Can one presentation be embedded within another?

[Jack]

I am attempting to create one presentation based on the contents of
several others.

I had a lead about this in another post suggesting that I could use
Include/Object/Create from file to pull the contents of an existing
presentation into a second presentation. That was very promising.

Right now though I am receiving an error dialog box when I click "OK"
to include another file. This happens after I have selected the file
and clicked the "Display as icon" check box. It states:

The server application, source file, or item cannot be found. Check
that the path and file name are correct, or try reinstalling the
server application.

I see that there have been posts in this group about this. But these
seem to pertain to trying to include charts w/in the PPT presentation
and were resolved by (re)installing the Chart portion of Office. I
don't see a connect here since the "application" needed is PowerPoint
(I think).

All I could think of was to try renaming the files so that they have
no white space and their names and that of the containing folder are
all 8.3 compliant.

I'm using PPT version x. Has anyone been able to successfully
accomplish this? I'm beginning to think that I've just found a PPT bug.

 

[CyberTaz]

I'm not totally clear on what you're specifically looking to do, but have
you tried Insert>Slides From File?

 

[Jack]

I'm not totally clear on what you're specifically looking to do, but have
you tried Insert>Slides From File?

That would be fine if I only had to 'assemble' the pieces once, but I
need this to be more dynamic. My PPT presentations are printed to
become the textbooks I use in classes. Think of the individual
presentations as chapters in these 'books'. I occasionally make
revisions to some of the chapter presentations and would like the book
to have links to the chapters instead of copies of the chapters so
that the next time I print the 'book' presentation the revisions in
the 'chapter' presentations are incorporated automatically.

I would like something like A_class.ppt containing:

title slide
link to disclaimer presentation
table of contents slide(s)
link to first chapter presentation
link to second chapter presentation
custom content slide(s) that make up the third chapter
link to fourth chapter presentation

Does that help to clarify?

 

[CyberTaz]

AFAIK, PPt files aren't embeddable as objects.

The first thing that comes to mind is to create hyperlinks to the other
files by selecting text or an object, then go to Slide Show>Action Settings
or go to Insert>Hyperlink & specify the target file.

When you want to activate one of the target presentations from within the
"master" Command+Click the hyperlink & select Hyperlink>Open (or Open in New
Window), then use the Edit>Edit Slides command.

You might also consider "putting all the eggs in one basket" & using the
Slide Show>Custom Shows... Feature. You might check it out in PPt Help.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Jack]

AFAIK, PPt files aren't embeddable as objects.

The first thing that comes to mind is to create hyperlinks to the other
files by selecting text or an object, then go to Slide Show>Action Settings
or go to Insert>Hyperlink & specify the target file.

When you want to activate one of the target presentations from within the
"master" Command+Click the hyperlink & select Hyperlink>Open (or Open in New
Window), then use the Edit>Edit Slides command.

You might also consider "putting all the eggs in one basket" & using the
Slide Show>Custom Shows... Feature. You might check it out in PPt Help.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

I don't think that hyperlinking will do it because I need to print
these presentations.

The Custom Shows is way too cumbersome. (I'd have over 500 slides in
several of the classes.) And unless I put absolutely every slide for
every show (around 4000) into one presentation it doesn't solve the
sharing problem.

Can anyone comment on using the Include/Object/Create from file
functionality?

Has anyone got hands on experience using that?

 

[Jack]

AFAIK, PPt files aren't embeddable as objects.

The first thing that comes to mind is to create hyperlinks to the other
files by selecting text or an object, then go to Slide Show>Action Settings
or go to Insert>Hyperlink & specify the target file.

When you want to activate one of the target presentations from within the
"master" Command+Click the hyperlink & select Hyperlink>Open (or Open in New
Window), then use the Edit>Edit Slides command.

You might also consider "putting all the eggs in one basket" & using the
Slide Show>Custom Shows... Feature. You might check it out in PPt Help.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

I don't think that hyperlinking will do it because I need to print
these presentations.

The Custom Shows is way too cumbersome. (I'd have over 500 slides in
several of the classes.) And unless I put absolutely every slide for
every show (around 4000) into one presentation it doesn't solve the
sharing problem.

Can anyone comment on using the Include/Object/Create from file
functionality? There is a post here demoing that in the Windoze
version of PPT.

Has anyone got hands on experience using that on the Mac side?

 

[Jack]

AFAIK, PPt files aren't embeddable as objects.

The first thing that comes to mind is to create hyperlinks to the other
files by selecting text or an object, then go to Slide Show>Action Settings
or go to Insert>Hyperlink & specify the target file.

When you want to activate one of the target presentations from within the
"master" Command+Click the hyperlink & select Hyperlink>Open (or Open in New
Window), then use the Edit>Edit Slides command.

You might also consider "putting all the eggs in one basket" & using the
Slide Show>Custom Shows... Feature. You might check it out in PPt Help.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

Taz, I appreciate your suggestions, but I'd like to hear from anyone
who's used the Include/Object/Create from file functionality or who
has a suggestion about solving the error that I originally posted.

I read a post here demoing that in the Windoze version of PPT. (see
http://www.awesomebackgrounds.com/powerpointlinking.htm).

Has anyone got hands on experience using that on the Mac side?

I don't think that hyperlinking will do it because I need to print
these presentations.

The Custom Shows is way too cumbersome. I'd have over 4000 slides and
having read about the problems with PPT files becoming corrupt there's
no way I'd combine them all into one monster presentation.

 

[Jack]

AFAIK, PPt files aren't embeddable as objects.

The first thing that comes to mind is to create hyperlinks to the other
files by selecting text or an object, then go to Slide Show>Action Settings
or go to Insert>Hyperlink & specify the target file.

When you want to activate one of the target presentations from within the
"master" Command+Click the hyperlink & select Hyperlink>Open (or Open in New
Window), then use the Edit>Edit Slides command.

You might also consider "putting all the eggs in one basket" & using the
Slide Show>Custom Shows... Feature. You might check it out in PPt Help.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

Taz, I appreciate your suggestions, but it is definitely possible to
link presentations. See
http://www.awesomebackgrounds.com/powerpointlinking.htm for this
demoed with the Windows version.

That solution would be wonderful for me so it's what I'd like to try
to get working.

I'd like to hear from anyone who's used the Include/Object/Create from
file functionality. Has anyone got hands on experience using that on
the Mac side?

Or does anyone have a suggestion about solving the error that I
originally posted.

I don't think that hyperlinking will do it because I need to print
these presentations.

The Custom Shows is way too cumbersome. I'd have over 4000 slides and
having read about the problems with PPT files becoming corrupt there's
no way I'd combine them all into one monster presentation.

