Replies

Hi Armstrong,

Thanks for the compliment.

If your field codes really are as you’ve posted (ie {SET AppDate}{SET FileDate 3/19/2009}), and don’t have double quotes enclosing the bookmark values, you could use a formula field with an IF test coded as:
{IF{REF AppDate}= “Err*” {REF FileDate} {REF AppDate}}

If you do have double quotes enclosing the bookmark values (ie {SET AppDate “”}{SET FileDate “3/19/2009”}), you could use a formula field with an IF test coded as:
{IF{REF AppDate}= “” {REF FileDate} {REF AppDate}}

Hi Paul,
Thanks for telling me about the “Err*” thing. I have never read a single book (Inside Out/Beyond the Manual/Bible,…etc.) on Word 2003/2007 revealing such secret. That’s amazing.
Actually, there’s one more possibility. The Bookmark is completely undefined. That’s, it isn’t even defined in any {SET} field code. Then, how should I cope with this “worst” scenario?

Actually, {SET AppDate} causes no trouble in Word 2007. Before your enlightenment, I wrote the following clumsy code:
{SET NUL}{SET AddDate}{If {AddDate} = {NUL} “Print This” “Print That”}, which isn’t as elegant as yours, of course.

Armstrong

The best approach would be not to send any e-mails. If that is not feasible, send all mail in plain text.

Hi Hans,
Plain text is exactly the format I’m using now. It appears to be safe though it lacks all the benefits of automation.
Armstrong

Have you thought about DragonNaturally Speaking? You know, the one you speak into. It really works like they say, approximately 95% of the time, I can say that I can get to 97-98% of the words I say to translate correctly. It really helps me a lot.

Hi Vgarrim,
Thanks for sharing your user experience with us. My primary focus for the time being is more inclined toward document automation and document management.
Thanks for your input.
Armstrong

Hi Macropod,
I’m honored to receive your reply. I read a lot of your high value articles on Word fields. I learn a great deal from you. You’re only the one, not Microsoft, in the world telling me explicitly that AND(), OR(), NOT(), can IF() can’t compare text strings. That’s awesome.
For the current question, in a legal brief, I would like show Filing Date instead if the Application Date is missing (ie, undefined).
{SET AppDate}{SET FileDate 3/19/2009}
In this case, what’s the best approach?
Thanks for your help.

Armstrong

How do you save print setup when printing full page border without having to go to print shortcut every time?

What do you mean by “when printing full page border without having to go to print shortcut every time”?
Please clarify your question. Thanks.
Armstrong

Stuart,
Thanks a lot.
Armstrong

I had no idea either so I looked it up too.

Neither do I. Before reading your suggested Wikipedia source, I have never heard about Ruby characters. Thanks for the interesting information.
Armstrong

Hi Andrew,

Bookmarks in Acrobat speak are called hyperlinks in Word. Even without specifically creating hyperlinks in Word, you can produce the same behaviour by Ctrl-clicking (depends on your Word options) on page numbers in a TOC or maybe a cross-reference. These navigational niceties can be very useful in the Acrobat file.

You and I may not be on the same page. By Bookmarks in Acrobat, I mean the TOC like pane on the left. Can these “bookmarks” be generated directly from a Word document? That would be very interesting.
Thanks for your feedback.
Armstrong

I tested your doc in Word 2007. The Spelling & Grammar check is simply unavailable to the protected document. However, in the Editing restrictions section, if you allow Comments, the spell checker is available but you lose the form filling functionality.
Armstrong

Your best bet is AutoCorrect.
Armstrong

Is the bookmark in the post the same thing for both Word and Acrobat?
Do you suggest that Bookmarks in Acrobat can be produced by Word?
Armstrong

I found these icons by going into Start Button > Word Options > Customize and then setting Choose commands from to All Commands and then eyeballing the massive list underneath.

Hi Andrew,
Thanks for taking valuable time to “eyeball” the All Commands. I did it but failed. It’s the plain Mini Toolbar eagerly popped up whenever a text string is selected. All your “surmise” is correct.
BTW, what’s the phonetic guide? In accordance with http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/HP052510511033.aspx, it’s primarily used for Chinese, Japanese and Korean. But what’re the base text and Ruby text, respectively?
Thanks a lot for your help.
Armstrong

We previously needed to enable something (international support?) somewhere to display these languages in Word. What is the procedure for doing that?

Perhaps you can enable the Asian languages through Windows:
1. Control Panel
2. Date, Time Language, and Regional Options
3. Regional and Language Options
4. In the Languages tab, check “Install files for East Asian languages”

Hope it helps.

Armstrong

Hi StuartR,
Thanks for your sharing your Word doc security with us.
My Word 2007 security procedure:
1. Proof the doc.
2. Check all bookmarks and values in field codes.
3. Create a duplicate.
4. Microsoft Office | Prepare | Inspect Document, select all options, click “Inspect”. Remove all.
5. Save the duplicate in PDF.
6. Password the PDF.

If you find any vulnerability in the above procedure, please share with us.
Thanks a lot.

Armstrong

That’s a bit strong, IMHO. Outline numbering using the Heading styles has always worked well for me.

Another advantage for using {SEQ} is precise and robust cross-reference. In additional, its formatting is highly configurable thanks to field formatting such as * Ordinal.
Armstrong