Charles,
Thank you for the very exhaustive list of web sites regarding
Word/WordPerfect differences and other Word tutorial sites.
I must remind even myself my goal was to print a graphic on an
envelope,
not
to become a Word MVP.
I feel like the parent that called the doctor to inquire about
treatment
for
my son's scrapped knee to be given a semester by semester profile of
course
requuirements that would eventually lead to a residency in medicine.
What I got out of the essays regarding Word versus WordPerfect was that
reveal codes does not work in Word as well as in WordPerfect because in
Word
the formatting isn't placed in the document at the point where it was
entered but in an unreadable (via hex text editor) portion of the file
as
an
appendage to the text. Also Word has formatting at various levels,
such
as
individual character, paragraphs then on an even more macro level in
what
are
called styles. Like circles within circles, which, unfortunately isn't
how I
think.
Perhaps these impressions are all wrong and if so, please help me to
better
understand what I missed.
I checked with several people I know that work full time positions in
an
offrice setting and asked about their use of styles and other concepts
I
was
introduced to in my quest to print a graphic on an envelope and each
one
said
they just typed the business letter or cover sheet and that was it.
These
aren't obviously publishers of complex documents but what I would
consider
the majority of users.
When teaching statistics, when asked a question I could not answer
clearly
and informatively, I would instead throw a bushell basket of
statistical
knowledge their way and hope it appeased them.
I will use your reference material as a source for advanced Word
training,
but getting that graphic on the envelope is still an elusive matter.
Thank you,
Steve Koenig
:
I guess you are one of us. I, too, started with a dedicated Word
Processing
machine (Dictaphone). Moved to MultiMate, then WP. In none of these
was
an
envelope at all easy. WP has never been straightforward but it has one
way
of looking at a document and Word has a completely different way of
doing
things. Neither is especially intuitive. I haven't used WP since
version
9.
At one time, I had WP macros I had written that were hundreds of
lines.
Here is some general info on moving from Word Perfect to Word:
Word and Word Perfect work very differently from one another. Each
program's
methods have strengths and weaknesses; but, if you try to use one of
these
programs as if it were the other, it is like pushing on a string! You
can
easily make a lot of extra work for yourself. In the (short) long term
(weeks rather than years) spending the time to learn Word will save
you
time
if you are spending any time at all (more than an hour a day) using
Word.
See
http://www.addbalance.com/word/wordperfect.htm
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/WordVsWordPerfect.htm
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/TipsAndGotchas.htm
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/RevealCodes.htm
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/WordPerfectConverters.htm
http://businesssoft.about.com/compute/businesssoft/library/blconvert.htm
for information on Word for Word Perfect users.
For more:
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart2.htm
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart1.htm
http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/templates.htm
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Numbering/WordsNumberingExplained.htm
http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/styles.htm
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Customization/WhatTemplatesStore.htm
Function Keys
In Word 2000 (or later) You can get the function keys to display in a
special toolbar at the bottom of the screen if you want (something
like
pressing F3 twice in WP). The following macro will do this.
Sub ShowMeFunctionKeys()
Commandbars("Function Key Display").Visible = True
End Sub
Word's Extend key (F8) gives something similar to block processing.
The F4 key will repeat the last action, although sometimes gives very
strange results.
Formatting and Styles
Learn about Styles - really learn!
http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/styles.htm I resisted for years
and
now
regret every day of those years because although that string was still
very
hard to push, it kept getting longer and longer, and had some very
important
projects tied to it! Once you understand styles and the Word concept
of
organizing things into Chinese boxes everything falls into place and
instead
of pushing a string, you can push a button that turns on the very
powerful
text processing machine known as Microsoft Word and it will start
doing
your
work for you instead of running around behind you trying to undo what
you
just thought you did.
Converting documents Word / Word Perfect
Some special characters in Word Perfect documents don't convert well
to
Word. There is a macro to assist with this described at
http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/wpdos/wptoword.html#macroword and can be
found
at
http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/wpdos/WPSymbolConv.bas.
This was prepared by Edward Mendelson.
Otherwise, look at the macro from
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=212396
Use these on _copies_!
As for converting documents from Word Perfect to _use_ in Word... In a
word,
don't plan on it. I would not recommend using converted documents
long-term.
