Page Revision dates - can you automatically record them?

[Gumbyk]

I am writing an technical manual and need to record the revision date of each
individual page at the bottom of each page, as well as in a list of effective
pages. So, the revised date of each page is not necessarily the same as
anyother page.
Is there any way of automatically recording this?

 

[CyberTaz]

There may be alternatives but it will depend on what version of Word, which
you neglect to mention. The source of your message suggests you're using one
of the PC flavors but you've posted to the Mac Word group. If you're on a
Windows box you'd do best to ask in one of the Win Word groups listed here:

http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/FlyoutOverview.mspx

Your biggest challenge, however, is that there are no "pages" in the
structure of a Word document ‹ regardless of version. They're a linear flow
of text divided into Sections containing Paragraphs, so revised content may
very well wind up on a different "page" than where it began, not to mention
that revision of content on an earlier page can cause the remainder of the
document to reflow. That would throw off whatever dating system used if it's
based on page numbering.

Good Luck |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[John McGhie]

No.

There is no way to do this that's not more trouble than it's worth.

The usual way is to create the entire file as a Master Document, with a
subdocument for each page. You can then insert a DATE field that will show
you when the subdocument updates. But anything that updates the subdocument
automatically, such as generation of the table of contents, will update the
changed date unless you lock it. It's a pain...

A Word file does not contain any "pages", so you cannot record what happens
to a page.

The "pages" are not generated until you display or print the document: Word
then automatically outputs it in page-sized chunks appropriate to the
current printer.

I could also give you a learned discussion as to why there is no practical
point in doing this The content of a page must be read in conjunction
with all the other pages in the document. So legally, if one page has
changed, the entire document is out of date. And it is much cheaper to
replace the whole document than to try to replace the individual pages
(which the document users simply won't do...).

Hope this helps

I am writing an technical manual and need to record the revision date of each
individual page at the bottom of each page, as well as in a list of effective
pages. So, the revised date of each page is not necessarily the same as
anyother page.
Is there any way of automatically recording this?

This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless you intend to pay!

--

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Phillip Jones, C.E.T.]

could he key on a word and attach a comment with the current date of the
information in that paragraph??

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Phillip:

Yes, he could.

And if he were prepared to accept the date for a "paragraph" then that would
work. For the reason Bob explained, as the text changes the comment may not
end up on the same page as the content it refers to.

And that would mean he has to put the comments in manually, so he might as
well just type a revision date in the margin.

He wants "Automatic", and in Word 2008 he has no macros available, so it's
very difficult to do this.

One way that might suffice is to turn Tracked Changes on and leave it on.
That way, electronic readers of the book can see when each change was made,
which might be sufficient, and it's automatic.

But he then needs to keep lots of backups, because Tracked Changes are a
source of document corruption if users hide them (and they do...).

Cheers

could he key on a word and attach a comment with the current date of the
information in that paragraph??

This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless you intend to pay!

--

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Gumbyk]

Thanks for your suggestions guys.
I'm not sure how I ended up on the Mac site, but, yes, I am using the PC
version.

Looks like I'll have to record it individually for each page. A bit of a
pain, but it needs to be done.

Aaron