Is this possible...?

[josi]

This may seem a very strange question but is something I have been thinking
about for a while. This is the situation:

I work in an office as the only typist for several people. At the top of
letters is a reference made up of the initials, in upper case, of the person
who has dictated (or handwritten) the letter followed by an oblique stroke
and my initials (in lower case letters).

So far, so good. However, if I am absent for any reason, the people type
their own letters by using a previous document and Save As..., or even type
a letter from scratch. They always use the same reference at the top of the
letter (i.e. including my initials).

Apart from an element of pride (I confess!) as they aren't very accurate
typists, this can lead to confusion when at some future date, they query
something which I have supposedly typed.

What I would love to do is to find some way of unobtrusively indicating in a
document when I have actually typed it. I have thought of entering somethng
in the document properties but that wouldn't work when they use Save As...

Any ideas, please?

 

[Graham Mayor]

The first thing to do is to stop your colleagues using old letters as a
basis for new ones and create proper templates.
http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/Letterhead.htm. which put their own
reference details in the masthead automatically.

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[josi]

If only it were that easy! They won't do that. All the letters are on the
server and nothing will stop them using Save As...
It would be better if they would just change the reference but "it has
always been done like this" - i.e. when they have had previous typists. I'm
only an employee and don't want to rock the boat.

 

[Graham Mayor]

Rocking the boat was always one of the most enjoyable things about working


--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[ab]

Unfortunately, not in this case!

Any other ideas on the original question, please?

 

[Graham Mayor]

If the users have free rein to do what they want on this PC, there is
nothing you can do about their mistakes.

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[Ed]

If your work environment allows you to have and run macros, what you could
do is set up a special "SaveAs" macro that resides on your computer which
not only saves the document but creates a Document variable with your name
and the date of saving. You can't make the others change what _they_ do,
but ~you~ can do something different!

Ed

 

[ab]

But is there any way I can have a 'hidden' indication of the documents I
have typed?

By the way, they don't use my PC, they open the documents off the server
where everything is stored.

 

[ab]

Now that sounds interesting! Yes, I have and run macros but could you point
me in the right direction to find out how to do this, please.

 

[Ed]

Read the VBA Help for the "Variable Object". Not that I'm trying to push
you off, but there's more there than what I can explain. Also do a Google
groups search through groups *word* for "docvariable". Basically, you set a
metadata variable in the document and assign it the value you want. Then
read it using the DOCVARIABLE field.

So something like this, perhaps.

Sub DocVarMySave()
Dim nowDate As Date ' today's date
Dim varMe As Variable ' the variable to hold your data
Dim strMe As String ' your data
strMe = "" ' initialize to an empty string
nowDate = Format(Date, "dd mmm yy")

'Loop through all vaiables in ActiveDocument
For Each varMe In ActiveDocument.Variables
If varMe.Name = "MySave" Then
strMe = "Last saved on " & nowDate & " by josi" '<< replace with your
data
varMe.Value = strMe
End If
Next varMe

If strMe = "" Then ' no variable containing your data was found in this
doc
' create variable and assign your initials
ActiveDocument.Variables.Add Name:= "Last saved on " & nowDate & " by
josi" '<< replace with your data
End If
End Sub

Then do a SaveAs.

Then if there is ever a question, you would insert a DOCVARIABLE field to
read it. Type Ctrl+F9 and the in between the braces put
DOCVARIABLE "MySave". If the date is not when the document properties last
shows it was saved, it's not yours.

This isn't the greatest method, I know. But maybe it will get you started
into something more helpful. Or perhpas an MVP will come along and give
better advice.

Cheers!
Ed

 

[Pop`]

This may seem a very strange question but is something I have been
thinking about for a while. This is the situation:

I work in an office as the only typist for several people. At the top
of letters is a reference made up of the initials, in upper case, of
the person who has dictated (or handwritten) the letter followed by
an oblique stroke and my initials (in lower case letters).

