TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Re: Viable substitute for Word Master Document "feature"
Subject:Re: Viable substitute for Word Master Document "feature" From:Jessica N Lange <jlange -at- OHIOEE -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 4 Aug 1997 08:56:09 -0400
Horace Smith wrote:
0.5 If you have tables, be sure each has a tag such as Table Caption.
1. Save the first chapter, section, whatever, in a new file and name it
MASTER.DOC. If you going for double-side, be sure it has an even number of
pages.
<stuff snipped>
10. Go back to MASTER.DOC, erase the TOF, select whatever you called your
Tables and do what you did for figures.
11. Sometimes you have to reinsert a chapter to make it work, but it
usually does. What you have done, of course, is what the Word Master
Document should have done in the first place, but doesn't.
Horace's method seems cumbersome to me.
I've been using MS Word for the last 7 years to create and update a number of very long manuals (from 120 pages to 500+), complete with TOCs and Indexes.
1. Each chapter is a separate document. Graphics are always linked not embedded,*
which keeps file size down
2. At the start of each file is a Seq field code.
3. The TOC and the Index are each separate documents. They are created using
an RD field code for each chapter document, plus TOC or INDEX field code.
o Saving files is never a problem: individual files are not too large.
o Smaller files are quicker to open and scroll through. Quicker to get to the location or information I need to be at.
o Creating the TOC and Index are fast and easy. Caveat: Word opens each file referenced with the RD fields to extract the headings or index entries. You must have enough memory for all the files: i.e. if you have 16 meg of files, you need at least 16 meg RAM (probably more: I have 32).
The Downside:
o You may need to manually specify the START AT page number for each file, depending on your numbering scheme (Insert/Page Numbers/Format). This is no problem for me: I only care about page numbers at final printing of the master (original) document. The TOC and Index docs are printed last, after I'm sure all page numbers in referenced chapter docs are correct.
o You can't reference by page number across files. Instead I refer to "Heading Title in Chapter #"
*Note: I upgraded to Word97 in January, then reverted back to Word95 because of the graphics problem: scaled graphics were un-scaled and put in at 100%. This occurred even when creating the TOC/index since Word opens the files and repaginates them. By opening the files, the graphics were un-scaled and the entire layout destroyed. MS has posted a fix for this (KB ID: Q162579) but I haven't tried it yet.
Jessica N. Lange
Technical Communicator
Ohio Electronic Engravers Inc mailto:jlange -at- ohioee -dot- com
TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot- Send commands
to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/ or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html
