Master Documents

[Jan Miller]

I have a Operating & Maintenance Manual document, 350
pages long. Thought I could use the Master Document
feature to manage this document, but I see it isn't my
answer. Is there another way to manage this document
within Word 2002? Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.

 

[Jonathan West]

Hi Jan,

350 pages isn't all that long for a single file in Word. It would be best to
ensure that everything is kept consisten, by creating a template with a set
of predefined styles and sticking to them. These two articles will help you.

Creating a Template - The Basics (Part I)
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart1.htm

Creating a Template (Part II)
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart2.htm

If you have different people working on different chapters, then it may be
advisable to encourage or even force them to stick to the styles you define.
This article will help you keep people on the straight & narrow.

Creating Custom Toolbars for Templates
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=262

Finally, if you decide that you want to split the document into chapters and
keep it split, this article gives you a way to manage the document set so
that you can get the page numbering aligned and create a consolidated table
of contents and index.

Creating a Table of Contents Spanning Multiple Documents
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=148

 

[Jan Miller]

Thanks Jonathan - the document may not be that long, but
it contains multiple photographs and drawings showing the
features on our equipment and creates an extremely large
file. There are also many cross references in each chapter
referencing another section in a different chapter. Is
there a way to do these cross references when working with
separate document chapters? Thank you for the references
you gave me - I will look these up also.

Jan

 

[Charles Kenyon]

--
"Master Document" is a term of art in Word referring to a "feature" that not
only doesn't work but also destroys documents. The consensus (with the
limited exception of Steve Hudson) among those offering advice on these
newsgroups is that using the Master Document feature is a sure way to
destroy your document. It can destroy parts of your document that you are
not even working on! I think John McGhie said it succinctly when he said
that there are two kinds of Master Documents: Those that are corrupt and
those that will be corrupt soon. See <URL:
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/WhyMasterDocsCorrupt.htm> for more
information on what goes wrong, and <URL:
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/RecoverMasterDocs.htm> for ideas on
how to salvage what you can.


--

Charles Kenyon

See the MVP FAQ: <URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/> which is awesome!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
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.

 

[Jonathan West]

Thanks Jonathan - the document may not be that long, but
it contains multiple photographs and drawings showing the
features on our equipment and creates an extremely large
file. There are also many cross references in each chapter
referencing another section in a different chapter. Is
there a way to do these cross references when working with
separate document chapters? Thank you for the references
you gave me - I will look these up also.

I would use IncludeText fields for crossreferences between documents. Its
not quite as automated as the REF fields within documents, but it does work.