MS Word 2003 and C# - A smarter document possible?

[Q]

Im on the fence over developing an online web application which allows our
users to compose an agenda using a WYSIWYG HTML editor vs MS Word 2003 which
the users are currently using. The online approach will definitely be scaled
back when it comes to pure control over text and formatting vs Word but the
trade off is now we are able to identify what areas of the agenda are
Sections rather than just streams of text since the user must specifically
identify what is being created as it is being created.

Also we allow other users to view the online agenda and submit files to
identified Sections. These files will have represented text that can be
formatted, and they can be moved around the agenda from one section to
another. The other users can see the entire agenda complete with submitted
files. All changes are stored into the Sql Server 2K dbase

We are capable of achieving this with the online approach but not with MS
Word 2003 since we are unable to dynamically specify what chunks of text are
Sections, allow other users to view this agenda in progress and submit files
to identified sections. Ideally allowing the main user to compose the agenda
within Word would be better since it provides the ultimate control in
manipulating text but still i need more appreciation for the text being
entered (ie. what is a section, allow other users to peek into this agenda
and submit / attach files to sections, etc)

I've heard of Smart Documents and VSTO but am still unclear if they actually
offer the solution I need. With SmartDocuments is seems on MUST create a
unique .XML / .DOC package and this will give the single user an odd looking
XML form-like display for filling in data. Personally i would rather allow
the user to start with a blank canvas and after composing the text can
identify regions as sections or files and from there i can take this
information and content and submit back to the dbase a rendition of this for
other users to see and submit to. And in reverse i can take the other users
submissions and dynamically insert new files into the identified section.

I'm thinking the min'm way to get Word to do what i need is some ActiveX
control and some serious hacking. We're using MS Word 2003, .NET Framework
v1.1 and C#.

 

[Clive Huggan]

You've landed in a discussion group for users of Mac versions of Word, which
are subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) different from the PC versions.
Although there are several people here who are experts in both Mac and PC,
and they may come by soon, you're likely to get quicker results in a
discussion group for PC Word. Start here:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/FlyoutOverview.mspx

Give my regards to Commander Bond...

Cheers,

Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is 5-11 hours different from North America and Europe, so my
follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
============================================================

 

[John McGhie [MVP Word, Word Mac]]

I think you will find that XML is the way of the future.

Yes, you do have to create an XML document and its attendant transform to do
what you want, because you will need to define a namespace.

However, done right the user will not be able to detect the difference
between the Word documents they were creating and your XML version. In
fact, the simple way of doing it would be to save their existing document as
an XML file, and then add your own tags.

To get this to work right, you do have to eat the first elephant After
that, XML will prove to be a far better way to go: and will smoothly
up-convert to future versions of Office, on both PC and Mac.

Cheers

--

Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]