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hello Jack,

I would approach this problem differently.

May I assume that you have a lot of presentations and that they are
organized into some sort of file and folder hierarchy?

If the answer is "yes" then here's another approach.

Use a utility that can make lists of the file paths to each of the
presentations. I didn't look deeply into this, but perhaps Smith-Micro's
PrintIt can do this. Look for other stuff, though, that might be designed
for this specific task.
http://store.digitalriver.com/servlet/ControllerServlet?Action=DisplayPage&E
nv=BASE&Locale=en_US&SiteID=allume&id=ShoppingCartPage

Then I would paste the list of file paths into a column in Excel.

Excel can control PowerPoint via remote control (called OLE) using either an
AppleScript or a Visual Basic routine.

Using remote control you can tell Excel to open any particular PowerPoint
presentation in your system, or loop through them. You can tell PowerPoint
to print the active presentation, and do lots of other stuff.

Does this sound like an approach you might want to take? If so, do you have
any experience with AppleScript or VB?

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

I don't think that hyperlinking will do it because I need to print
these presentations.

The Custom Shows is way too cumbersome. (I'd have over 500 slides in
several of the classes.) And unless I put absolutely every slide for
every show (around 4000) into one presentation it doesn't solve the
sharing problem.

Can anyone comment on using the Include/Object/Create from file
functionality? There is a post here demoing that in the Windoze
version of PPT.

Has anyone got hands on experience using that on the Mac side?

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP info

 

[Jack]

Hello Jack,

I would approach this problem differently.

May I assume that you have a lot of presentations and that they are
organized into some sort of file and folder hierarchy?

If the answer is "yes" then here's another approach.

Use a utility that can make lists of the file paths to each of the
presentations. I didn't look deeply into this, but perhaps Smith-Micro's
PrintIt can do this. Look for other stuff, though, that might be designed
for this specific task.http://store.digitalriver.com/servlet/ControllerServlet?Action=Displa...
nv=BASE&Locale=en_US&SiteID=allume&id=ShoppingCartPage

Then I would paste the list of file paths into a column in Excel.

Excel can control PowerPoint via remote control (called OLE) using either an
AppleScript or a Visual Basic routine.

Using remote control you can tell Excel to open any particular PowerPoint
presentation in your system, or loop through them. You can tell PowerPoint
to print the active presentation, and do lots of other stuff.

Does this sound like an approach you might want to take? If so, do you have
any experience with AppleScript or VB?

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

Quoting from "Jack" <[email protected]>, in article
(e-mail address removed), on [DATE:

I don't think that hyperlinking will do it because I need to print
these presentations.

The Custom Shows is way too cumbersome. (I'd have over 500 slides in
several of the classes.) And unless I put absolutely every slide for
every show (around 4000) into one presentation it doesn't solve the
sharing problem.

Can anyone comment on using the Include/Object/Create from file
functionality? There is a post here demoing that in the Windoze
version of PPT.

Has anyone got hands on experience using that on the Mac side?

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP infohttp://mvp.support.microsoft.com/

Jim;

Thanks for these ideas. Having a list of the files in Excel and then
driving from there via VB or AppleScript sound tremendous. Any
resources you can share about this kind of VB coding or AppleScript
scripting?

Jack

 

[Jack]

Sorry none of the suggestions are what you would prefer, but the method
described in that article won't work in Mac PPt. It isn't a matter of "hands
on experience" - the capability just isn't there. Mac Office apps and their
PC counterparts are not identical any more than the OS in which they work -
this is one of the differences.

As I pointed out, PPt files are not embeddable as objects in another PPt
file and if you notice there is no checkbox for "Link" in the Insert>Object
dialog. Further, that method won't provide any more with regard to printing
than the Hyperlink method even if it could be done in Mac PPt. The technique
is for showing the presentations as a consecutive slide show, not for
opening/editing all at once - printing is an editing function.

Perhaps Jim Gordon's approach will work for you

Good Luck |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

Bob; Thank for letting me know about the embedding. It's a shame that
MS doesn't get equivalent functionality into their products.

 

[Jack]

Hello Jack,

I would approach this problem differently.

May I assume that you have a lot of presentations and that they are
organized into some sort of file and folder hierarchy?

If the answer is "yes" then here's another approach.

Use a utility that can make lists of the file paths to each of the
presentations. I didn't look deeply into this, but perhaps Smith-Micro's
PrintIt can do this. Look for other stuff, though, that might be designed
for this specific task.http://store.digitalriver.com/servlet/ControllerServlet?Action=Displa...
nv=BASE&Locale=en_US&SiteID=allume&id=ShoppingCartPage

Then I would paste the list of file paths into a column in Excel.

Excel can control PowerPoint via remote control (called OLE) using either an
AppleScript or a Visual Basic routine.

Using remote control you can tell Excel to open any particular PowerPoint
presentation in your system, or loop through them. You can tell PowerPoint
to print the active presentation, and do lots of other stuff.

Does this sound like an approach you might want to take? If so, do you have
any experience with AppleScript or VB?

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

Quoting from "Jack" <[email protected]>, in article
(e-mail address removed), on [DATE:

I don't think that hyperlinking will do it because I need to print
these presentations.

The Custom Shows is way too cumbersome. (I'd have over 500 slides in
several of the classes.) And unless I put absolutely every slide for
every show (around 4000) into one presentation it doesn't solve the
sharing problem.

Can anyone comment on using the Include/Object/Create from file
functionality? There is a post here demoing that in the Windoze
version of PPT.

Has anyone got hands on experience using that on the Mac side?

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP infohttp://mvp.support.microsoft.com/

Jim;

Thanks for these ideas. Having a list of the files in Excel and then
driving from there via VB or AppleScript sound tremendous. Any
resources you can share about this kind of VB coding or AppleScript
scripting?

I have done a lot of coding (C, Javascript, Oracle's PL/SQL) but only
a little with each of these.

Jack

 

[CyberTaz]

Bob; Thank for letting me know about the embedding. It's a shame that
MS doesn't get equivalent functionality into their products.

Hi Jack -

You're most welcome, but I'm not sure it's entirely the fault of MS.
Differences in OLE implementation in OS X & Windows probably contribute to
the issue as well as the matter of return on investment. I'm afraid it isn't
just a matter of stamping one box "Mac" & the other "Win", so the cost of
producing some features in one as opposed to the other is a definite
consideration - with Mac often seeming to be on the short end since it's a
much smaller market. On the other hand, there are also some "goodies" that
find their way into the Mac versions that make 'em lick their chops on the
PC side

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi,

There is a decision to make. Applescript vs VBA

AppleScript:
Pro - System Wide. Once you learn AppleScript you'll be able to script lots
of other Mac applications. AppleScript will continue to be supported in
Office 2008 when it comes out
Con - You really need to know Microsoft's VBA to get at the Excel and
PowerPoint object models. Applescript manipulates the Excel and PowerPoint
object models using Microsoft's Object Linking and Embedding (OLE)
technology. Applescript is Mac only.

Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)
Pro - Largely cross-platform Mac and PC. Probably the most widely used
programming language in the world. Built into Office 2004 on the Mac.
There's a huge wealth of resources since it's been around a long time.
Con - VBA's is at the end of its life. It goes away in Office 2008 on the
Mac and the proposition is that it will also go away eventually on the PC
side. Mac VBA is version 5.

A place to get started with Excel VBA
http://www.mcgimpsey.com/excel/index.html#usingvba

A place to get started with PowerPoint VBA
http://pptfaq.com/FAQ00033.htm

A place to get started with applescript
http://developer.apple.com/applescript/

To start the VBA editor on a mac go to View > Toolbars > Visual basic and
click the Visual Basic Editor button on the toolbar.

If you use VBA you will be using OLE to run PowerPoint from Excel. So when
you are programming, write your code in Excel's visual basic editor and use
OLE to run PowerPoint via VBA. You'll still need to use the VBA editor
inside PowerPoint to get at the PowerPoint VBA help, object model, and
syntax. Office 2004 can edit, compile and execute VBA. Office 2008 will
not.

If you use AppleScript you will use AppleScripts editor (comes with Mac OS
in the Applications folder) and the AppleScript compiler.

Is this too much or too little information?

Thanks.

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

Hello Jack,

I would approach this problem differently.

May I assume that you have a lot of presentations and that they are
organized into some sort of file and folder hierarchy?

If the answer is "yes" then here's another approach.

Use a utility that can make lists of the file paths to each of the
presentations. I didn't look deeply into this, but perhaps Smith-Micro's
PrintIt can do this. Look for other stuff, though, that might be designed
for this specific
task.http://store.digitalriver.com/servlet/ControllerServlet?Action=Displa...
nv=BASE&Locale=en_US&SiteID=allume&id=ShoppingCartPage

Then I would paste the list of file paths into a column in Excel.

Excel can control PowerPoint via remote control (called OLE) using either an
AppleScript or a Visual Basic routine.

Using remote control you can tell Excel to open any particular PowerPoint
presentation in your system, or loop through them. You can tell PowerPoint
to print the active presentation, and do lots of other stuff.

Does this sound like an approach you might want to take? If so, do you have
any experience with AppleScript or VB?

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

Quoting from "Jack" <[email protected]>, in article
(e-mail address removed), on [DATE:

AFAIK, PPt files aren't embeddable as objects.

The first thing that comes to mind is to create hyperlinks to the other
files by selecting text or an object, then go to Slide Show>Action Settings
or go to Insert>Hyperlink & specify the target file.

When you want to activate one of the target presentations from within the
"master" Command+Click the hyperlink & select Hyperlink>Open (or Open in
New
Window), then use the Edit>Edit Slides command.

You might also consider "putting all the eggs in one basket" & using the
Slide Show>Custom Shows... Feature. You might check it out in PPt Help.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

On 6/1/07 7:14 PM, in article
(e-mail address removed), "Jack"

On Jun 1, 4:10 pm, "CyberTaz" <typegeneraltaz1ATcomcastdotnet> wrote:
I'm not totally clear on what you're specifically looking to do, but have
you tried Insert>Slides From File?

I am attempting to create one presentation based on the contents of
several others.

I had a lead about this in another post suggesting that I could use
Include/Object/Create from file to pull the contents of an existing
presentation into a second presentation. That was very promising.

Right now though I am receiving an error dialog box when I click "OK"
to include another file. This happens after I have selected the file
and clicked the "Display as icon" check box. It states:

The server application, source file, or item cannot be found. Check
that the path and file name are correct, or try reinstalling the
server application.

I see that there have been posts in this group about this. But these
seem to pertain to trying to include charts w/in the PPT presentation
and were resolved by (re)installing the Chart portion of Office. I
don't see a connect here since the "application" needed is PowerPoint
(I think).

All I could think of was to try renaming the files so that they have
no white space and their names and that of the containing folder are
all 8.3 compliant.

I'm using PPT version x. Has anyone been able to successfully
accomplish this? I'm beginning to think that I've just found a PPT bug.

That would be fine if I only had to 'assemble' the pieces once, but I
need this to be more dynamic. My PPT presentations are printed to
become the textbooks I use in classes. Think of the individual
presentations as chapters in these 'books'. I occasionally make
revisions to some of the chapter presentations and would like the book
to have links to the chapters instead of copies of the chapters so
that the next time I print the 'book' presentation the revisions in
the 'chapter' presentations are incorporated automatically.

I would like something like A_class.ppt containing:

title slide
link to disclaimer presentation
table of contents slide(s)
link to first chapter presentation
link to second chapter presentation
custom content slide(s) that make up the third chapter
link to fourth chapter presentation

Does that help to clarify?

I don't think that hyperlinking will do it because I need to print
these presentations.

The Custom Shows is way too cumbersome. (I'd have over 500 slides in
several of the classes.) And unless I put absolutely every slide for
every show (around 4000) into one presentation it doesn't solve the
sharing problem.

Can anyone comment on using the Include/Object/Create from file
functionality? There is a post here demoing that in the Windoze
version of PPT.

Has anyone got hands on experience using that on the Mac side?

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP infohttp://mvp.support.microsoft.com/

Jim;

Thanks for these ideas. Having a list of the files in Excel and then
driving from there via VB or AppleScript sound tremendous. Any
resources you can share about this kind of VB coding or AppleScript
scripting?

I have done a lot of coding (C, Javascript, Oracle's PL/SQL) but only
a little with each of these.

Jack

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP info

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Jim - Just to display my ignorance, does RealBasic figure into the
picture at all?

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

Hi,

There is a decision to make. Applescript vs VBA

AppleScript:
Pro - System Wide. Once you learn AppleScript you'll be able to script lots
of other Mac applications. AppleScript will continue to be supported in
Office 2008 when it comes out
Con - You really need to know Microsoft's VBA to get at the Excel and
PowerPoint object models. Applescript manipulates the Excel and PowerPoint
object models using Microsoft's Object Linking and Embedding (OLE)
technology. Applescript is Mac only.

Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)
Pro - Largely cross-platform Mac and PC. Probably the most widely used
programming language in the world. Built into Office 2004 on the Mac.
There's a huge wealth of resources since it's been around a long time.
Con - VBA's is at the end of its life. It goes away in Office 2008 on the
Mac and the proposition is that it will also go away eventually on the PC
side. Mac VBA is version 5.

A place to get started with Excel VBA
http://www.mcgimpsey.com/excel/index.html#usingvba

A place to get started with PowerPoint VBA
http://pptfaq.com/FAQ00033.htm

A place to get started with applescript
http://developer.apple.com/applescript/

To start the VBA editor on a mac go to View > Toolbars > Visual basic and
click the Visual Basic Editor button on the toolbar.

If you use VBA you will be using OLE to run PowerPoint from Excel. So when
you are programming, write your code in Excel's visual basic editor and use
OLE to run PowerPoint via VBA. You'll still need to use the VBA editor
inside PowerPoint to get at the PowerPoint VBA help, object model, and
syntax. Office 2004 can edit, compile and execute VBA. Office 2008 will
not.

If you use AppleScript you will use AppleScripts editor (comes with Mac OS
in the Applications folder) and the AppleScript compiler.

Is this too much or too little information?

Thanks.

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP



task.http://store.digitalriver.com/servlet/ControllerServlet?Action=Displa..>>>
..

nv=BASE&Locale=en_US&SiteID=allume&id=ShoppingCartPage

Then I would paste the list of file paths into a column in Excel.

Excel can control PowerPoint via remote control (called OLE) using either an
AppleScript or a Visual Basic routine.

Using remote control you can tell Excel to open any particular PowerPoint
presentation in your system, or loop through them. You can tell PowerPoint
to print the active presentation, and do lots of other stuff.

Does this sound like an approach you might want to take? If so, do you have
any experience with AppleScript or VB?

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

Quoting from "Jack" <[email protected]>, in article
(e-mail address removed), on [DATE:



AFAIK, PPt files aren't embeddable as objects.

The first thing that comes to mind is to create hyperlinks to the other
files by selecting text or an object, then go to Slide Show>Action
Settings
or go to Insert>Hyperlink & specify the target file.

When you want to activate one of the target presentations from within the
"master" Command+Click the hyperlink & select Hyperlink>Open (or Open in
New
Window), then use the Edit>Edit Slides command.

You might also consider "putting all the eggs in one basket" & using the
Slide Show>Custom Shows... Feature. You might check it out in PPt Help.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

On 6/1/07 7:14 PM, in article
(e-mail address removed), "Jack"

On Jun 1, 4:10 pm, "CyberTaz" <typegeneraltaz1ATcomcastdotnet> wrote:
I'm not totally clear on what you're specifically looking to do, but
have
you tried Insert>Slides From File?

--
HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac



I am attempting to create one presentation based on the contents of
several others.

I had a lead about this in another post suggesting that I could use
Include/Object/Create from file to pull the contents of an existing
presentation into a second presentation. That was very promising.

Right now though I am receiving an error dialog box when I click "OK"
to include another file. This happens after I have selected the file
and clicked the "Display as icon" check box. It states:

The server application, source file, or item cannot be found. Check
that the path and file name are correct, or try reinstalling the
server application.

I see that there have been posts in this group about this. But these
seem to pertain to trying to include charts w/in the PPT presentation
and were resolved by (re)installing the Chart portion of Office. I
don't see a connect here since the "application" needed is PowerPoint
(I think).

All I could think of was to try renaming the files so that they have
no white space and their names and that of the containing folder are
all 8.3 compliant.

I'm using PPT version x. Has anyone been able to successfully
accomplish this? I'm beginning to think that I've just found a PPT bug.

That would be fine if I only had to 'assemble' the pieces once, but I
need this to be more dynamic. My PPT presentations are printed to
become the textbooks I use in classes. Think of the individual
presentations as chapters in these 'books'. I occasionally make
revisions to some of the chapter presentations and would like the book
to have links to the chapters instead of copies of the chapters so
that the next time I print the 'book' presentation the revisions in
the 'chapter' presentations are incorporated automatically.

I would like something like A_class.ppt containing:

title slide
link to disclaimer presentation
table of contents slide(s)
link to first chapter presentation
link to second chapter presentation
custom content slide(s) that make up the third chapter
link to fourth chapter presentation

Does that help to clarify?

I don't think that hyperlinking will do it because I need to print
these presentations.

The Custom Shows is way too cumbersome. (I'd have over 500 slides in
several of the classes.) And unless I put absolutely every slide for
every show (around 4000) into one presentation it doesn't solve the
sharing problem.

Can anyone comment on using the Include/Object/Create from file
functionality? There is a post here demoing that in the Windoze
version of PPT.

Has anyone got hands on experience using that on the Mac side?

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP infohttp://mvp.support.microsoft.com/

Jim;

Thanks for these ideas. Having a list of the files in Excel and then
driving from there via VB or AppleScript sound tremendous. Any
resources you can share about this kind of VB coding or AppleScript
scripting?

I have done a lot of coding (C, Javascript, Oracle's PL/SQL) but only
a little with each of these.

Jack

 

[Phillip Jones]

Another consideration I've been told in the Word Mac newsgroup That VBA
will be totally abandoned and will not even work period on Office2008.
And That it will eventually die on the PC. Is This correct?

Hi Jim - Just to display my ignorance, does RealBasic figure into the
picture at all?

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

Hi,

There is a decision to make. Applescript vs VBA

AppleScript:
Pro - System Wide. Once you learn AppleScript you'll be able to script lots
of other Mac applications. AppleScript will continue to be supported in
Office 2008 when it comes out
Con - You really need to know Microsoft's VBA to get at the Excel and
PowerPoint object models. Applescript manipulates the Excel and PowerPoint
object models using Microsoft's Object Linking and Embedding (OLE)
technology. Applescript is Mac only.

Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)
Pro - Largely cross-platform Mac and PC. Probably the most widely used
programming language in the world. Built into Office 2004 on the Mac.
There's a huge wealth of resources since it's been around a long time.
Con - VBA's is at the end of its life. It goes away in Office 2008 on the
Mac and the proposition is that it will also go away eventually on the PC
side. Mac VBA is version 5.

A place to get started with Excel VBA
http://www.mcgimpsey.com/excel/index.html#usingvba

A place to get started with PowerPoint VBA
http://pptfaq.com/FAQ00033.htm

A place to get started with applescript
http://developer.apple.com/applescript/

To start the VBA editor on a mac go to View > Toolbars > Visual basic and
click the Visual Basic Editor button on the toolbar.

