Work Menu

[Word Crafter]

I am trying to delete an item from the Work menu. According to Help,
the instructions are:

To Remove a document from the Work menu:
1. Press Command(Apple)+OPTION+MINUS.
The pointer turns into a black minus sign.
2. On the Work menu, click the document you want to remove.

However, I have tried that and I can't get the cursor to turn into a
black minus sign. I have tried both the minus(dash)/plus key on the
top row, as well as the minus key on the keypad. Neither works to turn
the cursor into a black minus sign.

Anyone experience this before and know what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[Michel Bintener]

It works the way it says in the Help file, but there's one thing missing,
the fact that the menu should not be opened. Basically, what you have to do
is the following:
open Word (obviously), then hit Apple, Option (just to make sure, that's the
key right next to the Apple key) and the minus key. The pointer will then
turn into a black minus sign, and only then can you click on the work menu.
Notice that as soon as you do so, the pointer will turn back to normal, but
the function is still active. Just click on the file you want to remove from
the menu, and it should disappear.
I hope this solved the problem. I'm using a Powerbook, so basically, my
keyboard has less keys than any desktop Mac keyboard, but I don't think
there's any difference in the keyboard combination for mobile resp.
stationary Macs in this particular case.

Cheers
Michel

 

[Lofty Becker]

I am trying to delete an item from the Work menu. According to Help,
the instructions are:

To Remove a document from the Work menu:
1. Press Command(Apple)+OPTION+MINUS.
The pointer turns into a black minus sign.
2. On the Work menu, click the document you want to remove.

However, I have tried that and I can't get the cursor to turn into a
black minus sign. I have tried both the minus(dash)/plus key on the
top row, as well as the minus key on the keypad. Neither works to turn
the cursor into a black minus sign.

Anyone experience this before and know what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks for any suggestions!

I can't give much help, but I can say that I've got the same problem and
it's driving me nuts.

Here's what I know:

1. The problem isn't endemic to my version of Word, because I can log in
as Root and command-option-minus properly gives me the minus cursor. Of
course that doesn't do me any good, since Root's Work menu isn't the
same as mine, but it does tell me that the copy of Word that I'm using
has the functionality.

2. The problem likewise isn't just a cosmetic failure to show the minus
cursor, since if I command-option-minus when I'm logged in as me and
choose an item from the Work menu, it opens the item not deletes it.

3. It would appear, then, that something I'm using manages to interfere
with Word's seeing the command-option-minus. There are a variety of
possibilities (I use, among other things that look at inputs, QuickKeys
and Spell Catcher), but I've done everything that I can think of to
disable them (in the case of Spell Catcher, deselecting its input method
and throwing the app in the trash; for QuickKeys, taking it -- and
everything else -- out of my Startup Items list). No joy. Still the same
problem.

4. I could live with this if I could figure out a convenient way of
resetting the Work menu. But the only one I've found so far is to
reinstall Word, hardly something I want to do very often. I'm sure that
somewhere there's a file containing the files in the Work menu, but I
don't know and haven't been able to figure out what it is.

I too would love to get this function working again.

-Lofty

 

[JE McGimpsey]

4. I could live with this if I could figure out a convenient way of
resetting the Work menu. But the only one I've found so far is to
reinstall Word, hardly something I want to do very often. I'm sure that
somewhere there's a file containing the files in the Work menu, but I
don't know and haven't been able to figure out what it is.

I manipulate the work menu in code all the time.

This allows you to be selective:

Public Sub ClearWorkMenuItems()
Dim i As Long
Dim nDelete As Long
For i = WorkMenuItems.Count To 1 Step -1
nDelete = MsgBox("Delete """ & _
WorkMenuItems(i).Name & """?", _
Buttons:=vbYesNo)
If nDelete = vbYes Then WorkMenuItems(i).Delete
Next i
End Sub

This macro will completely clear the menu:

Public Sub ClearWorkMenu()
Dim wmItem As WorkMenuItem
For each wmItem in WorkMenuItems
wmItem.Delete
Next wmItem
End Sub

 

[Clive Huggan]

Michel,

Thank you for your advice. I've experienced similar problems but I suspect
they may have occurred when the menu was open. I'll keep your advice handy
till next time!


