Word's "Master Document" feature

[Combs, Richard]

> when it comes to serious, professional technical 
> communication, Word comes up short when compared with almost 
> any other tool. 

Any? Really?

> If it weren't for the fact that everyone has Word and knows 
> (on some level how to use it), that it will outlive us all, 
> and that it can be made to resemble anything or do anything 
> you like, it would be little more than a toy.

Let me rephrase that for you: "If it weren't for that fact that it can
do everything I need done, it would be useless." 

But I suppose there's no point in arguing about religion. 

Oh, back to the original topic for a moment -- It's been years since
I've done long docs in Word, but I seem to remember that the complex
secret to using this feature successfully is one simple rule: Don't edit
any of the subdocuments from within the master document. Always open the
subdocument on its own to edit and save it. The master document is
primarily a vehicle for generating the output. 

Richard


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Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
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rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-777-0436
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