Problem inserting autotext containing section breaks

[Mary]

We are having problems with a few corporate templates which use autotext.
Some of the autotext entries insert complete sections with section breaks.
When any of this type of autotext is inserted by a Word 2000 user, Word
crashes. However, if the same autotext is inserted by a Word 97 user there
are no apparent problems. During template creation, they were edited in both
Word 97 and Word 2000. Is there a known conflict between these versions when
section breaks are used?

Also, and I'm not sure if this is related, when certain autotext entries are
inserted, they introduce new styles into the document. These are styles that
do not exist within the autotext entries. The addition of some autotext also
alters the names of existing styles. In one instance, after inserting an
autotext entry "Heading 2" becomes "Heading 2,Sub-heading,Sub-section
heading,Reset numbering,Chapter Title,Heading 2-number." But Heading 2 is
not even used in this particular autotext entry. Why does this happen?

Thanks

 

[Cindy Meister -WordMVP-]

Hi Mary,

I get the feeling these "problem" AutoText entries may have been created while
the last paragraph mark in the document was selected. That's what would carry
damage in Word 97 that would cause Word 2000 to crash (numbering stuff,
usually) and the various styles.

My advice would be to
Insert these AutoText entries into a Word 97 document
Save this document as RTF
Open the document in Word 2000
Create a new template in Word 2000 (from a "clean" Normal.dot)
Recreate the AutoText entries, being extremely careful about what is and is
not selected

I realize it probably won't be as simple as the steps above, since section
break formatting is apparently required - and that may get lost. But I think
this approach is the only way you're going to be able to use these entries
reliably (other than starting over from scratch).

We are having problems with a few corporate templates which use autotext.
Some of the autotext entries insert complete sections with section breaks.
When any of this type of autotext is inserted by a Word 2000 user, Word
crashes. However, if the same autotext is inserted by a Word 97 user there
are no apparent problems. During template creation, they were edited in both
Word 97 and Word 2000. Is there a known conflict between these versions when
section breaks are used?

Also, and I'm not sure if this is related, when certain autotext entries are
inserted, they introduce new styles into the document. These are styles that
do not exist within the autotext entries. The addition of some autotext also
alters the names of existing styles. In one instance, after inserting an
autotext entry "Heading 2" becomes "Heading 2,Sub-heading,Sub-section
heading,Reset numbering,Chapter Title,Heading 2-number." But Heading 2 is
not even used in this particular autotext entry. Why does this happen?

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jan 24 2003)
http://www.mvps.org/word

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or
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[Mary]

Thanks Cindy:

The creator of these templates is aware that she should avoid the last
paragraph mark in the document selected so I think that's unlikely to be the
problem.

Yes, section break formatting is required. One of the AutoText entries is
designed to insert a landscape page complete with headers and footers --
this is one of the AutoText entries that makes Word 2000 crash. The same
AutoText entry can be used in Word 97 without any problems. The other
entries that cause problems in Word 2000 also include section breaks. The
creator of the template and the majority of the users are using Word 2000
with SP3 recently applied. Is there a possiblilty that the SP3 patch is
causing the problem? But if so, why would the problem also occur on my
computer and others which are running XP?

I will pass on your suggestion about bringing the AutoText entries in as
RTF.

 

[Cindy Meister -WordMVP-]

Hi Mary,

Well, section breaks are... section breaks. They can be a problem.

If it keeps on not working reliably, you might consider keeping these
"AutoText entries" in a separate file. Bookmark them. And then you can use
Insert/File with the "Range" button to insert them.

You could even make a set of macros on a toolbar to make this easier.

Yes, section break formatting is required. One of the AutoText entries is
designed to insert a landscape page complete with headers and footers --
this is one of the AutoText entries that makes Word 2000 crash. The same
AutoText entry can be used in Word 97 without any problems. The other
entries that cause problems in Word 2000 also include section breaks. The
creator of the template and the majority of the users are using Word 2000
with SP3 recently applied. Is there a possiblilty that the SP3 patch is
causing the problem? But if so, why would the problem also occur on my
computer and others which are running XP?

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jan 24 2003)
http://www.mvps.org/word

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or
reply in the newsgroup and not by e-mail

 

[Mary]

In my last message I meant to say that the creator of the template and the
majority of the users are running WINDOWS 2000 with the SP3 patch recently
applied. It was since this patch was applied that the autotext problem was
first noticed. So we're wondering if there might be some conflict between
this patch and Word 2000.

 

[Cindy Meister -WordMVP-]

Hi Mary,

In my last message I meant to say that the creator of the template and the
majority of the users are running WINDOWS 2000 with the SP3 patch recently
applied. It was since this patch was applied that the autotext problem was
first noticed. So we're wondering if there might be some conflict between
this patch and Word 2000.

I haven't heard of anything like this, and I was part of the SP3 beta
test... It's possible there's a conflict with your machine configurations,
if all the machines are set up the same. Try booting WINDOWS in Safe Mode to
test for this.

A couple of conflicts with anti-virus software are known (although I've
never heard that they cause crashes). You may want to try turning off
anything that could interfere with running applications (AV, file/doc
managment) and see if this makes any difference.

I doubt very much, however, that anything about SP3 would be causing the
extra style names you're seeing...

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jan 24 2003)
http://www.mvps.org/word

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or
reply in the newsgroup and not by e-mail