Problem with Paste Button/Paste Special

[Mike Treisman]

When I copy and paste into a word document I get a 'smart button'
that
offers me the choice of keeping the source format,
or converting to the destination format. I always want to convert to
the destination format. But the button is always set to use the
source format, so I always have t o
fiddle around to get the result I want.

I can find no way to change the default for the button so that it
automatically selects the destination format. Is there any way around
this?

I'm not sure what version of Word you're using, but in Word v.X, I use
the
"Paste Special" command. I did assign the command the keyboard
shortcut
'Command + Shift + V'. What it does is present me with a dialog where
I can
see which in which format is the text in the clipboard. When I want
the
copied text to follow the document attributes, I choose "Unformatted
text".

I also tried creating a macro consisting of: Paste Special, check
Unformatted Text, OK.

But this did not work. It inserted the text in source format. So it
seems there is no way round an unnecessary extra operation every
time: choose Destination Format with the smart button, or choose
Unformatted Text with Paste Special.
Is there any way to alter the default settings?
Mike

 

[Clive Huggan]

Hello Mike,

I don't believe the default setting for the "smart button" can be changed --
but don't take that as gospel, since someone else may know better.

I have a button that activates a macro I called "paste plain", which
achieves the Paste Special -> tick Unformatted Text -> OK that you tried.
It's very useful!

It's described on page 145 of "Bend Word to Your Will", downloadable free
from http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/WordMac/Bend/BendWord.htm

Cheers,

Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is at least 5 hours different from the US and Europe,
so my follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
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[John McGhie]

Mike:

Long-suffering readers of this august journal will recall that your problem
is one I cried tears of blood about during the knock-down, drag-out
"discussions" that went into refining the feature set for Word 2004.

There is a clear divide between normal users, who almost always want to
bring the source formatting with them when they copy and paste, and
documentation professionals, who almost always want to "match destination".

I battered every ear I could find trying to get the default set the way you
and I would like it. However, research proves that 95 per cent of Word Mac
users want it the other way.

Making it configurable was going to involve more time and money. Maybe not
a "lot" more, but a hundred bucks is like a king's ransom if you've run out
of money. So it was one of the things that got cut.

Maybe next time.

Investigate Clive's macro. I use a similar one that pastes raw
(unformatted) text.

Cheers

When I copy and paste into a word document I get a 'smart button'
that
offers me the choice of keeping the source format,
or converting to the destination format. I always want to convert to
the destination format. But the button is always set to use the
source format, so I always have t o
fiddle around to get the result I want.

I can find no way to change the default for the button so that it
automatically selects the destination format. Is there any way around
this?

I'm not sure what version of Word you're using, but in Word v.X, I use
the
"Paste Special" command. I did assign the command the keyboard
shortcut
'Command + Shift + V'. What it does is present me with a dialog where
I can
see which in which format is the text in the clipboard. When I want
the
copied text to follow the document attributes, I choose "Unformatted
text".

I also tried creating a macro consisting of: Paste Special, check
Unformatted Text, OK.

But this did not work. It inserted the text in source format. So it
seems there is no way round an unnecessary extra operation every
time: choose Destination Format with the smart button, or choose
Unformatted Text with Paste Special.
Is there any way to alter the default settings?
Mike

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410