Two Sets of AutoCorrect?!

[johnno]

To set matters straight, I do use mutliple languages, but in this template I
use only US English. I've checked that a number of times and it's a fact.

But let me tell you what happened just a few minutes ago. I hope I can
explain it clearly.

For the last two or three days there have been no problems, and autocorrect
has been working perfectly. About half an hour ago I was in the middle of
writing something and I typed in an unusual word that I knew I would have to
use often, so I made it into a regular, non-italicized autocorrect
abbreviation.

A few minutes ago I typed the word again and it didn't correct - and this is
about the tenth time I've used the word, and it corrected properly all the
other times. So I checked by typing an autocorrect abbreviation that I know
goes one way when things are working fine, and another way when things
aren't. It went the wrong way.

In other words, for some strange reason in the middle of my typing the
autocorrect started to change to a different version. I hadn't done anything
at all to cause it. Just typing regularly in the same document.

Now can someone explain that?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

You still have not offered any examples of what these words and their
abbreviations are. I think it would be helpful to know that.

 

[Tony Jollans]

I wouldn't mind knowing what the modified dates for the .acl fils now show,
as well.

 

[Beth Melton]

Yes, this can be easily explained but I'm sure you won't like the
explanation. <grin>

If the word you are typing is a foreign word, such as in the example
you previously provided, aufwiedersehn or arigato, then more than
likely Word is set to "Detect language automatically" and it switched
to another language on you. It can automatically switch proofing
languages and it will automatically switch AutoCorrect lists based on
the proofing language that is detected at that specific point of the
document. Proofing language isn't document specific - it is character
specific.

Open the document and go to Tools/Language/Set Language. You'll see
two sections, those at the top are the languages used in the document.
Do you have more than one language listed?

Also, as I previously noted, I'd be happy to take a look at the
template you are having problems with. You can email it to me at
(e-mail address removed). Remove NoSpam4Me to obtain a valid email
address.

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[johnno]

The example of aufwiedersehn I gave was not really what I was using, and I
just gave it as an example. But the example of arigato was, and Word can't
automatically detect that that word is Japanese for two reasons.

Firstly, because I don't have a Japanese edition of Word, and secondly, even
if I did I'm sure that it wouldn't detect it because it's in a different
character set than the real language.

The same is true of 'aleikum' which is an Arabic word that I have
transliterated and italcized. I do not have Arabic installed, and even if I
did it wouldn't detect an Arabic word written in English letters!

 

[Beth Melton]

In order to help you we need specific examples and answers to all of
our questions. We've asked for specific examples several times; words
you are using for the AutoCorrect entries and the replace characters
you are using. Believe it or not, we actually do try to duplicate the
behavior and it's difficult to duplicate something that you're not
actually using. It's like taking your car in because it's making a
high pitch squeal but when you describe the problem you tell them you
hear a growling sound. Sure, it's a noise but the specific noise is
important. And the answers to every question we ask is equally
important - even if we ask the same question in different words
several times. There have been several questions asked that we still
haven't received a precise answer. I'd still like to have an exact
example including the replace characters you are using and the name of
the *.acl file you noted had been modified.

So now that we possibly have some type of almost-exact example,
providing you actually have 'aleikum' as an AutoCorrect entry and it
is italicized then how did you create it? Did you select the text, go
to Tools/AutoCorrect Options and make sure the "Formatted text" option
was selected?

If that is what you did then you have a Rich Text Format AutoCorrect
entry and it is stored in Normal.dot rather than the *.acl files. If
the entries you are having difficulty with are all RTF then another
possibility is you may have more than one Normal.dot available to Word
and each contains different AutoCorrect entries.

Use Windows Search and search for Normal.dot.

If you are using Windows XP then in make sure you are viewing all
files and searching all files:

- Viewing all files: Start Windows Search and go to Tools/Folder
Options and on the View tab make sure "Show hidden files and folders"
is selected

- Search all files: In Windows Search click "All files and Folders"
then expand "More Advanced Options". Make sure "Search hidden files
and folders" is selected.

If you find more than one then check the modified dates. You should
also be able to right-click the file and select "Open" and take a look
at the AutoCorrect entries stored in the file.

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[johnno]

Sorry, I thought I was being specific.

Ages ago I typed in aleikum in italics. I then highlighted it and used
Tools/AutoCorrect Option, used Formatted Text and clicked OK. The same with
arigato.

After a while I made just arig the text I'd have to type for an italicized
arigato as well, i.e. I didn't delete the old one, so when I type either arig
or arigato in plain text it should come out italicized. Arigato always works
(I think) but arig only works some of the time, even though in
Tools/AutoCorrect it always shows that it's there.

Now you've just told me something very interesting! I did a search for
Normal.dot and I found three of them in different folders, of course. One of
them was modified in May last year, so we can forget about that, but of the
others one was modified Feb 19 and the other Feb 22 of this year.

After checking both I see that they both contain the same AutoCorrect
entries, including arig and arigato.

I hope that makes the problem clearer, although I still haven't gotten
anywhere, have I?

 

[Beth Melton]

Okay, *now* we have some specifics.

If you have more than one Normal.dot then that may explain the oddity
you are seeing - especially since you have two with recent
modification dates. This indicates Word did switch Normal templates.

The one Word should be using will be in your User Templates folder.
This location can be found by going to Tools/Options/File Locations.
Rename the other files to OldNormal.dot so Word will not attempt to
use them and see if that clears up the problems you are having.

Also, now that I think about it, opening them and comparing
AutoCorrect lists really isn't a good test since the Normal.dot Word
is using will be the entries that are listed. The only real way to
tell what is happening is to move them in/out of your User Templates
folder and since there can be only one Normal.dot in your User
Templates folder you also need to rename them.

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[johnno]

Well it seems that the two Normal.dot files are not the cause of the problem.
I realized just after my last post that I had copied all my templates a few
days ago to a different directory for convenience. So when I pointed out
there were two of them it was just because one was still in the old
directory, and it hadn't been accessed since I moved it.

So aside from the fact that I am stupid for not remembering, the problem
that I have (had, really, at the moment, because once again everything is
working fine) still stands.

 

[Tony Jollans]

Having played with this a little I am prepared to accept there is something
a little fishy here - but I do (still) think it's a language issue.

If I create a formatted Autocorrect entry in US English text - it works in
US English text but not in UK English text.

If I then close Word and reopen it, the autocorrect now works in both
languages but US English is part of the formatting and when the abbreviation
is entered in UK English text, the resulting autocorrection is flagged as US
English.

In some other tests I seem to have sometimes lost either an Autocorrect
entry completely or just the formatting but don't have consistent enough
results to post yet.

 

[Beth Melton]

Hi Tony,

I also believe it's a language issue and could potentially be a bug in
formatted AutoCorrect entries but in all of my test I've had
consistent behavior - it works as I expect it to work. It sounds like
you've been able to sort of repro the problem which is great.

If you feel like continuing to plug away at this, if happen to find a
consistent set of steps I'd love to hear about it so please keep us
updated!

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/