Tables, styles and bugs

[Lorrae Hawke]

I have built a Word template and created documents based
on it. I am perpetually having problems with tables. When
the template is applied to pre-existing documents based
on the Normal.dot, ever cell in every table becomes
bulleted. If I close and reopen a document built from the
template, all the cells in tables open with bullets in
them. If I remove the bullets and reapply the correct
unbulleted styles in the tables, the bullets reappear. I
can't see any evidence of bullets with the styles I'm
using, either in the documents or in the template. How
can I stop this from happening and get rid of the mystery
bullets permanently?

 

[Shauna Kelly]

Hi Lorrae

Is the box at Tools > Templates and Add-ins > Update Document Styles
ticked? If so, un-tick it. This is a document-specific settings, so
check the template and all documents based on that template. In the
likely event that this doesn't solve the problem, post back and let us
know the following.

What version of Word do you have?

Is the text in tables in a particular style? If so,
- is that a built-in style or one you've created?
- is that style used elsewhere in the documents?
- if so,
- do bullets appear where the style is used elsewhere in the
documents?

Shauna

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

 

[Lorrae Hawke]

-----Original Message-----
Hi Lorrae

Is the box at Tools > Templates and Add-ins > Update Document Styles
ticked? If so, un-tick it. This is a document-specific settings, so
check the template and all documents based on that template. In the
likely event that this doesn't solve the problem, post back and let us
know the following.

What version of Word do you have?

Is the text in tables in a particular style? If so,
- is that a built-in style or one you've created?
- is that style used elsewhere in the documents?
- if so,
- do bullets appear where the style is used elsewhere in the
documents?

Shauna

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




Shauna, thankyou for the suggestion. I'm working in Word

2002. The problem seems to be exclusive to tables. The
styles are ones I've created. They are all paragraph
styles. There are two styles I'm using in the table and
having problems with that I would normally use outside of
tables, but I'm having the same problem with the styles I
only use in the tables. They're all based on Normal in my
template. And no, when I use the styles outside of the
table they don't have this problem. I have unchecked
the 'Update document styles' box which I do normally have
checked for the purpose it is intended. Unfortunately
that didn't help. I'm starting to suspect a bug in the
Table Grid or Table Normal built in styles. If you can
help I would be extremely grateful because I'm on a
deadline here to get a stable & robust template out to
the troops for urgent courseware development. Thanks.

 

[Shauna Kelly]

Hi Lorrae

First, don't leave the box at Tools > Templates and Add-ins >
Automatically Update Document styles ticked. If you need to use it, do
so, then go back and un-tick it. It always struggles with numbered or
bulleted styles, and updating the styles over and over again every time
the document is opened won't help. For further information, see

How to safely update a document's styles from its template without using
the Organizer (and how to make the Tools + Templates and Add-ins dialog
safe)
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/MacrosVBA/UpdateStyles.htm

Second, all the rest here is a big guess. But try the following *after*
making a backup and storing it away safely.

1. Use File > Open to open the template (actually open the template,
don't create a new document based on the template).

2. Delete the problem style.

3. File > Save As. Save as HTML (as a Web Page (Filtered)). Close it.

4. Open the html file.

5. Add your problem style back again.

6. Check all numbered and bulleted styles. You may need to re-construct
them. If so, follow the instructions for linking styles to numbering at
How to create numbered headings or outline numbering in your Word
Document
http://www.ShaunaKelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumbering.html

That page is specifically about heading styles, but the broad principles
apply to all numbered and bulleted styles.

7. Make sure the Tools > Templates and Add-ins > Automatically Update
Document styles box is **not** ticked!

8. Save As a template.

Do new documents based on the new template behave?

This won't affect old documents. You could try following the
instructions at the first link above to update the styles to fix them.
But it might not work.

For what it's worth, I think the cause may be that ListTemplates in the
documents and the templates are out of sync. They may share the same
names or IDs. Perhaps even the same linked styles. But the bulleting is
different. When the document opens, and the Automatically Update
Document Styles functionality kicks in, and a mess is created. Saving to
HTML should give you a clean slate to start with.

However, I have very little experience dealing with Table styles, and
they might be interfering here in a way I'm not familiar with.

Hope this helps. I'd be interested to know if it solves the problem, so
post back here and let us know.

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

 

[Lorrae Hawke]

-----Original Message-----
Hi Lorrae

First, don't leave the box at Tools > Templates and Add- ins >
Automatically Update Document styles ticked. If you need to use it, do
so, then go back and un-tick it. It always struggles with numbered or
bulleted styles, and updating the styles over and over again every time
the document is opened won't help. For further information, see

How to safely update a document's styles from its template without using
the Organizer (and how to make the Tools + Templates and Add-ins dialog
safe)
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/MacrosVBA/UpdateStyles.htm

Second, all the rest here is a big guess. But try the following *after*
making a backup and storing it away safely.

1. Use File > Open to open the template (actually open the template,
don't create a new document based on the template).

2. Delete the problem style.

3. File > Save As. Save as HTML (as a Web Page (Filtered)). Close it.

4. Open the html file.

5. Add your problem style back again.

6. Check all numbered and bulleted styles. You may need to re-construct
them. If so, follow the instructions for linking styles to numbering at
How to create numbered headings or outline numbering in your Word
Document
http://www.ShaunaKelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumberin g.html

That page is specifically about heading styles, but the broad principles
apply to all numbered and bulleted styles.

7. Make sure the Tools > Templates and Add-ins > Automatically Update
Document styles box is **not** ticked!

8. Save As a template.

Do new documents based on the new template behave?

This won't affect old documents. You could try following the
instructions at the first link above to update the styles to fix them.
But it might not work.

For what it's worth, I think the cause may be that ListTemplates in the
documents and the templates are out of sync. They may share the same
names or IDs. Perhaps even the same linked styles. But the bulleting is
different. When the document opens, and the Automatically Update
Document Styles functionality kicks in, and a mess is created. Saving to
HTML should give you a clean slate to start with.

However, I have very little experience dealing with Table styles, and
they might be interfering here in a way I'm not familiar with.

Hope this helps. I'd be interested to know if it solves the problem, so
post back here and let us know.

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



Thankyou Shauna, I've unchecked the automatically update

style button and having read the website references you
gave me, understand better why. I filtered the template
through the HTML but it took so much formatting away that
it seemed easier to just start the template again from
scratch in a fresh document based on Normal. Haven't
finished yet but will let you know how it goes. Thanks
for all your help.