Automator action for Word

[Roger Morris]

JE McGimpsey wrote, in a thread entitled "Confusion on Templates" a day
or so ago, about using an 'Automator Action' to delete the template
Normal at Word startup.

I have been looking at Automator actions for Word but cannot, at
present, see how one like this would work or be invoked.

Any chance of a clue or details?

Also, are there any libraries of automator actions for Word (& Excel)
which can be downloaded (if useful)?

Many thanks

(Mac OS X 10.4.9, MS Office 11.3.4)
Roger

 

[Michel Bintener]

Hi Roger,

there are no built-in Automator actions for Word, and even if there were,
you wouldn't need them to get rid of the Normal template. Normal is a
regular file which you can access via the Finder, so just use one of the
regular Finder actions to get rid of it (Get Specified Finder Items -> Move
to Trash). I'm not sure which method JE uses to run this Automator action
whenever he opens Word, but I'm sure he'll be along in no time to give you a
more detailed explanation.

As for Microsoft Office Automator actions: there is a free collection that
can be downloaded here:

<http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/automator/microsoftofficeautomatoract
ions.html>

I don't know how useful these actions are as I haven't tried them yet, but
you can't beat the price, can you?

JE McGimpsey wrote, in a thread entitled "Confusion on Templates" a day
or so ago, about using an 'Automator Action' to delete the template
Normal at Word startup.

I have been looking at Automator actions for Word but cannot, at
present, see how one like this would work or be invoked.

Any chance of a clue or details?

Also, are there any libraries of automator actions for Word (& Excel)
which can be downloaded (if useful)?

Many thanks

(Mac OS X 10.4.9, MS Office 11.3.4)
Roger

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***

 

[JE McGimpsey]

JE McGimpsey wrote, in a thread entitled "Confusion on Templates" a day
or so ago, about using an 'Automator Action' to delete the template
Normal at Word startup.

Actually, I miswrote - deleting that template on startup is the
beginning of a pretty simple workflow:

Finder: Find Finder items in Microsoft User Data folder whose name
contains Normal

Finder: Move result of previous action to Trash

Finder: Launch Application Microsoft Word.

I have been looking at Automator actions for Word but cannot, at
present, see how one like this would work or be invoked.

I put this workflow on the Dock instead of Word's icon.

Any chance of a clue or details?

Also, are there any libraries of automator actions for Word (& Excel)
which can be downloaded (if useful)?

I do all my own, but Michel's link looks interesting.

Writing Applescript-based Automator actions is pretty easy using Xcode.
Here's a couple of links:

http://developer.apple.com/tools/xcode/automatorforxcode.html

http://www.macnn.com/articles/05/11/07/automator.action/

http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2005/05/03/automator.html