Difference in how templates work: Word 2003 and Word 2007?

[Rick]

I hope I'm posting this in the right place...

In Word 2003, when you've associated a .DOT with a .DOC (Tools >
Templates and Add-Ins, Templates tab), the Document Template edit box
displays the full pathname of the DOT. But if you move the pair of
files to another folder and open up that .DOC on that folder and go
again into Tools > Templates and Add-Ins, the template name in
Document Template edit box now has the NEW folder. It seems that Word
2003 doesn’t internally store the foldername of the DOT along with its
filename, and instead will look first on the DOC's directory for its
associated template. It probably only internally stores the filename
rather than the full pathname.

We’ve depended on this behavior as we move DOC/DOT files from test to
production, since the location (name) of the directory we test in is
different than in production.

But Word 2007 seems to handle this differently. It looks like it
internally stores not just the filename of the associated template but
its full pathname (including the foldername) ***from when the original
association was made***. So if you move the pair of files to another
directory like we did above, open the DOC in Word 2007, and go into
the Developer ribbon > Document Template, you’ll still see the
pathname of the DOT on the *original* folder. The DOC probably stores
that full DOT pathname.

Has anyone else noticed this?

 

[Stefan Blom]

In a quick test, I was *not* able to reproduce what you described, that is,
as far as I can tell it still works the same as in Word 2003.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP



I hope I'm posting this in the right place...

In Word 2003, when you've associated a .DOT with a .DOC (Tools >
Templates and Add-Ins, Templates tab), the Document Template edit box
displays the full pathname of the DOT. But if you move the pair of
files to another folder and open up that .DOC on that folder and go
again into Tools > Templates and Add-Ins, the template name in
Document Template edit box now has the NEW folder. It seems that Word
2003 doesn’t internally store the foldername of the DOT along with its
filename, and instead will look first on the DOC's directory for its
associated template. It probably only internally stores the filename
rather than the full pathname.

We’ve depended on this behavior as we move DOC/DOT files from test to
production, since the location (name) of the directory we test in is
different than in production.

But Word 2007 seems to handle this differently. It looks like it
internally stores not just the filename of the associated template but
its full pathname (including the foldername) ***from when the original
association was made***. So if you move the pair of files to another
directory like we did above, open the DOC in Word 2007, and go into
the Developer ribbon > Document Template, you’ll still see the
pathname of the DOT on the *original* folder. The DOC probably stores
that full DOT pathname.

Has anyone else noticed this?

 

[Rick]

Hi -- I wonder if anyone else might try to reproduce this problem, as
it's pretty consistent for me. I have a pair of Word documents: a DOC
and its associated DOT. They were originally created in Word 2003 on
a network folder called P:\SOURCE32\, and then later copied to a
network folder called G:\SOURCE32_UserTest\.

If I open up 'G:\Source32_UserTest\START_NOTICE.DOT' in Word 2003 and
choose Tools | Templates and Add-Ins, in the Document Template edit
box I see 'G:\Source32_UserTest\START_NOTICE.DOT'. Word sees its
associated .DOT file on the DOC's current directory.

However, If I open up the DOC in Word 2007 and go to the Developer tab
and click on Document Template, in the Document Template field I see
'P:\SOURCE32\START_NOTICE.DOT'. It somehow internally 'stores' the
folder on which it was originally created.

Anyone else see this behavior?