Trouble Filling Out Medical Form

[cannoli38]

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor: Intel I am trying to fill out a medical form sent from a doctor's office via email. What happens is when I type information on a line, the line breaks underneath the letters as I type. How can I get the info to write on the line keeping it intact?

thanks.

 

[Rob Schneider]

Forms from some people are notorious for being "bad" Word docs as they
and their staff may not know how to use Word. Sounds like they put in
text as spaces and then underlined the space. You are inserting
characters to replace these spaces and the spaces are probably moving to
the right. Your inserted text does not have underlines and it just
looks like the underline is breaking.

My advice is to just fill in the form as and let the doctor's office
reformat it if the must. If they wanted formatted text they would have
give you a proper Word doc to fill in.

If you must format it, remove the underlined spaces, and then underline
your input.

Or it could be something else.

--rms

www.rmschneider.com

 

[John McGhie]

When you write in Word, normally you "add" characters to the line in Insert
Mode. That is pushing the other characters on the line over to the next
line.

You have two options:

Easiest is to delete some characters from the line before you type.

Alternatively, add Text Boxes to the document, remove the outline and the
fill from the text boxes, set them "in front of text" and drag them into
position over the top of the doctor's form.

The second option is easy enough if you know how, but it's a bit of a
fiddle. I would use the first method.

Hope this helps

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor: Intel
I am trying to fill out a medical form sent from a doctor's office via email.
What happens is when I type information on a line, the line breaks underneath
the letters as I type. How can I get the info to write on the line keeping it
intact?

thanks.

This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless you intend to pay!

--

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[CyberTaz]

FWIW, I concur with the others on the source of the problem, but my
suggestion is a bit different

Print the "form", fill it in by hand, & mail it back with a note attached
suggesting that they either learn to properly create electronic forms or pay
a consultant to create their forms for them... And deduct the cost of the
postage from their fee

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[John McGhie]

Oh yes, I like that option. The people who send out forms like that really
give me the irrits!

I got one last week for a visa application, done with multiple nested
floating tables. When I get to the passport office, the girl pointed out
that one whole section had simply failed to print!

Fortunately, she let me fill it out on another form by hand at the counter.
I suspect it was not the first time she had seen that problem

Cheers

FWIW, I concur with the others on the source of the problem, but my
suggestion is a bit different

Print the "form", fill it in by hand, & mail it back with a note attached
suggesting that they either learn to properly create electronic forms or pay
a consultant to create their forms for them... And deduct the cost of the
postage from their fee

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless you intend to pay!

--

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Jim Gordon Mac MVP]

Of course, if you like these people you could give them a copy of the
Office 2008 for Mac All-in-One For Dummies book with a bookmark at page
329 and insist that they not reimburse you for showing them where to
find out how to make a proper form. The title of the book says
everything you need to say. Allow them to offer a commensurate discount
on the next service they perform for you to cover the cost of the book.

-Jim