Re: MS Word screws up yet ANOTHER project?

["Raj Machhan" <raj -dot- machhan -at- gmail -dot- com>]

Guess we are expecting too much out of MS Word. It is word processer and not
a tool meant for creating large documents containing styles and graphics. I
got my fingers burnt recently creating a 500 page System Design Document. I
am richer by experience and I can sum it up in two words: "Never Again!"
One reason why we tend to deploy Word for almost every task is its easy
availability. We can access it on almost every desktop or PC but this does
not automatically mean that we start using it for every assignment. The
software has some wonderful functions but creating large documents is
certainly not one of them.

Raj


On Dec 7, 2007 9:00 PM, Geoff Hart < ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca> wrote:

> Ken Poshedly reports: <<Nothing you guys haven't heard about before
> now. And nothing anyone here can do. I'm just venting.>>
>
> Well, with a little luck, we can possibly help you prevent the
> problem in future, and maybe recover from the current problem with
> less stress than the last time. Also note that you may not be the one
> who caused the problem; someone else editing these files may have
> done it. And sometimes Word really does happen for no reason anyone
> can understand, but that's less frequent than most Word critics believe.
>
> <<MS Word, the program that won't be fixed and won't go away, just
> undid weeks of work in an instant -- without me even touching a key.
> It simply changed the font and spacing in all of the dozens of tables
> in the 164-page manual I'm currently working on. Yep, whereas
> eveything in all of the tables was set to Arial 10 pt with preset
> spacings in place, in the blink of an eye -- and with no action by me
> -- I saw it magically change to Times Roman and goofed-up spacings.>>
>
> When this happens, you've usually run into one of two problems.
> First, many people set style definitions to update automatically,
> which they assume means that if you update a style definition, all
> text formatted with that style will take on the new properties.
> Instead, Word updates the definition of the style to reflect the
> changes you've made in the text. This feature is only useful if you
> like to define styles by experimentation; for most people, it's an
> unmitigated disaster. Second, Word's autoformatting tools (Tools--
>  >Autocorrect-->Autoformat as you Type tab) can screw you up in a
> similar way; the "Define styles based on your formatting" option on
> this tab will do this. So if you inadvertently changed the style by
> typing a character in Times, Word might helpfully screw up all text
> formatted using that style. As a general rule, both options should be
> disabled _always_.
>
> The flip side of the coin is that if you manually edit the properties
> of a style such as Normal and click Apply when you close the dialog,
> Word will helpfully update the properties of all text formatted using
> that style, except for text that you have manually formatted (thereby
> overriding the style) or to which you have applied a character style.
> That's a good feature if you've defined and used styles rigorously,
> but not so good if you were careless. Because Word uses hierarchical
> styles (e.g., if you edit Normal style and your headings are left at
> the factory defaults, which is "based on Normal" in the style
> definition), then all linked styles will also change. Again, this is
> a good feature if you've designed your document to take advantage of
> it. Here, the solution is to define recurring elements such as table
> data using your own style name ( e.g., KenTable1), and ensure that
> this style is not based on any other styles unless you want to edit
> one style and cause all linked styles to change. That's a useful
> feature too, but you need to plan for it.
>
> <<they've finally ordered FrameMaker 8.0>>
>
> Frame is certainly more intelligently designed and more robust than
> Word, but taking the above steps will make Word more stable and
> robust. Hope this helps you should you end up using Word again in the
> future!
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------
> -- Geoff Hart
> ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca / geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com
> www.geoff-hart.com
> --------------------------------------------------
> ***Now available***  _Effective onscreen editing_
> (http://www.geoff-hart.com/home/onscreen-book.htm )
>
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
> printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007
> Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more.
> http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
>
> True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
> Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
> documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
>
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as raj -dot- machhan -at- gmail -dot- com -dot- 
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> or visit
> http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/raj.machhan%40gmail.com
>
>
> To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
> http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.
>
>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or 
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007 
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more.
http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.