Removing formatting introduced by "keep track of formatting"

[Nick Murray]

Hi all,

I have a document with a multitude of styles with formatting applied
as a result of someone using Word Xp with "Keep track of formatting
turned on.

The extra styles (I know they're not REALLY styles!) are based on bot
built-in Word styles, and custom styles I developed for a template.

How can I get rid of the extra formatting and just change the style
back to the standard Word styles and my own styles? Uncheckin
"Automatically update document styles" in the Templates/addins dialog
closing the document, reopening it doesn't seem to help.

As an example, I customised Word's Body Text style. In this documen
it's now Body Text, Body Text Char.

Shauna's pag
(http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/sfpane/StylesAndFormattingPane.html
doesn't mention this.

Any help is most welcome!

thanks,

nic

 

[Shauna Kelly]

Hi Nick

Word 2002 and Word 2003 keep track of all the styles (eg Body Text), and
all the combinations of styles + direct formatting (eg Body Text +
Orange), that have ever been used in a document. You, however, get to
choose whether to display this information or not. To turn off the
display of this information, Tools > Options > Edit. Un-tick "Keep track
of formatting".

The "Char" styles are a different issue. Heading 1 is a style. Heading 1
Char is a style. Heading 1 + Orange is not a style. In Word 2002 and
2003, "Char" styles are created when you select part (but not all) of a
paragraph and apply a style to that part. You can prove this yourself
easily. Create a paragraph in style normal. Select one Word and apply
style Body Text. Word will create Body Text Char. Char styles are the
way that Word copes with applying a paragraph style to only part of a
paragraph. So Body Text Char is created by applying style Body Text to
part of a paragraph. Body Text Char is not created by modifying style
Body Text.

For what it's worth, "Char" styles don't hurt a document, they don't
represent corruption of some kind, and Word lives with them happily;
they just look untidy to humans. (But if you see styles with "Char Char"
or "Char Char Char", then you need to update your version of Word 2002
from microsoft.com.)

Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word

 

[AA]

I just had my 76 page document edited by a colleague. I had been
careful to do all my formatting by applying styles. One Style, for a
heading I had used extensively was named "Hed". I had several styles
based on "Hed", variations mostly for different spacing after the
paragraph (eg Hed3 and Hed6).

When I got the document back, there was a new Style called "Hed char",
and around two thirds of the headings that had previously had the
"Hed" Style applied are now "Hed char". Moreover, Hed3 and Hed6
are now based on "Hed char".

1) I'm wondering how this happened, particularly since she doesn't
apply Styles. So I doubt she highlighted part of a Hed paragraph and
clicked on Hed (if I understand you correctly, this would have created a
"Hed char" Style).

2) This had happened once before, when I was just starting to get the
hang of Styles, (I'm still only part way there). I remember selecting
"Select All" from the Style's dropdown box (in the Styles pane).

Now that choice is greyed out (Select All: Not Currently Used). How
do I get that choice back?

TIA,

Andy

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

You get the choice back by reenabling the "Keep track of formatting" option
on the Edit tab of Tools | Options.

 

[AA]

You get the choice back by reenabling the "Keep track of formatting" option

on the Edit tab of Tools | Options.

Thank you!

So now I can highlight all occurences of Hed Char, and apply Hed.

Is there a way to know what other styles were changed to be based on Hed
Char? If I don't change those back to be based on Hed, I'll run into trouble
when I delete Hed Char. Not a problem this time, I already know which one's
I have to change. But is there a way to select all styles based on a
particular style, all children of a parent style?

 

[Shauna Kelly]

Hi AA

is there a way to select all styles based on a
particular style, all children of a parent style?

No, there isn't. My favourite way to identify all the text whose style
formatting derives from a parent style is to modify, temporarily, the
parent style to have flashing text. Format > Styles and Formatting. In
the Styles and Formatting task pane, right-click on your parent style
name. Choose Modify. Then Format > Font. Choose the Text Effects tab and
choose an Animation.

Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word

 

[Robert M. Franz (RMF)]

Hi Andy,

AA wrote:
[..]

Is there a way to know what other styles were changed to be based on Hed
Char? If I don't change those back to be based on Hed, I'll run into trouble
when I delete Hed Char. Not a problem this time, I already know which one's
I have to change. But is there a way to select all styles based on a
particular style, all children of a parent style?

not that I'd know of, no. Shauna has given you a good way that works
with "live" styles that are used in this particular document.

If you want the whole picture, I'd use ? | Info | System info, look up
Word in the Applications section and there "styles". If you are deling
with a large number of them, you might even want to save this as a text
file and open it up (in Word, for instance) to search for your Char
style(s).

Greetinx
..bob
...Word-MVP

 

[AA]

is there a way to select all styles based on a

No, there isn't. My favourite way to identify all the text whose style
formatting derives from a parent style is to modify, temporarily, the
parent style to have flashing text. Format > Styles and Formatting. In
the Styles and Formatting task pane, right-click on your parent style
name. Choose Modify. Then Format > Font. Choose the Text Effects tab and
choose an Animation.

Hope this helps

That'll work.

Thanks Shauna!

 

[AA]

I'd use ? | Info | System info, look up

Word in the Applications section and there "styles".

What a gold mine! The whole Word 2002 category.

Thanks!

 

[Klaus Linke]

Hi Shauna,

[...] In Word 2002 and 2003, "Char" styles are created
when you select part (but not all) of a paragraph and
apply a style to that part. You can prove this yourself
easily. Create a paragraph in style normal. Select one Word
and apply style Body Text. Word will create Body Text Char.

I'd love if it worked that way. If I follow your instructions, the "Styles
and formatting" pane (and the "Styles" dropdown on the formatting toolbar)
shows "Normal" if I select unchanged text, and "Body Text" (without "Char")
if I select changed text (... tested in Word2002 and 2003).

Both still display as paragraph styles, so I can't tell which paragraph
style is applied.
The "Reveal formatting" pane does show the "Char" style, if I first activate
"Distinguish style source", as does the style area in Normal view.

If I first format one half of a paragraph in "Body Text", then the other, it
will look like any "Body Text" paragraph (as far as font formatting is
concerned), and the style dropdown / style pane will show "Body Text", but
the para will still be in Normal style.

Is there some setting so that the style dropdown and/or style pane will show
the Char styles?

Regards,
Klaus