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Indexing a 212-page tech document using WORD '03? (take II)
Subject:Indexing a 212-page tech document using WORD '03? (take II) From:Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Mon, 22 Aug 2005 16:03:47 -0400
David Brown added a few comments in response to my notes:
<<That's WAY more complicated than I've ever done in any of the many
manuals I've indexed in Word, over the years...and I almost NEVER use
the "add index entry" UI. I go through a document, front to back,
adding index entries as I go (press Ctrl+F9; type XE, a quotation mark,
the index entry, another quotation mark.)>>
Heck, I was expecting you to say that you used HTML Indexer to do the
job! <g> For those who aren't familiar with the product, have a look at
Dave's site: <http://www.html-indexer.com> Some day, when I have the
time, I'll actually take my own advice and index my own Web site. <g>
In any event, my reaction to this suggestion was: "_That's_
simpler?!?!?" <g> If you're going to do that, you should do it using a
macro: record a macro that inserts all the text for you, types the
quotation marks, then backs up the cursor between the quotes. (That is,
do what the insert index entry function already does, only better! <g>)
<<If I know I'll have a lot of entries with a common heading, I might
type it once, put it on the clipboard, and pasted it everywhere I need
it, appending the approprate subheadings as I go.>>
That's actually a cool tip. If you use the search and replace function
to find repeating phrases that must be indexed, and combine this with
copy/paste, you can save tons of time. Should've thought to mention
that, since I've done exactly that! Thanks for the reminder.
<<The consistency comes from remembering what I've already done.*>>
You're a better man than I, David. I've never been able to keep several
hundred keywords straight in my head, hence the need for editing the
index. My suggestions were a way to minimize the editing.
<<The only difference might be that I'll rebuild the index many times
after the first pass, refining until I have it just the way I want.
It's so quick and easy to compile the index that there's no reason to
woryy about getting everything just right on any particular pass.>>
That's another way to accomplish the same goal I was getting at when
using the second file. The advantage of using the second file is that
it allows copy and paste plus spellcheck, two things you can't do as
easily with an index that acts as a field that must be updated rather
than as plain text.
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