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>>I have a potential client who needs to create documents containing 400 to
1500 Excel spreadsheets for print and display. Users must be able to edit
the spreadsheets (in Excel) and have them automatically update in the
document. The user must also be able to delete and add spreadsheets without
screwing up the entire flow. He needs an active, auto-generated TOC. Most of
the spreadsheets are one (8-1/2 inch x 11 inch) page.
I think I could do it in FrameMaker<<
Maybe so. I can't imagine anyone pulling that off in Word; that's just
waaaay to many objects. However, it sounds like what your client wants is to
be able to open up the document, doubleclick on any one page, and edit the
Excel source. Wouldn't each user have to have a copy of Framemaker to do
that, if you created the document in Frame?
>>, but I'm concerned about:
1) Links to Excel spreadsheets can be fickle; I don't need them
disappearing just before printing. <<
Well, there's the crux. Linked objects are indeed fickle, and they add a lot
of overhead. I've stopped using them in Word altogether, because even using
just a few can destabilize the document. 1500? That's just smoking crack.
>>2) Losing the formatting on import. I believe he wants them to look just
like they do when printed out from Excel.<<
I've found Word preserves the look OK. Sometimes I've had to resize the
object to make it work.
>>3) Importing spreadsheet objects does not give access to the text, so the
headings (for the TOC) would have to be manually entered. I don't know if
this will be a problem for him or not.<<
I see what you mean. However, you may be able do it using VBA... that would
be slick.
>>Has anybody done this, either straight from Excel or by PDFing the
spreadsheets? I meet with him tomorrow (Tuesday) to discuss what he wants to
accomplish. <<
I hope you find someone who has done this, because I'd like to know how it
could be done too. I'm not sure what you mean by PDF'ing the spreadsheets,
by the way, but I don't see a solution there.
Personally, I would look for a web-based solution, where the "pages" are
separate files, accessible through a navigation window that provides
structure to the whole thing. A script could automatically update the navbar
to simulate the "active TOC" that he wants.
Trying to stick that much information into one document is... digital
*suicide*, in my opinion. Better to split it into manageable chuncks. Once
the editing is done, then you can talk about how best to print it.
This sounds like an interesting project, but you have a lot more homework to
do. Ask him what his goals and priorities are; it may be that he doesn't
really need all of this in one document. Good luck!
Kevin
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