Text Substitution

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Is there a way in Powerpoint 2003 to replace text on a slideat run time?...I
need to have a phone number as a variable. For example, a .txt file in the
same directory as the .ppt/.pps that contains a phone number. In the slide,
it would have a reference to the .txt file and put the contents into the
slide.

Any help would be appreciated...thanks!
 
This could be done with VBA. I have examples that write to text files on my
site, but none that read from text files, but the writing examples could
probably be fairly easily adapted.
--David

--
David M. Marcovitz
Microsoft PowerPoint MVP
Director of Graduate Programs in Educational Technology
Loyola College in Maryland
Author of _Powerful PowerPoint for Educators_
http://www.PowerfulPowerPoint.com/
 
Is there a way in Powerpoint 2003 to replace text on a slideat run time?...I
need to have a phone number as a variable. For example, a .txt file in the
same directory as the .ppt/.pps that contains a phone number. In the slide,
it would have a reference to the .txt file and put the contents into the
slide.
Click to expand...

What David said. Or if you can live with the text updating only when the show
starts (ie, not while it's running) you could simply put the text in an Excel
worksheet then copy it. Switch to PPT and Edit, Paste Special, Link to bring
the text into PPT.

Change the text in the worksheet and it'll update in PPT next time you open the
presentation.
 
I like your solution, much easier...one problem though, I setup the link and
it worked great, I then save the .ppt as a .pps and it works great, the
problem is that I published the .xls and .pps to the web and when the .pps is
opened it pops up with a dialog box and asks to update the link. Is there a
way to setup the link so that it doesn't ask to update it?

thanks for your help Steve
 
I like your solution, much easier...one problem though, I setup the link and
it worked great, I then save the .ppt as a .pps and it works great, the
problem is that I published the .xls and .pps to the web and
Click to expand...

Ahhhh... you didn't say anything about this being published to the web.
That makes quite a big difference, as you've seen.
when the .pps is
opened it pops up with a dialog box and asks to update the link. Is there a
way to setup the link so that it doesn't ask to update it?
Click to expand...

I don't believe so. And it probably won't work in any case since the link won't be
to the file on the web but to the file on your hard drive, which won't be accessible
to people who view it over the web. Or we *hope* not <g>.

This can probably be made to work using VBA, but you need to be sure that the people
who view your presentation will have macro security set to a level that allows your
code to run, else it's wasted effort.
 
Steve...

I did find a way to work it out...I created the .ppt with the link to a cell
in an excel worksheet. It was asking to update the links but I found out how
to stop it. Open the .ppt containing the link...go to Edit >>> Links. In
the subsequent dialog box entitled "Links", at the bottom change the line
from automatic to manual. Next save the .ppt and then save it as a .pps.
Publish the .pps and associated .xls to the web and powerpoint shows the
linked information without asking for an update.

Going forward, all I have to do to update the linked information is to
change the excel spreadsheet and manually update the link...it works great.

Thanks again for all of your help...this really works well.
 
I did find a way to work it out...I created the .ppt with the link to a cell
in an excel worksheet. It was asking to update the links but I found out how
to stop it. Open the .ppt containing the link...go to Edit >>> Links. In
the subsequent dialog box entitled "Links", at the bottom change the line
from automatic to manual. Next save the .ppt and then save it as a .pps.
Publish the .pps and associated .xls to the web and powerpoint shows the
linked information without asking for an update.

Going forward, all I have to do to update the linked information is to
change the excel spreadsheet and manually update the link...it works great.
Click to expand...

Ah .. I thought you wanted it to update automatically each time the presentation opened.

Glad you worked it out.
 
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