.dot files get corrupted w/time, so iwhy not use Vb.net w/automati

[Marceepoo]

I have found that template (.dot) files eventually get corrupted, and I have
to create new ones in which I re-create all my forms and macros.
Methinks it'd be a better idea for me to program all the macros and forms in
Vb.net, and to use (what I think is called) "automation" to manipulate Word's
built in functioning.
Am I missing something? Or is my perception "right"?
Any thoughts on this would be most welcome and appreciated.

Marc Hankin

 

[Jezebel]

I think there must be something else going on with your system. I've done a
*lot* of Word programming over the past decade: corrupt templates is simply
not an issue. A few of my templates, with macros, have been with me,
progressively upgraded, since W97 was new.

This is not to say that there are no bugs in Word that can bring a template
unstuck. Misuse of the CustomizationContext setting crashes a template
instantly (used to, anyway -- the bug might have been fixed in later
versions); but that's an instant -- rather than eventual -- corruption. You
can do it also by setting up recursive field/bookmark references, but that's
not something you do by accident.

Have you checked your hard disk for surface errors?

 

[Larry]

I have one type of corruption that occurs every few weeks in my
Normal.dot, which makes the display of Courier font look broken and
changes the appearance of the paragraph mark If it's in Courier). The
flaw is not in the projects contained in Normal.dot, but in the file.
The only way to fix it is to rename a backup of Normal as Normal, and
copy the projects of the corrupt old Normal into the New Normal.

In any case, I have macros that create a back up copy of my Normal.dot
(and of my main Global add-in), which I run every time I add new macros
or make any changes in the template.

Larry

 

[Jezebel]

Clearly, that's a specific system fault on your machine. It's not an
inherent fault in Word templates. Certainly mysterious: there's nothing in
normal.dot that controls the appearance of a font.

 

[Larry]

I've had this issue for years. Word will be fine, but after a few
weeks, the Courier font will be all screwed up as I described, and the
only way to fix it is to change the Normal template.

Larry

 

[Jezebel]

Very odd. Have you reformatted your hard disk during this period? -- if not
conceivably it's a disk error right at the spot where normal.dot and
courier.ttf are located. Have you ever tried reinstalling courier?

 

[Larry]

Interesting. There are, ahem, deep issues connected with the display of
Courier that I dealt with years ago but don't remember now. I had a
friend who also had Windows 98 whose Courier wouldn't print correctly at
all and I had to do some research to figure out a way to change some
settings in Windows to get it to work. I will go back to my old notes