If you use VBA you will be using OLE to run PowerPoint from Excel. So when
you are programming, write your code in Excel's visual basic editor and use
OLE to run PowerPoint via VBA. You'll still need to use the VBA editor
inside PowerPoint to get at the PowerPoint VBA help, object model, and
syntax. Office 2004 can edit, compile and execute VBA. Office 2008 will
not.

If you use AppleScript you will use AppleScripts editor (comes with Mac OS
in the Applications folder) and the AppleScript compiler.

Is this too much or too little information?

Thanks.

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

On Jun 1, 10:24 pm, Jim Gordon MVP <[email protected]>
wrote:
Hello Jack,

I would approach this problem differently.

May I assume that you have a lot of presentations and that they are
organized into some sort of file and folder hierarchy?

If the answer is "yes" then here's another approach.

Use a utility that can make lists of the file paths to each of the
presentations. I didn't look deeply into this, but perhaps Smith-Micro's
PrintIt can do this. Look for other stuff, though, that might be designed
for this specific

task.http://store.digitalriver.com/servlet/ControllerServlet?Action=Displa..>>>
.

nv=BASE&Locale=en_US&SiteID=allume&id=ShoppingCartPage

Then I would paste the list of file paths into a column in Excel.

Excel can control PowerPoint via remote control (called OLE) using either an
AppleScript or a Visual Basic routine.

Using remote control you can tell Excel to open any particular PowerPoint
presentation in your system, or loop through them. You can tell PowerPoint
to print the active presentation, and do lots of other stuff.

Does this sound like an approach you might want to take? If so, do you have
any experience with AppleScript or VB?

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

Quoting from "Jack" <[email protected]>, in article
(e-mail address removed), on [DATE:



AFAIK, PPt files aren't embeddable as objects.
The first thing that comes to mind is to create hyperlinks to the other
files by selecting text or an object, then go to Slide Show>Action
Settings
or go to Insert>Hyperlink & specify the target file.
When you want to activate one of the target presentations from within the
"master" Command+Click the hyperlink & select Hyperlink>Open (or Open in
New
Window), then use the Edit>Edit Slides command.
You might also consider "putting all the eggs in one basket" & using the
Slide Show>Custom Shows... Feature. You might check it out in PPt Help.
HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac
On 6/1/07 7:14 PM, in article
(e-mail address removed), "Jack"
On Jun 1, 4:10 pm, "CyberTaz" <typegeneraltaz1ATcomcastdotnet> wrote:
I'm not totally clear on what you're specifically looking to do, but
have
you tried Insert>Slides From File?
--
HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac
I am attempting to create one presentation based on the contents of
several others.
I had a lead about this in another post suggesting that I could use
Include/Object/Create from file to pull the contents of an existing
presentation into a second presentation. That was very promising.
Right now though I am receiving an error dialog box when I click "OK"
to include another file. This happens after I have selected the file
and clicked the "Display as icon" check box. It states:
The server application, source file, or item cannot be found. Check
that the path and file name are correct, or try reinstalling the
server application.
I see that there have been posts in this group about this. But these
seem to pertain to trying to include charts w/in the PPT presentation
and were resolved by (re)installing the Chart portion of Office. I
don't see a connect here since the "application" needed is PowerPoint
(I think).
All I could think of was to try renaming the files so that they have
no white space and their names and that of the containing folder are
all 8.3 compliant.
I'm using PPT version x. Has anyone been able to successfully
accomplish this? I'm beginning to think that I've just found a PPT bug.
That would be fine if I only had to 'assemble' the pieces once, but I
need this to be more dynamic. My PPT presentations are printed to
become the textbooks I use in classes. Think of the individual
presentations as chapters in these 'books'. I occasionally make
revisions to some of the chapter presentations and would like the book
to have links to the chapters instead of copies of the chapters so
that the next time I print the 'book' presentation the revisions in
the 'chapter' presentations are incorporated automatically.
I would like something like A_class.ppt containing:
title slide
link to disclaimer presentation
table of contents slide(s)
link to first chapter presentation
link to second chapter presentation
custom content slide(s) that make up the third chapter
link to fourth chapter presentation
Does that help to clarify?
I don't think that hyperlinking will do it because I need to print
these presentations.
The Custom Shows is way too cumbersome. (I'd have over 500 slides in
several of the classes.) And unless I put absolutely every slide for
every show (around 4000) into one presentation it doesn't solve the
sharing problem.
Can anyone comment on using the Include/Object/Create from file
functionality? There is a post here demoing that in the Windoze
version of PPT.
Has anyone got hands on experience using that on the Mac side?
--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP infohttp://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Jim;

Thanks for these ideas. Having a list of the files in Excel and then
driving from there via VB or AppleScript sound tremendous. Any
resources you can share about this kind of VB coding or AppleScript
scripting?

I have done a lot of coding (C, Javascript, Oracle's PL/SQL) but only
a little with each of these.

Jack

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phillip M. Jones, CET |LIFE MEMBER: VPEA ETA-I, NESDA, ISCET, Sterling
616 Liberty Street |Who's Who. PHONE:276-632-5045, FAX:276-632-0868
Martinsville Va 24112 |[email protected], ICQ11269732, AIM pjonescet
------------------------------------------------------------------------

If it's "fixed", don't "break it"!

mailto[email protected]

<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/default.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/90th_Birthday/index.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Fulcher/default.html>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Harris/default.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Jones/default.htm>

<http://www.vpea.org>

 

[Jack]

Hi,

There is a decision to make. Applescript vs VBA

AppleScript:
Pro - System Wide. Once you learn AppleScript you'll be able to script lots
of other Mac applications. AppleScript will continue to be supported in
Office 2008 when it comes out
Con - You really need to know Microsoft's VBA to get at the Excel and
PowerPoint object models. Applescript manipulates the Excel and PowerPoint
object models using Microsoft's Object Linking and Embedding (OLE)
technology. Applescript is Mac only.

Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)
Pro - Largely cross-platform Mac and PC. Probably the most widely used
programming language in the world. Built into Office 2004 on the Mac.
There's a huge wealth of resources since it's been around a long time.
Con - VBA's is at the end of its life. It goes away in Office 2008 on the
Mac and the proposition is that it will also go away eventually on the PC
side. Mac VBA is version 5.

A place to get started with Excel VBAhttp://www.mcgimpsey.com/excel/index.html#usingvba

A place to get started with PowerPoint VBAhttp://pptfaq.com/FAQ00033.htm

A place to get started with applescripthttp://developer.apple.com/applescript/

To start the VBA editor on a mac go to View > Toolbars > Visual basic and
click the Visual Basic Editor button on the toolbar.

