Obvious that I won't get an answer here, where can I go to get one

[CityGirl]

Hello,

I've posted this question twice before with no answer...does anyone know
where I can go to actually get a question answered??

Here's the problem:

We have Word 2003 (Win XP operating system) and use a protected form to
create daily run reports for our fire departments (they fill in form with
fire incident details and save with date and run number for the file name).
Occasionally, (approx 3-5 times per week) this "saved as" copy of the form is
completely blank when opened and there is no way to recover the data that was
in the report. When the form is opened there is an error message saying it
cannot be converted and asks what program you want to open the file in, even
though it has a .doc extension.

Any ideas on what could be causing this or what we can do to prevent?
Thanks for any assistance you can provide, we'd really like to find an
answer since the way this software is working right now it is useless to us.

 

[Tim in Ottawa]

I suspect this problem hasn't come up before or one of the experts would have
replied. Therefore it seems to be unique to you. Does this happen to one
person in particular? On one particular computer? Are you all using the same
versions of Word? You should try and contact Microsoft product support and
see if they will admit to a bug like this.

I'm a fan of Word, but using Word for a mission-critical application seems
iffy to me. You might be better off with Excel or Access, and this would give
you more power for data analysis.

A temporary workaround may be to do two saves, once as you are, and once to
save out the form data so you don't lose it. This can be done manually, or
you could develop a macro so that the user clicks a "finished" button, the
file is saved and then the field data is also saved out to a text-only file,
so you would have 2 copies of your data.

The procedure for saving only field data from Word's help is below. It may
be of some use. Good luck!

On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Save tab.
Select the Save data only for forms check box.
Click OK.
On the File menu, click Save Copy As.
Type a file name in the File name box.
In the Save as type box, select Plain Text, and then click Save.
Select a text encoding option, and then click OK.
Word saves the form field (form field: In a form, a location where a
particular type of data, such as a name or address, is stored.) data in a
comma-delimited text file

 

[CityGirl]

Thanks for responding, it's nice to know someone is reading.
Part of our problem is we're doing good to get the personnel to use a Word
form let alone Excel or Access. It does happen on more than one computer (3
so far that we're aware of) and we are all using the same version of Word.
We simply need a printed report for the file so don't really need to take it
beyond that for data analysis. Thanks for the info on saving the data only.
We are VERY new to Word (we've used WordPerfect for 10+ years) and are
basically treading water to get this much done). I don't know if saving data
in two different places will help or not since the "saved as" version is
immediately blank but we'll definitely try your suggestions. Thanks.

 

[Charles Kenyon]

Do not use a .doc file. Use a template. Have your users create new documents
based on this template.
File > New.

For more on the different kinds of templates, tabs on the file new dialog,
and locations of templates folders see
http://addbalance.com/usersguide/templates.htm.

What you are talking about is what Word calls an "online form." Check this
in help. For more about online forms, follow the links at
http://addbalance.com/word/wordwebresources.htm#Forms or
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/FillinTheBlanks.htm especially Dian
Chapman's series of articles. You may also want to look at
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/LinesInForms.htm.

Hope this helps,
--

Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide




--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
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.

 

[CityGirl]

No, we are using a template initially but it is protected so the user will
not save over it. When they save the form with the information with "save
as" it saves as a doc. When we go back to look at the doc it is blank.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

You are still not understanding. When Charles says "template," he means a
..dot file, which you choose from the New dialog in order to base a new
document on it.

 

[Tim in Ottawa]

I think you and Charles are missing the OPs original point. It doesn't really
matter what she starts with, when she does save as, occasionally the
documents get corrupted, apparently randomly.

 

[garfield-n-odie [MVP]]

Yes it *does* matter what she starts with. The point you're
missing is that document corruption is more likely to occur when
a user repeatedly edits an existing document to create a new
document (think of it like inbreeding or incest), as compared to
when a user creates a new document from a template.

 

[Charles Kenyon]

If you use a template, you don't need Save As. You will have an unnamed new
document.

Using templates as the basis for a new document is much more stable, less
prone to corruption than using documents as the basis for new documents.
Please read the link I sent you on templates. The other links will be
helpful as well in making your use of online forms more enjoyable,
proficient.
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide




--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
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.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Although it is true that when you hit Ctrl+S or click the Save button for a
new, unnamed document, the dialog that opens is Save As.