How to troubleshoot auto-complete problem in Word 2003

[cmfurgason]

I have auto-complete turned on and things such as Dear Mom & Dad don't work.
I am current with MS downloads and patches and running winxp sp2. The date
feature will complete the current month, but won't fill-in the current date
unless I space over two spaces and then backspace two spaces. How do I
troubleshoot this problem?

 

[Graham Mayor]

I assume that you are talking about AutoText. This will only complete if the
letters you type are unique. I'll bet you have other autotexts called Dear
someone or other. You have to type sufficient letters for the autotecxt name
to prompt - here probably....... Dear M
If you know the autotext names you can type them and press F3, or you can
select them from the list.

The date autocomplete feature is frankly a cock-up. I would avoid that and
use either a createdate field in your (letterhead) template or use the
Insert > date feature to insert a non-updating date or use a macro to insert
the date as text at the cursor.

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[cmfurgason]

Hello Graham and thank you for taking time to answer my question. Your
repsonse seems to lead me to believe that Word 2003 doesn't work as well as
Word 97 where autotext fill-ins work quite well for Dear M... and today's
date.

 

[Graham Mayor]

It is only the date autocomplete that causes problems - If Dear M... is
unique that should work fine.

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[Lisa]

I am having a similar problem....All of my auto text (auto complete) was
working just fine. Dates would fill in perfectly, as well as auto text. Now
for some unknown reason it stopped. The little check box "show autocomplete
suggestions" is checked, I tried unchecking...nothing...rechecking...nothing.
What's up,,,,can anyone help?????
Thanks, Lisa

 

[Charles Kenyon]

F3 will force insertion of AutoText.
You may need to turn on screen tips.
Look over previous suggestions in this thread.
If this doesn't help, start a new thread to get the best response here.
Clarify exactly what problems you are having (dates, custom AutoText, etc.).
Let us know your version of Word, and anything you may have added or changed
on your computer just before the problems started - even if you think it
shouldn't have anything to do with this.
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide


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This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
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from my ignorance and your wisdom.

 

[mvlturner]

I have the same problem - Autotext or Autocomplete stops working, when
enabled, in Word 2003, for unique entries; indeed all entries. Yers, F3 will
force insertion but that relies on my remembering what I have programmed.

I have recently had to reinstall Adobe Acrobat 7, a culprit in the past!

Martin Turner

 

[Charles Kenyon]

That F3 will force insertion means that the AutoText is still there.

When I name AutoText entries I try to have the first six letters of the name
be unique and to be something that I don't normally type. The default when
saving an entry is to give it a name that is the beginning of the text in
the entry. For example the name of the entry that contains "To Whom It May
Concern:" is the entire entry!

I have a number of WordArt images that are rubber stamp substitutes. These
are saved as AutoText entries and the names all begin with the letters RS so
rscopy will give me the COPY stamp, while typing the word copy will not. I
also have a custom toolbar with buttons and a menu for the different stamps.

Sorry, I don't know of a solution. One other thing that occurs to me is that
AutoText entries are sorted by
styles. It is possible that some of the AutoText entries that are not
responding were saved in a different style. This is not something I've
tested, just a guess. http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/AutoTextList.htm
gives a little more on the interaction of styles and AutoText but is in the
context of the AutoText field.
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide




--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

 

[mvlturner]

But nothing has changed in the manner of saving of previous autotext entries!
It's the old ones that no longer put uip a Screen Tip; the new ones do so
fine!

MT