If you use VBA you will be using OLE to run PowerPoint from Excel. So when
you are programming, write your code in Excel's visual basic editor and use
OLE to run PowerPoint via VBA. You'll still need to use the VBA editor
inside PowerPoint to get at the PowerPoint VBA help, object model, and
syntax. Office 2004 can edit, compile and execute VBA. Office 2008 will
not.

If you use AppleScript you will use AppleScripts editor (comes with Mac OS
in the Applications folder) and the AppleScript compiler.

Is this too much or too little information?

Thanks.

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

Quoting from "Jack" <[email protected]>, in article
(e-mail address removed), on [DATE:

Hello Jack,
I would approach this problem differently.
May I assume that you have a lot of presentations and that they are
organized into some sort of file and folder hierarchy?
If the answer is "yes" then here's another approach.
Use a utility that can make lists of the file paths to each of the
presentations. I didn't look deeply into this, but perhaps Smith-Micro's
PrintIt can do this. Look for other stuff, though, that might be designed
for this specific
task.http://store.digitalriver.com/servlet/ControllerServlet?Action=Displa...
nv=BASE&Locale=en_US&SiteID=allume&id=ShoppingCartPage
Then I would paste the list of file paths into a column in Excel.
Excel can control PowerPoint via remote control (called OLE) using either an
AppleScript or a Visual Basic routine.
Using remote control you can tell Excel to open any particular PowerPoint
presentation in your system, or loop through them. You can tell PowerPoint
to print the active presentation, and do lots of other stuff.
Does this sound like an approach you might want to take? If so, do you have
any experience with AppleScript or VB?
-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP
Quoting from "Jack" <[email protected]>, in article
(e-mail address removed), on [DATE:
AFAIK, PPt files aren't embeddable as objects.
The first thing that comes to mind is to create hyperlinks to the other
files by selecting text or an object, then go to Slide Show>Action Settings
or go to Insert>Hyperlink & specify the target file.
When you want to activate one of the target presentations from within the
"master" Command+Click the hyperlink & select Hyperlink>Open (or Open in
New
Window), then use the Edit>Edit Slides command.
You might also consider "putting all the eggs in one basket" & using the
Slide Show>Custom Shows... Feature. You might check it out in PPt Help.
HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac
On 6/1/07 7:14 PM, in article
(e-mail address removed), "Jack"
On Jun 1, 4:10 pm, "CyberTaz" <typegeneraltaz1ATcomcastdotnet> wrote:
I'm not totally clear on what you're specifically looking to do, but have
you tried Insert>Slides From File?
--
HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

I am attempting to create one presentation based on the contents of
several others.
I had a lead about this in another post suggesting that I could use
Include/Object/Create from file to pull the contents of an existing
presentation into a second presentation. That was very promising.
Right now though I am receiving an error dialog box when I click "OK"
to include another file. This happens after I have selected the file
and clicked the "Display as icon" check box. It states:
The server application, source file, or item cannot be found. Check
that the path and file name are correct, or try reinstalling the
server application.
I see that there have been posts in this group about this. But these
seem to pertain to trying to include charts w/in the PPT presentation
and were resolved by (re)installing the Chart portion of Office. I
don't see a connect here since the "application" needed is PowerPoint
(I think).
All I could think of was to try renaming the files so that they have
no white space and their names and that of the containing folder are
all 8.3 compliant.
I'm using PPT version x. Has anyone been able to successfully
accomplish this? I'm beginning to think that I've just found a PPT bug.
That would be fine if I only had to 'assemble' the pieces once, but I
need this to be more dynamic. My PPT presentations are printed to
become the textbooks I use in classes. Think of the individual
presentations as chapters in these 'books'. I occasionally make
revisions to some of the chapter presentations and would like the book
to have links to the chapters instead of copies of the chapters so
that the next time I print the 'book' presentation the revisions in
the 'chapter' presentations are incorporated automatically.
I would like something like A_class.ppt containing:
title slide
link to disclaimer presentation
table of contents slide(s)
link to first chapter presentation
link to second chapter presentation
custom content slide(s) that make up the third chapter
link to fourth chapter presentation
Does that help to clarify?
I don't think that hyperlinking will do it because I need to print
these presentations.
The Custom Shows is way too cumbersome. (I'd have over 500 slides in
several of the classes.) And unless I put absolutely every slide for
every show (around 4000) into one presentation it doesn't solve the
sharing problem.
Can anyone comment on using the Include/Object/Create from file
functionality? There is a post here demoing that in the Windoze
version of PPT.
Has anyone got hands on experience using that on the Mac side?
--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP
MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP infohttp://mvp.support.microsoft.com/

Jim;

Thanks for these ideas. Having a list of the files in Excel and then
driving from there via VB or AppleScript sound tremendous. Any
resources you can share about this kind of VB coding or AppleScript
scripting?

I have done a lot of coding (C, Javascript, Oracle's PL/SQL) but only
a little with each of these.

Jack

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP infohttp://mvp.support.microsoft.com/

Jim; This is brilliant! Thank you for your patience and thoroughness.
I like long-term solutions, so I'll be getting into AppleScript. Is
the VBA "Object Model" similar in theory to the Javascript DOM? i.e.
structures of objects and information about the methods to manipulate
them? I'm guessing that it is so I will obviously need to learn the
ABC's but I think I'll be comfortable with the 'mode'. From scouting
it looks like the Danny Goodman AppleScript book is a good one. Any
comments about that or other recommendations?

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi

For those who don't know - RealBasic is a code editor and compiler that
builds stand-alone applications that use Microsoft's OLE VBA syntax much the
same way that AppleScript does, but without having to learn AppleScript. The
Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications VBA syntax for using OLE is
supported.

RealBasic's web site indicates that Office v.X is fully supported. I'm
pretty sure that RealBasic works with Office 2004. I suspect TurningPoint, a
major application, uses RealBasic (either that or they've come up with their
own in-house solution). I have not had a chance to try RealBasic with Office
2004.

I would be using RealBasic right now if I knew that Microsoft plans to
support RealBasic in Office 2008. I have heard nothing at all one way or
another about RealBasic support in Office 2008.

RealBasic would be my first choice (even with its sky-high price tag)
because it builds cross-platform solutions and in theory would offer the
complete OLE set of commands.

RealBasic is the only hope for building cross-platform programmability
solutions with Windows Office.

I would be grateful if anyone who cares about cross-platform programming
would use the feedback feature of their favorite Mac office application and
request support for RealBasic in Office 2008. Office 2008 is currently under
construction. It's now or never. Tell any developers who are interested
enough to do it, too.