Cheers,

Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is at least 5 hours different from the US and Europe, so my
follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
============================================================

 

[Lofty Becker]

This allows you to be selective:

Thanks, JE!

Works like a charm and much more elegant than what I was thinking of
(finding the file in which the information is stored and editing it in a
text editor).

Now, if I can only figure out what is intercepting the
command-option-minus key combination....

-Lofty

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

(finding the file in which the information is stored and editing it in a

text editor).

Just by the way, the Word prefs file holds the Work Menu info.
~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/com.microsoft.Word.prefs.plist

Another advantage of JE's code--if you have to trash your prefs, resetting
checkboxes doesn't take that long, but resetting the Work menu's a severe
hassle. My thanks as well, JE, I still haven't redone mine.
DM

 

[JE McGimpsey]

Another advantage of JE's code--if you have to trash your prefs, resetting
checkboxes doesn't take that long, but resetting the Work menu's a severe
hassle. My thanks as well, JE, I still haven't redone mine.

Actually, it's not that big a hassle <g>.

I keep a text file in my MUD folder with the file names I want in my
Work menu. Then I run this in my startup add-in:

Public Sub LoadWorkMenu()
Const sPATH As String = "<path to MUD folder>"
Const sFILE As String = "workmenu_list.txt"
Dim nFile As Long
Dim sInput As String

nFile = FreeFile
Open sPATH & Application.PathSeparator & sFILE _
For Input As #nFile
Do While Not EOF(nFile)
Input #nFile, sInput
If Dir(sInput) <> "" Then WorkMenuItems.Add sInput
Loop
Close #nFile
End Sub

I then write the list back to the text file when Word closes:

Public Sub SaveWorkMenu()
Const sPATH As String = "<path to MUD folder>"
Const sFILE As String = "workmenu_list.txt"
Dim nFile As Long
Dim i As Long

nFile = FreeFile
Open sPATH & Application.PathSeparator & sFILE _
For Output As #nFile
For i = WorkMenuItems.Count To 1 Step -1
With WorkMenuItems(i)
Write #nFile, .Path & Application.PathSeparator & .Name
.Delete
End With
Next i
Close #nFile
End Sub

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi,

I think MacOSX intercepts this particular keyboard combination if you
have certain accessibility options turned on.

-Jim

 

[Lofty Becker]

Bingo!

I had (for reasons unknown to me) turned zooming on. That intercepts
command-option-minus. Turning it off restored the functionality.

Thank you, thank you!

-Lofty

 

[John McGhie]

Mr McGimpsey, I think we require that one for the Website, hmmm?

You want to throw some words around it?

Cheers

Actually, it's not that big a hassle <g>.

I keep a text file in my MUD folder with the file names I want in my
Work menu. Then I run this in my startup add-in:

Public Sub LoadWorkMenu()
Const sPATH As String = "<path to MUD folder>"
Const sFILE As String = "workmenu_list.txt"
Dim nFile As Long
Dim sInput As String

nFile = FreeFile
Open sPATH & Application.PathSeparator & sFILE _
For Input As #nFile
Do While Not EOF(nFile)
Input #nFile, sInput
If Dir(sInput) <> "" Then WorkMenuItems.Add sInput
Loop
Close #nFile
End Sub

I then write the list back to the text file when Word closes:

Public Sub SaveWorkMenu()
Const sPATH As String = "<path to MUD folder>"
Const sFILE As String = "workmenu_list.txt"
Dim nFile As Long
Dim i As Long

nFile = FreeFile
Open sPATH & Application.PathSeparator & sFILE _
For Output As #nFile
For i = WorkMenuItems.Count To 1 Step -1
With WorkMenuItems(i)
Write #nFile, .Path & Application.PathSeparator & .Name
.Delete
End With
Next i
Close #nFile
End Sub

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[JE McGimpsey]

Mr McGimpsey, I think we require that one for the Website, hmmm?

