Identify which MS styles Modified ?

[Norm]

Is it correct that in Word 2008 that one cannot identify which of the MS
built-in styles the user has modified?

In other words, it is either All Styles or User Defined and the User
Defined will not include those modified?

Thanks.

 

[John McGhie]

If you are able to say "Which user" you are interested in, in "Which
document" and "modified from what?" then you can identify them easily with a
piece of AppleScript (or VBA in the earlier versions). For any style,
whether it be default, built-in, or custom.

Without those three pieces of information, the answer is difficult to get,
and not useful.

You're heading down the path of a philosophical discussion. Let's touch the
high-points: Why would it matter? Even if you could get the answer, what
would change?

In each document, you should "assume" that the current user has changed
"all" of the styles. Of course, they won't, but unless you assume they
have, you are going to take a huge risk of 'l'oef sur la bouf'

Even if you did have the answer, how would the answer be useful? Surely
what you want to know, is not whether they have changed any given style, but
what its current properties are? Computers generally have very little use
for either history or fortune-telling. What you normally want to know (and
always should know...) is what state are we in NOW?

In the styles context, you want to know what the style settings are now, not
who changed it, how many times they changed it, when they changed it, or
even "if" they have changed it. You simply don't care! Users can change
styles. Some of them will. Some of them will change a few; others, all of
them. The only safe assumption is that users will change styles.

I suggest to you that even if you could tell whether a user has changed any
given style, the only time you would be interested in the answer would be if
it was "Yes". If the answer were no, you're not going to do anything, so
why bother asking? Instead, ask the question you need the answer to: "Are
the styles now correct?". And now, you're interested only if the answer is
"now".

So when you need to know what a style is "now", the simplest way to handle
the issue is just to overwrite it. Then it doesn't matter who, when, or
what changed: you know it's now right and you can get your work done

Cheers

Is it correct that in Word 2008 that one cannot identify which of the MS
built-in styles the user has modified?

In other words, it is either All Styles or User Defined and the User
Defined will not include those modified?

Thanks.

This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless you intend to pay!

--

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Rob Schneider]

Norm,

I've been reading all your posts/questions about styles. I gotta say:
are you going over the top? The point of Word is to write (brain to
document). Styles help you "style" the document for printing or other.
Shouldn't the focus be on writing? Or are you writing the treatise on
Word Styles in Mac?

Just curious.


--rms

www.rmschneider.com

 

[Norm]

So when you need to know what a style is "now", the simplest way to handle
the issue is just to overwrite it. Then it doesn't matter who, when, or
what changed: you know it's now right and you can get your work done

Cheers

Thanks for the info. As you say, "it doesn't matter..."

I however in my post made a significant typo. :-( In the first
sentence, I meant "this user" not "the user".

I'll assume from this that I cannot tell easily if I've customized the
definitions.

Thanks.

 

[Norm]

I've been reading all your posts/questions about styles. I gotta say:
are you going over the top?

As OP, I'd say ..... A very pointed and appropriate question.

Answer: Yes for many (but not all) of the questions.

The point of Word is to write (brain to
document). Styles help you "style" the document for printing or other.
Shouldn't the focus be on writing?
Agree.

Or are you writing the treatise on
Word Styles in Mac?

I'm not and could not!

Just curious.

I'm too curious and thus too many questions! I like to know/learn and
prefer not to go down paths that lead to problems that could have been
easily avoided. But achieving 100% on both is impossible and leads to
information overload.

Thanks for the reality check.