I've not had success in getting the MVPs on this bandwagon, so it's
completely up to the public. If cross-platform compatibility is not
important to you it goes away this year.

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

Hi Jim - Just to display my ignorance, does RealBasic figure into the
picture at all?

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

Hi,

There is a decision to make. Applescript vs VBA

AppleScript:
Pro - System Wide. Once you learn AppleScript you'll be able to script lots
of other Mac applications. AppleScript will continue to be supported in
Office 2008 when it comes out
Con - You really need to know Microsoft's VBA to get at the Excel and
PowerPoint object models. Applescript manipulates the Excel and PowerPoint
object models using Microsoft's Object Linking and Embedding (OLE)
technology. Applescript is Mac only.

Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)
Pro - Largely cross-platform Mac and PC. Probably the most widely used
programming language in the world. Built into Office 2004 on the Mac.
There's a huge wealth of resources since it's been around a long time.
Con - VBA's is at the end of its life. It goes away in Office 2008 on the
Mac and the proposition is that it will also go away eventually on the PC
side. Mac VBA is version 5.

A place to get started with Excel VBA
http://www.mcgimpsey.com/excel/index.html#usingvba

A place to get started with PowerPoint VBA
http://pptfaq.com/FAQ00033.htm

A place to get started with applescript
http://developer.apple.com/applescript/

To start the VBA editor on a mac go to View > Toolbars > Visual basic and
click the Visual Basic Editor button on the toolbar.

If you use VBA you will be using OLE to run PowerPoint from Excel. So when
you are programming, write your code in Excel's visual basic editor and use
OLE to run PowerPoint via VBA. You'll still need to use the VBA editor
inside PowerPoint to get at the PowerPoint VBA help, object model, and
syntax. Office 2004 can edit, compile and execute VBA. Office 2008 will
not.

If you use AppleScript you will use AppleScripts editor (comes with Mac OS
in the Applications folder) and the AppleScript compiler.

Is this too much or too little information?

Thanks.

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

task.http://store.digitalriver.com/servlet/ControllerServlet?Action=Displa..>>>

.

nv=BASE&Locale=en_US&SiteID=allume&id=ShoppingCartPage

Then I would paste the list of file paths into a column in Excel.

Excel can control PowerPoint via remote control (called OLE) using either
an
AppleScript or a Visual Basic routine.

Using remote control you can tell Excel to open any particular PowerPoint
presentation in your system, or loop through them. You can tell PowerPoint
to print the active presentation, and do lots of other stuff.

Does this sound like an approach you might want to take? If so, do you have
any experience with AppleScript or VB?

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

Quoting from "Jack" <[email protected]>, in article
(e-mail address removed), on [DATE:



AFAIK, PPt files aren't embeddable as objects.

The first thing that comes to mind is to create hyperlinks to the other
files by selecting text or an object, then go to Slide Show>Action
Settings
or go to Insert>Hyperlink & specify the target file.

When you want to activate one of the target presentations from within the
"master" Command+Click the hyperlink & select Hyperlink>Open (or Open in
New
Window), then use the Edit>Edit Slides command.

You might also consider "putting all the eggs in one basket" & using the
Slide Show>Custom Shows... Feature. You might check it out in PPt Help.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

On 6/1/07 7:14 PM, in article
(e-mail address removed), "Jack"

On Jun 1, 4:10 pm, "CyberTaz" <typegeneraltaz1ATcomcastdotnet> wrote:
I'm not totally clear on what you're specifically looking to do, but
have
you tried Insert>Slides From File?

--
HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac



I am attempting to create one presentation based on the contents of
several others.

I had a lead about this in another post suggesting that I could use
Include/Object/Create from file to pull the contents of an existing
presentation into a second presentation. That was very promising.

Right now though I am receiving an error dialog box when I click "OK"
to include another file. This happens after I have selected the file
and clicked the "Display as icon" check box. It states:

The server application, source file, or item cannot be found. Check
that the path and file name are correct, or try reinstalling the
server application.

I see that there have been posts in this group about this. But these
seem to pertain to trying to include charts w/in the PPT presentation
and were resolved by (re)installing the Chart portion of Office. I
don't see a connect here since the "application" needed is PowerPoint
(I think).

All I could think of was to try renaming the files so that they have
no white space and their names and that of the containing folder are
all 8.3 compliant.

I'm using PPT version x. Has anyone been able to successfully
accomplish this? I'm beginning to think that I've just found a PPT
bug.

That would be fine if I only had to 'assemble' the pieces once, but I
need this to be more dynamic. My PPT presentations are printed to
become the textbooks I use in classes. Think of the individual
presentations as chapters in these 'books'. I occasionally make
revisions to some of the chapter presentations and would like the book
to have links to the chapters instead of copies of the chapters so
that the next time I print the 'book' presentation the revisions in
the 'chapter' presentations are incorporated automatically.

I would like something like A_class.ppt containing:

title slide
link to disclaimer presentation
table of contents slide(s)
link to first chapter presentation
link to second chapter presentation
custom content slide(s) that make up the third chapter
link to fourth chapter presentation

Does that help to clarify?

I don't think that hyperlinking will do it because I need to print
these presentations.

The Custom Shows is way too cumbersome. (I'd have over 500 slides in
several of the classes.) And unless I put absolutely every slide for
every show (around 4000) into one presentation it doesn't solve the
sharing problem.

Can anyone comment on using the Include/Object/Create from file
functionality? There is a post here demoing that in the Windoze
version of PPT.

Has anyone got hands on experience using that on the Mac side?

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP infohttp://mvp.support.microsoft.com/

Jim;

Thanks for these ideas. Having a list of the files in Excel and then
driving from there via VB or AppleScript sound tremendous. Any
resources you can share about this kind of VB coding or AppleScript
scripting?

I have done a lot of coding (C, Javascript, Oracle's PL/SQL) but only
a little with each of these.

Jack

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP info

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi Phillip,

The information you received is correct - mostly.

The visual basic editor and compiler will be gone in Office 2008. No
existing macros or add-ins will run.

There is one known programmability solution that will control visual basic
OLE via AppleScript. This is a Macintosh only solution.

There is a potential cross-platform programmability solution: RealBasic.
RealBasic has its own editor and compiler and uses Microsoft's VBA OLE
syntax (with only a slight modification). It is not known at this time
whether or not RealBasic will be supported in Office 2008.

If Microsoft does not support RealBasic in Office 2008 then there will be no
cross-platform programming option for Office 2008. If cross-platform
programmability is important to you then please use the Feedback option on
any Office 2004 Help menu and make it known you want RealBasic support in
Office 2008. Do it now, because without input from customers this is the end
of cross-platform programmability for Mac Office.