You want to throw some words around it?

Sure - General, or Mac-specific?

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Sure - General, or Mac-specific?

I would think he means for the MacWord site. Does this issue come up also
in WinWord, enough to post it there as well?

Thanks,

Beth

 

[JE McGimpsey]

I would think he means for the MacWord site. Does this issue come up also
in WinWord, enough to post it there as well?

Dunno. That's why I was asking.

 

[Paul Berkowitz]

Just a suggestion that instead of requiring everyone to hard-code their own
path to MUD folder (which they may not even understand what you mean by that
nor how to write it) you could substitute:

Dim sPATH As String
sPATH = MacScript("tell application ""Microsoft Entourage"" to get (path
to MUD) as string")


--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP MacOffice
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/index.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>

Please "Reply To Newsgroup" to reply to this message. Emails will be
ignored.

PLEASE always state which version of Microsoft Office you are using -
**2004**, X or 2001. It's often impossible to answer your questions
otherwise.

 

[JE McGimpsey]

Just a suggestion that instead of requiring everyone to hard-code their own
path to MUD folder (which they may not even understand what you mean by that
nor how to write it) you could substitute:

Dim sPATH As String
sPATH = MacScript("tell application ""Microsoft Entourage"" to get (path
to MUD) as string")

That'll work if Entourage is already running. If not, however, it puts a
horrible, unacceptable delay in Word's startup and shutdown. (There are
many times I don't want to wait for Entourage, like the once or twice a
week the database gets corrupted and I'm forced to rebuild it - I
already have to quit Word in order to start the rebuild, I sure as hell
don't want to wait for it to finish before restarting Word***).

If you want to make it automatic for Word04, it's easier to use

Dim sPath As String
sPath = Application.NormalTemplate.Path


Of course, it *should* be stored where MacBU *should* have put the MUD
folder if they actually were a good OS X citizen (I know that they know
they should put it there, the mystery is why they don't). That's the

~:LIbrary:Application Support:Microsoft Office:Word

folder. That can be also be found easily, and can be used for Word v.X:

Const sSUPPORT_PATH As String = _
":Application Support:Microsoft Office:Word:"
Const sFILE_NAME As String = "test.txt"
Dim sPath As String
sPath = Options.DefaultFilePath(wdUserOptionsPath)
sPath = StrConv(Left(sPath, InStr(sPath, "preferences") - 1), _
vbProperCase) & sSUPPORT_PATH




***can you tell what my Entourage is up to for the second time in three
days?

 

[John McGhie]

Hi John:

General, please. Manipulating the Work Menu is a problem in all versions.

A casual scan of your code shows it would run in either platform.

And since they infested PC Word with the execrable Task Pane, more and more
users are searching for a way to "Keep a list of my favourite documents
handy".

On the PC, they have had three or four attempts to produce a "work" list of
files, and none of them work well enough to be used. The "Favourites"
folder is the most offensive: on a network, it causes a very annoying delay
each time you attempt to drag across the item in the start menu, which the
network sucks down the contents of t he user's networked Favourites
folder...

Cheers

Sure - General, or Mac-specific?

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[JE McGimpsey]

General, please. Manipulating the Work Menu is a problem in all versions.

I've put up a first draft at

http://www.mcgimpsey.com/macoffice/office/word/nospacebetween.html

Criticism is appreciated.

 

[John McGhie]

Thanks John:

When everyone decides that it's wonderful, would you please email Beth or I
to get it up on the MVP website?

Cheers

I've put up a first draft at

http://www.mcgimpsey.com/macoffice/office/word/nospacebetween.html

Criticism is appreciated.

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[Paul_Redfern]

Bingo over here too! This has been bugging me for almost as long as I've
been using Office XP for Mac (which is for as long as it's been out!), & I
too had Zoom turned on.
Mr McGimpsey's macro worked a peach too. I thought I knew something about
writing Word macros, but I know now how little I do know... Pats on backs
all round.

Paul