imagine that the spacing between the paragraphs and the first line indents are established by the spacing and first line indent settings of the styles.

SIMPLE AGREEMENT STRUCTURE:

1. [Heading 1]SCOPE OF WORK

[Body Text]Subject to the terms and conditions hereinafter provided, Customer engages CONSULTANT for the furnishing of the services specified ….

2. [Heading 1]TERM

[Body Text]This Agreement shall terminate one (1) year following the Effective Date; provided, however, …

3. [Heading 1]CONSIDERATION AND PAYMENT

A. [Heading 2]This Agreement is on a time and materials basis only …

COMPLEX AGREEMENT STRUCTURE:

ARTICLE 1 [Heading 1] REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF THE SHAREHOLDERS

[Body Text]As a material inducement to OLDCO to enter into this Agreement and consummate the Merger, …:

Section 1.1 [Heading 2]Status. The Company is a corporation ….

Section 1.2 [Heading 2]Corporate Authority,Effective Agreement. The Board of Directors and the Shareholders have duly authorized …

Section 1.3 [Heading 2]Contracts, Leases, Agreements and Other Commitments.

[Body Text]The Company is not a party to any contract or agreement except for the following (collectively, the “Company Agreements”):

(a) [Heading 3]the investment advisor agreements…;

 

BRIEF STRUCTURE:

[Heading 1]NATURE OF CASE AND ORDER FROM WHICH APPEAL IS TAKEN

[Body Text]Appellant, …

[Heading 1]STATEMENT OF THE CASE AND THE FACTS MATERIAL TO THE ISSUES PRESENTED ON APPEAL

[Body Text]This action arises out of …

[Heading 1]STATEMENT OF ISSUES [Body Text]…

[Heading 1]SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT

[Body Text]The district court gave …

[Heading 1]ARGUMENT

A. [Heading 2]No Implied Attorney-Client Relationship Was Created Between …

[Body Text]…

1. [Heading 3]The Agreement of Counsel Relied Upon by the District Court …

[Body Text]Neither the plaintiffs nor the district court identified …

[Heading 1]CONCLUSION

[Body Text]For all of the foregoing reasons, …

In the actual documents, the Body Text and Heading styles in each of these documents control the font, line spacing, spacing between paragraphs and margins for each of the types of paragraphs. For instance, in the Simple Agreement, the font for the Heading 1 style, used for the titles of the provisions of the contract, has its font set to Bold, All Caps.

In addition, automatic paragraph numbering has been set for Heading styles 1 through 3. In the agreements, each of these levels includes a paragraph numbering setting. In the brief, Heading 1 does not include numbering, but Heading styles 2 and 3 do. The sample text indicates the content of the “number” in the text preceding the name of the style. Thus, in the simple agreement, the number for Heading 1 Style includes Arabic numbers (1,2,3) and the period character. In the Complex Agreement, the Heading 1 style numbering includes the word “Article” followed by Arabic numbers, while Heading 2 includes the word “Section” followed by a compound numbering, including the prior level.

If only the story ended here… Notice that the list of paragraph formatting characteristics for Heading 1 through Heading 3 styles did not list left indent, first line indent and tab settings. These are the style format settings (in VBA terms, the properties of Styles(StyleName).ParagraphFormat) in conflict between the settings stored in the style and those maintained through the numbering dialog.

Let’s go back to the List Gallery and look at this conflict in action. Several of you have asked where to find the “List Gallery,” pointing out correctly that there is no menu entry with that name. List Gallery is the name assigned to the dialog that appears upon selecting the Bullets and Numbering entry in the standard Format menu. The dialog has three tabs. For the present, we focus on the “Outline Numbered” tab. It presents eight windows, one to “None” and seven to numbering patterns.

Open a blank document. (Please, do not do this on any real work, yet.) Insert a paragraph in Heading 1 Style, then Body Text, then Heading 2 Style, then Body Text, then Heading 3 Style (similar to the examples above). With the cursor in the Heading 1 Style paragraph, select Format|Bullets and Numbering and the Outline Numbered tab. If you have not changed from the default settings, the window second from the right in the bottom row will be in a standard outline I, A, 1 scheme. Select this choice and notice that the settings for the left indent, first line indent and first tab for each of Heading 1 through 3 has changed to a staggered, left to right descending pattern, with a first tab set 0.25 inches to the right of the first line indent.

Decide, for whatever reason, that you want the first tab after the paragraph number to be 0.5 inches to the right of the first line indent in Heading 1. Were you to try to use the CTRL-SHIFT-S Modify style technique described in issue 4.20, this would be trivial, <heh, heh>. Just put the cursor in a Heading 1 style, drag that custom tab over on the ruler, press CTRL-SHIFT-S and choose to update the style. It works for now, without changing the numbering. But wait, you also want to change the numbering format, such as making Heading 3 “(1)” instead of “1”. Proceed to the List Gallery and on to customize the number. When you return, you will find that custom tab right back at 0.25 inches to the right of the first line indent. If you have made this change to several heading styles, they will all be affected.

Another way to invoke the same misbehavior is to remove the numbering on the Heading Style paragraph with the 1,2,3 button on the formatting toolbar, then restore it with the same button. While that procedure violates more than one of the Laws of Styles, it also causes these hard programmed changes to the other Heading Styles.

Remember, this is a feature! It is a small, but critical example of the unexpected control of styles built in to automatic numbering in Word 97. Left indents and first line indents suffer similar effects, although they can be controlled through settings in the List Gallery, which we will explore further in the next column. The tabs are a creature unto themselves. Some of you wrote of your despair of working with Word 97’s automatic numbering, and success in the use of the {SEQ} sequence fields. These older tools for automatic numbering can be used successfully, but do not offer all of the power of numbered styles. Believe it or not, before we are through, we will have a successful strategy and the tools to use and troubleshoot it.

By the way, the following code for creating the examples offers a simple and unsophisticated technique for creating a written scheme for the use of paragraphs styles in a document.

Public Sub InsertStyleNames() Dim aPara As Paragraph For Each aPara In ActiveDocument.Paragraphs aPara.Range.Select Selection.Collapse wdCollapseStart Selection.TypeText (“[”& aPara.Style & “]”) Next aPara End Sub

This 1999 article originally appeared in Office Watch.  Subscribe to Office Watch free at http://www.office-watch.com/