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

Another consideration I've been told in the Word Mac newsgroup That VBA
will be totally abandoned and will not even work period on Office2008.
And That it will eventually die on the PC. Is This correct?

Hi Jim - Just to display my ignorance, does RealBasic figure into the
picture at all?

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

Hi,

There is a decision to make. Applescript vs VBA

AppleScript:
Pro - System Wide. Once you learn AppleScript you'll be able to script lots
of other Mac applications. AppleScript will continue to be supported in
Office 2008 when it comes out
Con - You really need to know Microsoft's VBA to get at the Excel and
PowerPoint object models. Applescript manipulates the Excel and PowerPoint
object models using Microsoft's Object Linking and Embedding (OLE)
technology. Applescript is Mac only.

Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)
Pro - Largely cross-platform Mac and PC. Probably the most widely used
programming language in the world. Built into Office 2004 on the Mac.
There's a huge wealth of resources since it's been around a long time.
Con - VBA's is at the end of its life. It goes away in Office 2008 on the
Mac and the proposition is that it will also go away eventually on the PC
side. Mac VBA is version 5.

A place to get started with Excel VBA
http://www.mcgimpsey.com/excel/index.html#usingvba

A place to get started with PowerPoint VBA
http://pptfaq.com/FAQ00033.htm

A place to get started with applescript
http://developer.apple.com/applescript/

To start the VBA editor on a mac go to View > Toolbars > Visual basic and
click the Visual Basic Editor button on the toolbar.

If you use VBA you will be using OLE to run PowerPoint from Excel. So when
you are programming, write your code in Excel's visual basic editor and use
OLE to run PowerPoint via VBA. You'll still need to use the VBA editor
inside PowerPoint to get at the PowerPoint VBA help, object model, and
syntax. Office 2004 can edit, compile and execute VBA. Office 2008 will
not.

If you use AppleScript you will use AppleScripts editor (comes with Mac OS
in the Applications folder) and the AppleScript compiler.

Is this too much or too little information?

Thanks.

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP



Quoting from "Jack" <[email protected]>, in article
(e-mail address removed), on [DATE:

On Jun 1, 10:24 pm, Jim Gordon MVP <[email protected]>
wrote:
Hello Jack,

I would approach this problem differently.

May I assume that you have a lot of presentations and that they are
organized into some sort of file and folder hierarchy?

If the answer is "yes" then here's another approach.

Use a utility that can make lists of the file paths to each of the
presentations. I didn't look deeply into this, but perhaps Smith-Micro's
PrintIt can do this. Look for other stuff, though, that might be designed
for this specific
task.http://store.digitalriver.com/servlet/ControllerServlet?Action=Displa..>.
nv=BASE&Locale=en_US&SiteID=allume&id=ShoppingCartPage

Then I would paste the list of file paths into a column in Excel.

Excel can control PowerPoint via remote control (called OLE) using either
an
AppleScript or a Visual Basic routine.

Using remote control you can tell Excel to open any particular PowerPoint
presentation in your system, or loop through them. You can tell PowerPoint
to print the active presentation, and do lots of other stuff.

Does this sound like an approach you might want to take? If so, do you
have
any experience with AppleScript or VB?

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

Quoting from "Jack" <[email protected]>, in article
(e-mail address removed), on [DATE:



AFAIK, PPt files aren't embeddable as objects.
The first thing that comes to mind is to create hyperlinks to the other
files by selecting text or an object, then go to Slide Show>Action
Settings
or go to Insert>Hyperlink & specify the target file.
When you want to activate one of the target presentations from within
the
"master" Command+Click the hyperlink & select Hyperlink>Open (or Open in
New
Window), then use the Edit>Edit Slides command.
You might also consider "putting all the eggs in one basket" & using the
Slide Show>Custom Shows... Feature. You might check it out in PPt Help.
HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac
On 6/1/07 7:14 PM, in article
(e-mail address removed), "Jack"
On Jun 1, 4:10 pm, "CyberTaz" <typegeneraltaz1ATcomcastdotnet> wrote:
I'm not totally clear on what you're specifically looking to do, but
have
you tried Insert>Slides From File?
--
HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac
I am attempting to create one presentation based on the contents of
several others.
I had a lead about this in another post suggesting that I could use
Include/Object/Create from file to pull the contents of an existing
presentation into a second presentation. That was very promising.
Right now though I am receiving an error dialog box when I click "OK"
to include another file. This happens after I have selected the file
and clicked the "Display as icon" check box. It states:
The server application, source file, or item cannot be found. Check
that the path and file name are correct, or try reinstalling the
server application.
I see that there have been posts in this group about this. But these
seem to pertain to trying to include charts w/in the PPT presentation
and were resolved by (re)installing the Chart portion of Office. I
don't see a connect here since the "application" needed is PowerPoint
(I think).
All I could think of was to try renaming the files so that they have
no white space and their names and that of the containing folder are
all 8.3 compliant.
I'm using PPT version x. Has anyone been able to successfully
accomplish this? I'm beginning to think that I've just found a PPT
bug.
That would be fine if I only had to 'assemble' the pieces once, but I
need this to be more dynamic. My PPT presentations are printed to
become the textbooks I use in classes. Think of the individual
presentations as chapters in these 'books'. I occasionally make
revisions to some of the chapter presentations and would like the book
to have links to the chapters instead of copies of the chapters so
that the next time I print the 'book' presentation the revisions in
the 'chapter' presentations are incorporated automatically.
I would like something like A_class.ppt containing:
title slide
link to disclaimer presentation
table of contents slide(s)
link to first chapter presentation
link to second chapter presentation
custom content slide(s) that make up the third chapter
link to fourth chapter presentation
Does that help to clarify?
I don't think that hyperlinking will do it because I need to print
these presentations.
The Custom Shows is way too cumbersome. (I'd have over 500 slides in
several of the classes.) And unless I put absolutely every slide for
every show (around 4000) into one presentation it doesn't solve the
sharing problem.
Can anyone comment on using the Include/Object/Create from file
functionality? There is a post here demoing that in the Windoze
version of PPT.
Has anyone got hands on experience using that on the Mac side?
--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP infohttp://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Jim;

Thanks for these ideas. Having a list of the files in Excel and then
driving from there via VB or AppleScript sound tremendous. Any
resources you can share about this kind of VB coding or AppleScript
scripting?

I have done a lot of coding (C, Javascript, Oracle's PL/SQL) but only
a little with each of these.

Jack

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP info