Challenge: Automatically Calculate a Column of Numbers in a Word T

[Rich the Attorney]

(BTW, I know I can insert an Excel spreadsheet, but you have to click into
the spreadsheet to enter numbers, which, of course will automatically
calculate using the SUM function - too much hassle. I also know I simply can
create any form in Excel and use the Excel program directly instead of Word,
but my fellow office personnel do not know how to use Excel.)

So, what I want to do, believe it or not, is: Use a regular Word table and
be able to enter numbers in a column within that table, and have the table
automatically calculate the total without having to click over the Word table
formula and enter F9 each time (too much of a pain).

I thought I was an expert on using Word tables. I have been using Word,
Excel, and PowerPoint for twenty years, and I thought it couldn’t be done.
Until I saw this Word template online:

Go to:
http://www.courts.state.co.us/Self_Help/Forms/Index.cfm/Form_Type_ID/108

Choose the Word Template: JDF 1111 (Sworn Financial Statement)

Go to the bottom of Page 1, and enter a number in the Monthly Deductions
(Mandatory and Voluntary) Table and watch the number in the TOTAL MONTHLY
DEDUCTIONS box change with each number you enter!

Now, the template is locked, so I can’t figure out how it was done: Maybe
with macros? As you can see, the table is an actual Word table and not an
imbedded mini Excel spreadsheet, so a Word table can and will automatically
calculate the numbers therein.

This is a doozy - is there anyone out there who can figure this out?

Thanks!

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

As suspected, it's an ordinary form (password protected) with text form
fields and calculation fields. See
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/FillinTheBlanks.htm and especially
the forms tutorials by Dian Chapman that this article links to.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org