They will be filled with formatting anomolies that will get you at the
worst
time. This is especially true of any documents containing automatic
numbering or bullets. Try recreating form documents in Word using the
following process:
In Word Perfect (if you still have it, in Word if not) save your files
as
text files.
Use your converted files as references to show you how you want your
formatting to look.
Create a new document in Word and insert the text from the text file.
Save
this new document as a Word template. Format it the way you want using
styles, not direct formatting. Save it again.
To use a template within Word, use File => New and pick your template.
This
will create a new document for you.
Merge documents have special problems and should be recreated from
text
files or retyped in Word. To convert data files, consider generating
labels
in WP as a document, converting that to Word, and then using
http://www.gmayor.com/convert_labels_into_mail_merge.htm to get a new
Word
data file.
Note that conversions usually do create documents that look passable
and
print OK; the problems I'm referring to have to do with editing /
making
changes, that is, using the documents long-term. (See below on reusing
documents vs. using templates.)
Conversion back to Word Perfect: There is a problem (in addition to
the
ones
mentioned for conversion _to_ Word) with Version 2002 (XP) and later
of
Word. The conversion file only works for conversion _to_ Word, not
from
Word
to Word Perfect! Earlier versions went both ways. To fix this, you
need
to
find the old conversion file WPFT532.CNV from a Word 97 or Word 2000
installation and copy it to your new installation, replacing the file
of
the
same name. Note, the change making the file one-way was done as a
security
measure. While I don't know of any problems the old file causes, keep
the
new installation's file somewhere as a backup just in case.
Boilerplate and Forms
In WP a lot of people use macros to hold chunks of text - boilerplate.
In
Word this function is filled by Templates, AutoText and AutoCorrect,
not
macros. Follow the links at
http://addbalance.com/word/wordwebresources.htm#AutoText for more
information on these tools.
You can use FILLIN and ASK fields or UserForms to query the user. For
more
about online forms, follow the links at
http://addbalance.com/word/wordwebresources.htm#Forms or
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/FillinTheBlanks.htm especially
Dian
Chapman's series of articles. You may also want to look at
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/LinesInForms.htm.
Reusing Documents vs. Using templates
General practice in WP is to have a document and copy and edit it to
create
a new document. This is not good practice in Word. In Word, construct
a
good, tight, template for your documents and use that template when
constructing new documents. Among other things, this can avoid
embarrassing
"metadata" (
http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/metadata.htm) and
things
like surprise headers and footers from creeping into new documents.
It's a lot of reading, I know. It's OK to chunk it down and do a bit
each
day, but I would recommend that you make it a top priority to do that
bit
each day. In the (short) long run, it will save you both time and
grief.
--
Charles Kenyon
Word New User FAQ & Web Directory:
http://addbalance.com/word
Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide)
http://addbalance.com/usersguide
See also the MVP FAQ:
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs which is awesome!
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message
Charles,
Thank you for the reply. However, I will say that when you say, " I
guess
for those of us who struggled in the early days of word processing
and
computers to print an envelope, this seems relatively
straight-forward,"
I
had to laugh. I started word processing on a WANG before IBM
launched
their
dual disk drive 8088 and did the six diskette shuffle with
WordPerfect.
Now
that was straightforward from the beginning. Within the reveal code
screen
formattng codes could be viewed and changed. If I wanted a fancy
return
on
an envelope, I simply created it as a document then selected paper
type
as
envelope.
I appreciate your suggestions to study the various levels of
formatting
within Word and have begun this process. In the mean time I am not
any
closer to getting a graphic on my envelope.
Thank you for trying to help,
Steve Koenig
:
Hi,
Sorry, but Word is complex. Some things require more knowledge of
its
complexities than do others. I guess for those of us who struggled
in
the
early days of word processing and computers to print an envelope,
this
seems
relatively straight-forward.
If you are going to use Word effectively, it is essential that you
learn
how
styles work. Until you do, you will be struggling uphill and it
will
feel
like Word is working against you.
http://addbalance.com/usersguide/styles.htm.
--
Charles Kenyon
Word New User FAQ & Web Directory:
http://addbalance.com/word
Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version
of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide)
http://addbalance.com/usersguide
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