Three almost identical manuals

[Jose Valdes]

I am writing three manuals that are almost identical. However, each manual
has some unique content. As a former user of Adobe FrameMaker, my rash
impulse was to use VBA to recreate the Condition Text feature in MS Word.
Here's how it works:



Info unique to manual A appears in these markup tags: ManualAContentOpen and
ManualAContentClose. Manuals B and C have similar tags. If I want to print
manual A, VBA scripts format B and C content as hidden text (Format menu |
Font | Hidden checkbox). Content for A is not hidden, but VBA scripts hide
markup tags.



I have already starting this work and feel competent enough to complete it.
I fear, however, that I might be giving into my dark impulses to play with
VBA instead of writing. ;-) I was hired to be a writer of course.



Does feature exist already somewhere? Am I on the right track?

 

[Jay Freedman]

There isn't any "feature" for swapping bits of document, but are lots of
ways to approach this. Some are more work up front, others are more work to
maintain as the document evolves, but none are really simple.

You certainly can use a VBA solution, although I'll suggest using bookmarks
instead of Open and Close markers because bookmarks surrounding visible text
don't have to be hidden. I'll also suggest applying style(s) to hide or
unhide rather than directly applying font formatting.

You could alternatively use a system of IF fields, with either literal text
or IncludeText fields that pull in bookmarked pieces of separate documents
that contain the conditional text. The IF fields can use the value of a
custom document property to determine which kind of manual you're printing;
change the property value and update the fields, and the manual is instantly
reconfigured.

I've probably omitted a half dozen workable schemes and variations.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Robert M. Franz (RMF)]

Hi Jose

Does feature exist already somewhere? Am I on the right track?

An alternative is to use the "hidden" text property. If you only have
two versions of your document, application is really easy: you set that
property to the text which must not appear in the smaller document, and
toggle the "printability" of hidden text in Tools | Options | Print.

If the setup gets more complicated, things can become tricky. Of course
it's a good idea to include the hidden property in a unique style and
again either toggel like above, or toggle the hidden property of the
style itself.

Biggest gotcha with that is if your numbering is style based. Or rather,
if your numbering is variable through the different versions. Then, no
matter whether you are using list templates or SEQ fields, this approach
is probably not feasible any more.

2cents
Robert

 

[Jose Valdes]

Jay and Robert,



Thanks for the good advice. I had the feeling that I was solving this
problem the long way, and your suggestions have confirmed it.



In my new approach, I plan to create the following character styles:
ManualA, ManualB, and ManualC. If I need to print A, I'll add the Hidden
attribute to the B and C character styles. Of course the same goes for
printing B or C.



Robert, I'm not sure if I understood the issue you described with style
based numbering. Thanks for the warning anyway. Now, I'll avoid hiding any
auto-numbering. For example, if I need to have three different versions of
the same table, these three tables will share the same caption, which
includes the table number.



Thanks!

José

 

[Robert M. Franz (RMF)]

Hi Jose

In my new approach, I plan to create the following character styles:
ManualA, ManualB, and ManualC. If I need to print A, I'll add the Hidden
attribute to the B and C character styles. Of course the same goes for
printing B or C.

OK, if that works for you, it's probably the easiest approach.

Robert, I'm not sure if I understood the issue you described with style
based numbering. Thanks for the warning anyway. Now, I'll avoid hiding any
auto-numbering. For example, if I need to have three different versions of
the same table, these three tables will share the same caption, which
includes the table number.

Ah, I think you did understand.

The real problem you would get is if you had a (numbered) heading, and
this would have to be hidden for some versions and not for others. If
everything that is numbered is present in all versions, you are fine.

Greetings
Robert

 

[amakeler]

I'll suggest using bookmarks

instead of Open and Close markers because bookmarks surrounding visible text
don't have to be hidden.

I also have to deal with the conditonal text issue. I was also thinking
of doing it with bookmarks. Also a bookmark range is really easy to
hide using VBA. However, I would also use Open and Close markers (belt
and braces?), coz maybe you/your user wants to be able to see where the
conditioned text starts and ends. Ok, I suppose you could enable some
sort of hiliting or shading to see where it is, and the 'hidden'
underline will also show you where it is.

So if your doc/template has 25 styles then you will need 25 x (3 + 1) =
100 styles to implement three conditions?

Better to just apply the Hidden effect attribute as local formatting.
Don't make new styles for this.

But, IMO, No! No! No! The problem withing hiding text is...and I have
already tried it...is that if you try hiding whole chapters, including
the chapter title, its outline numbering, and the end of section, can
driver Word mad. Word 2000 created duplicate, unaccessible ghost pages
of the page following the deleted chapter, and Word 2003 created a load
of blank pages.

Btw, what do you do if you need some *real* hidden text?

You could alternatively use a system of IF fields, with either literal text
or IncludeText fields that pull in bookmarked pieces of separate documents
that contain the conditional text.

That's a really nice idea, Jay.

I've probably omitted a half dozen workable schemes and variations.

How about cutting the conditioned out text, and saving it as Autotext.
Could use also saving it in a backup doc file as backup. Very
respectible, I think.

Now, you want some humor? Some guy suggested/actually uses a method
that uses the Track Changes (it comes in different colors, right?) to
hold the versions. Just don't use Track Changes and don't accidentally
do Accept All...

And then there is doing this with hiliting...just what happens if you
need the hiliting?

Or have three templates, each one applying a different hidden character
style to hide different blocks of text...

Now I will go in a completely different direction:

What is loosely called 'conditional text' in the narrow world of Word
and FrameMaker way of looking at things, actually encompasses a whole
world of meaning and technology. This is not just one more widget
within a word processor. We are talking about moving from word
processing to real *CONTENT MANAGEMENT*.

Boom. Maybe it;s time for me also to move up in the world...

g luck

When you complete it, Jose, tell us how much you would sell it for.

Avraham

 

[amakeler]

Oh, and I forgot to mention, you can buy a ready-made add-on to Word
that does some of that. It is Quadraly Transit, which is a part of
WebWorks ePublisher, I understand that you can buy it separately. I
think it costs about $300. But it suffers from the Hide problem I
already described, and I understand that it doesn't manage doc
variables / properties as part of the conditions.

Btw, yes, you have to be careful about careering headlong into a
programming effort (or any effort) before giving the thing a lot of
hard thought and research. We all know how long programming takes...
This is coming from a guy who has bitten himself once or twice... <g>

A

I also have to deal with the conditonal text issue. I was also thinking

<SNIP>

 

[Jose Valdes]

Thanks to everyone who replied to my post! I have settled on a combination
solution: hidden text and IncludeText fields.


Hidden Text

I plan to create the following character styles: ManualA, ManualB, and
ManualC. If I need to print A, I'll add the Hidden attribute to the B and C
character styles. Of course the same goes for printing B or C.



IncludeText Fields

Many of you have pointed out that hidden text runs amok when you hide
numbered fields such as headings or lines from a numbered list. When I must
make large blocks of text (such as chapters) conditional, I plan to use the
IncludeText fields to change which source files MS-Word pulls text from. I
got the idea from a wonderful article written Daiya Mitchell and Cindy
Meister:

http://daiya.mvps.org/includetext.htm#FilePaths

Many thanks to all!

José