Master Document and Sub-Documents in Word 2007 B2TR

[Big George]

This is my first foray into Microsoft Beta and RC software.

An had intended to use the Outline form of Word to create the Master and Sub
Documents to write a personal book on a recent big trip, using links to .jpg
files around the words.

Although not expert in this with earlier versions of Word, I have carried
out such a process many times.

I have a master and about 20 sub documents. I built the structure last
night. The master showed all of the subdocuments and the page number they
start on correctly. Today, the format has been badly jumbled, though the
master document still has the correct table of contents; but the
sub-documents are a mess. Some are correct, some are an older version, and
the whole structure is messed up. All files were saved through together,
automatically, and the times on them are the same.

Do I have a known problem? Or is this a new one? maybe I will have to
return to Word 2003 for this task [I was going to carry out this activity in
2007 as a trial - can't afford too much effort if it is going to fail] (I'm
never short of words)

 

[Patrick Schmid [MVP]]

Don't use master documents. They can get you into way too much trouble:
http://word.mvps.org/FAQS/General/WhyMasterDocsCorrupt.htm

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh (B2TR):
http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/09/18/43
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
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[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi George,

There hasn't been, unfortunately, much work done on the Master Documents feature itself, again, in the 2007 version of Word. It
works for some folks but for others tends to foster a bit of hair loss Patrick has provided a link to an article on the perils of
Master documents <g>), but some folks have had more success in Word 2007 with this area.

When you say that you use this process many times are you saying that you regularly used a Master & Subdocuments appoach to this in
Word 2003 or that this is a new approach you're taking?

Were all of the files created in Word 2007 or are they a mixture of Word 2003 and Word 2007 files? I'm not sure that I'm clear on
what you're seeing in the part where you mention that some are an 'older version'. Also, can you describe how each of the
subdocuments is structured?

Was the 'jumbling' something on screen only or when you printed from the Outline view (be sure to use File(button) Print and not the
Quickprint choice when printing).

You may want to use the link below to post this in the Word Documentmanagement newsgroup with the information above.
One of the MVPs, Steve Hudson, has reported some success with a procedure he uses for Master Documents. (when posting in the other
group you may also want to mention that you've seen the article Patrick linked to <g>)

===================
This is my first foray into Microsoft Beta and RC software.

An had intended to use the Outline form of Word to create the Master and Sub
Documents to write a personal book on a recent big trip, using links to .jpg
files around the words.

Although not expert in this with earlier versions of Word, I have carried out such a process many times.

I have a master and about 20 sub documents. I built the structure last night. The master showed all of the subdocuments and the
page number they start on correctly. Today, the format has been badly jumbled, though the master document still has the correct
table of contents; but the sub-documents are a mess. Some are correct, some are an older version, and the whole structure is messed
up. All files were saved through together,
automatically, and the times on them are the same.

Do I have a known problem? Or is this a new one? maybe I will have to
return to Word 2003 for this task [I was going to carry out this activity in
2007 as a trial - can't afford too much effort if it is going to fail] (I'm
never short of words) >>
--
Please let us know if this has helped,

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

LINKS
A. Specific newsgroup/discussion group mentioned in this message:
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
or via browser:
http://microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/?dg=microsoft.public.word.docmanagement

B. MS Office Community discussion/newsgroups via Web Browser
http://microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx
or
Microsoft hosted newsgroups via Outlook Express/newsreader
news://msnews.microsoft.com

 

[Big George]

I went all the way back to the start. I completed the process of adding the
sub-documents, and forced an update of the Table of Contents (built on style
Heading 1) . It gave the correct values for page numbers. It did take
rather a lot of time to get the Section Break (Next Page) in the correct
places, and eliminate Section Break (Continuous) as I wanted each "chapter"
to start on a new page.

Made a full backup of the folder (mistake - believe it or not) after I
closed down the complex system.

Woops - Master Document fell over at 10 pages and 6 sections, though earlier
tonight, both values were greater.

My Master Document contained mainly near empty sub-documents and they seem
OK. There are 22 subdocuments, and they all seemed to be in the Master on
Print View just before saving for the last time.

This MAY be the approximate same point that I encountered the problem first
time through.

I am feeling rather disillusioned with this. Earlier I suggested that I had
used the technique before - many times with Word 2000, XP and 2003, and maybe
even earlier (can't remember that long ago)

To be frank, my aim was to prepare a book on my recent trip to Canada; and I
intended to provide it on CD. Maybe I will use Dreamweaver and make an
interactive CD instead. It may be easier, or at least more stable, and since
that technology is widespread, it may end up being the way I should go.

Any more thoughts?

I will post to Microsoft.

thanks

 

[Big George]

Bob

Older version means an earlier version of the document in Word 2007.

All the work has been done in Word 2007 - Beta first, then B2TR and finally,
from scratch in 2007 B2TR

No other versions of Office have been used for this activity.

So far, there is nothing confidential in the "book", so look out
Microsoft.....