Modifying normal.dot because os missing autotext entries

[merl]

Hello,

In our Citrix/TS environment we have about 2000 users which all have a
normal.dot.
This normal.dot is a copy of a central normal.dot.
The user gets this normal.dot the first time they user Word. After that
their normal.dot is personal.
Our problem now is that this standard normal.dot has a fault. The standard
autotext entries are missing (footer/header etc.) This means that all
normal.dot files in the envirnoment have this problem. During user tests this
problem was not noticed.
We would like to modify the user normal.dot files by adding the standard
autotext entries, but at the same time the personal settings of these
normal.dot files should be unchanged.
I know normal.dot files can be modified by loading another dot file which
contains a macro for modifying the normal.dot.
The problem with this however is that I don't know how to add autotext this
way which contains standard fields like Author, page, date etc.
Normal text is not a problem.

Thanks in advance

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Merl,

There are a couple of ways that you could approach this. You could, for example use a bit of automation to merge entries from one
template into another to emulate the manual method you could use via Tools=>Macro=>Macros=>[Organizer] or you could create your
'common' entries, styles, etc in a separate 'global' [entries available to all new documents] template
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811468/en-us?FR=1
http://www.bettersolutions.com/word/WHN113/QB646511511.htm

For shared/common entries this would let you distribute only one added template while not removing any of the present user
templates.

You may want to use the link below to the Word document management newsgroup to get some feedback on implementing either solution.
Include the version(s) of Word you're working with when posting there.

FWIW, Word does not ship with a Normal.dot file, but rather creates a blank normal.dot file for any user where it doesn't find one
the first time a user closes Word. By keeping your common entries in a global template, you also enable users to have their own
personalized Normal.dot templates.

===========
Hello,

In our Citrix/TS environment we have about 2000 users which all have a
normal.dot.
This normal.dot is a copy of a central normal.dot.
The user gets this normal.dot the first time they user Word. After that
their normal.dot is personal.
Our problem now is that this standard normal.dot has a fault. The standard
autotext entries are missing (footer/header etc.) This means that all
normal.dot files in the envirnoment have this problem. During user tests this
problem was not noticed.
We would like to modify the user normal.dot files by adding the standard
autotext entries, but at the same time the personal settings of these
normal.dot files should be unchanged.
I know normal.dot files can be modified by loading another dot file which
contains a macro for modifying the normal.dot.
The problem with this however is that I don't know how to add autotext this
way which contains standard fields like Author, page, date etc.
Normal text is not a problem.

Thanks in advance>>
--
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

 

[merl]

Thanks Bob!

The second url looks interesting.

Hi Merl,

There are a couple of ways that you could approach this. You could, for example use a bit of automation to merge entries from one
template into another to emulate the manual method you could use via Tools=>Macro=>Macros=>[Organizer] or you could create your
'common' entries, styles, etc in a separate 'global' [entries available to all new documents] template
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811468/en-us?FR=1
http://www.bettersolutions.com/word/WHN113/QB646511511.htm

For shared/common entries this would let you distribute only one added template while not removing any of the present user
templates.

You may want to use the link below to the Word document management newsgroup to get some feedback on implementing either solution.
Include the version(s) of Word you're working with when posting there.

FWIW, Word does not ship with a Normal.dot file, but rather creates a blank normal.dot file for any user where it doesn't find one
the first time a user closes Word. By keeping your common entries in a global template, you also enable users to have their own
personalized Normal.dot templates.

===========
Hello,

In our Citrix/TS environment we have about 2000 users which all have a
normal.dot.
This normal.dot is a copy of a central normal.dot.
The user gets this normal.dot the first time they user Word. After that
their normal.dot is personal.
Our problem now is that this standard normal.dot has a fault. The standard
autotext entries are missing (footer/header etc.) This means that all
normal.dot files in the envirnoment have this problem. During user tests this
problem was not noticed.
We would like to modify the user normal.dot files by adding the standard
autotext entries, but at the same time the personal settings of these
normal.dot files should be unchanged.
I know normal.dot files can be modified by loading another dot file which
contains a macro for modifying the normal.dot.
The problem with this however is that I don't know how to add autotext this
way which contains standard fields like Author, page, date etc.
Normal text is not a problem.

Thanks in advance>>
--
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

 

[Beth Melton]

I believe Bob provided you with some methods of correcting the issue,
but if you're wondering why it occurred in the first place, I'd say
your "central normal.dot" is actually a Word document or template
saved as "Normal.dot". Only Word can create Normal.dot as it also
creates the built-in AutoText entries.

I'm sure your plan is to also correct your "central normal.dot" but I
thought you may want to know how to prevent this from happening in the
future.

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/