Building a "Master" Document

  • Thread starter Thread starter Magnusfarce
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Magnusfarce

I have several basic technical reports that I write over and over, each with
moderate variations. I would like to build a "master version" of each that
contains all the variations as options, allowing me to just delete
paragraphs that I don't need rather than searching old reports for the
paragraph or section I need for the rreport at hand. I've written just
about every variation by now, and I plan to put them all together into one
large document.

I picture it working sort of like this: Using the master, I would go
several standard, boilerplate paragraphs and then come to a point where I
would choose one from among several paragraphs, each with a different
outcome and/or recommendation. I would probably format each of these
"option" paragraphs in different colors for visibility. The other "option
paragraphs would just get deleted. This approach would save me time and
improve the quality of the reports by allowing me to use verbage that I've
settled on, rather than rewriting or reinventing that particular wheel so
often.

I'm not sure I've explained this well, but perhaps the idea came across.
I'm sure others have had the same needs, and this may even be an existing
feature in Word (2000, BTW), that I'm not aware of. Any suggestions would
be most helpful.

- Magnusfarce
 
If the paragraphs are mutually exclusive, you might be better served by a
series of AutoTextList fields. Create each paragraph as an AutoText entry
and select among them from a dropdown list; see
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/AutoTextList.htm.

Alternatively, if specific paragraphs are associated with specific needs,
you could create a specific style for each need; to omit unneeded
paragraphs, you would reformat that style as Hidden.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
 
Thanks, Suzanne. Yes, the paragraphs will be mutually exclusive, but I
think I'm going to need to see each of them in toto rather than selecting by
a title or such as that. However, some of the simpler ones should be doable
in that manner. I will study the AutoTextList approach.

If I correctly understand your second suggestion, it probably won't work
that way for me. There will not generally be an overall "theme", but
rather, the "optional" paragraphs will be largely independent of each other
throughout the report.

Finally, are you suggesting that I should just hide instead of deleting the
unused paragraphs? Would that be better in some way?

Thanks again for the help.

- Magnusfarce
 
Personally I would use the method Suzanne advocated, but there is no real
reason why you cannot do this in exactly the way you describe. Create a
template containing all the required texts. Create paragraph styles that
feature the colours you wish to apply to the different paragraph choices,
each based up your standard body text style. After you have deleted the
unwanted paragraphs in the new document based on that template, apply the
original body style to the remaining coloured paragraphs.

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>>< ><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP
E-mail (e-mail address removed)
Web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word
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Question to Graham or Suzanne: If you hide text what prevents a savvy
receiver, assuming document is sent via email instead of snail mail,
unhiding the text and changing the document?

Fay
 
I was assuming a printed document; Hidden text would not print. For
electronic transmission, then yes, you would definitely want to select the
parts in a more permanent way (and unlink the AutoTextList fields before
transmission as well).

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
 
Agreed, but there was nothing in my suggestion either that would suggest the
finished document would contain the hidden text. It was my understanding
that the unwanted bits would be deleted.

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>>< ><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP
E-mail (e-mail address removed)
Web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>>< ><<>
 
My original post, however, did not propose deleting the Hidden text; there
would have been no point in formatting it as Hidden if it were going to be
deleted anyway.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
 
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