So far, so good. However, if I am absent for any reason, the people
type their own letters by using a previous document and Save As...,
or even type a letter from scratch. They always use the same
reference at the top of the letter (i.e. including my initials).

Apart from an element of pride (I confess!) as they aren't very
accurate typists, this can lead to confusion when at some future
date, they query something which I have supposedly typed.

What I would love to do is to find some way of unobtrusively
indicating in a document when I have actually typed it. I have
thought of entering somethng in the document properties but that
wouldn't work when they use Save As...
Any ideas, please?

Assuming it's an area others will type in but is always in the document:
I've done something similar with emails to validate that they came from me
and not an impersonator. I find a place that will always exist in them, and
place a reverse apostrophe in the text. It's nearly invisible at a glance,
and only people I communicate with are aware of it<g>.
Another possibility is to use a keypad code that only you know. e.g. you
could make one of the letters appear different and most people wouldn't be
aware of how to duplicate it. Use it to put your own initials in Greek or
some such different style works, too.

Then there's hidden text, too; useful when done correctly.

Kind of far out, but ... <g>

A fill-in field might work, where you have to type in your initiatls (or
theirs) whenever the file is closed? Dunno.

Pop`

 

[Graham Mayor]

If they are opening your documents then whatever they contain (hidden or
otherwise) will still be in those documents. I suppose you could insert your
initials formatted as hidden within a paragraph that will be deleted, but I
wouldn't rely on it. What this organisation of yours needs *badly* is some
training. I suppose it will happen when one of these users deletes a
valuable document. You could certainly deter them by providing a template
for their new letters and password protecting your documents so they can't
open them.

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[josi]

I would love to do that, Graham. I totally agree they need training but
until they see the need, I'll have to put up with it!
More than my jobs worth to password protect my documents. I only work part
time and they often have to open my documents, which are left on the server,
so that's not an option anyway.

I have been looking into other suggestions about a macro but I am not sure
that would achieve what I'm looking for - even if I understood how to set it
up. I'll keep trying.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I think Graham was thinking of a password to modify, not password to open,
but that wouldn't keep them from using Save As, so we're back where we
started.

 

[ab]

It's just so frustrating. Today, there were some letters for me to do the
labels (they can't do them!) and I found quite a few mistakes - not
spellings or anything like that but just layouts, inconsistent spacing, etc.
Even if I pointed these things out to them, they wouldn't think it
important - that's not their line of business!

Perhaps a future version of Word will address this problem - though I doubt
it.

Just as a matter of interest, does anyone else have this problem?

 

[Tom Ferguson]

You might use an inserted field. For example, place thge cursor at an
appropriate place, navigate to insert fiels and selece user initial
from the list.

If whomever subs for you is in the habit of opening an old file and
modifying it, there are situatiopns in which the field will not update.
However, given that that person is not using your computer, there is a good
change the initials will change to those recorded in User Information in the
Word of the machine being used.

Tom
MSMVP
Windows Shell/User

 

[ab]

Will try that! Thanks

You might use an inserted field. For example, place thge cursor at an
appropriate place, navigate to insert fiels and selece user initial
from the list.

If whomever subs for you is in the habit of opening an old file and
modifying it, there are situatiopns in which the field will not update.
However, given that that person is not using your computer, there is a
good change the initials will change to those recorded in User Information
in the Word of the machine being used.

Tom
MSMVP
Windows Shell/User

 

[josi]

Have tried this at home. I thought it was working but having sent the doc to
my husband's PC and done a Save As (as would be done at the office, the
initials did not automatically update. Of course, I could update manually
but the others in the office would not do that!

I don't suppose a macro could be written to automatically update the
initials, either when the document is open or saved/printed?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Undoubtedly a macro could do this. The problem with a macro, though, is that
your other users will get a macro prompt and may elect to disable macros.

 

[Tom Ferguson]

The faint hope is that the other person will print the document and has the
print-time option set that updates field codes.



Tom

MSMVP

Windows Shell/User