Line Count Word 2000 / 2002

[_Daniel Sullivan]

Hello~



I am not quite sure which category my question falls into, so please excuse
me if you happened to already read this post in another forum. I have spent
a considerable amount of time on Google as well as Microsoft's website
looking for an answer to my question(s), however my efforts have turned up
empty. Hopefully somebody out there will be kind enough to share the
information I am looking for.



Basically, I need as much information regarding the word / line count tool
for Microsoft Word 2000/2002 as possible. I am an IT administrator for a
medical transcription company, so the values calculated to us are very
important as they are used for billing. For the past 10 years or so
(probably longer), we have been using strictly WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS and
Sylcount for DOS to calculate the values for our billing. Now, we are
thinking about starting to hire some transcriptionists using Word 2000/2002,
and I am a little bit confused as to how Word is calculating the values
provided by the word count tool. Basically what I want to know is:



1) The specific criteria that Word uses to constitute a line



2) If it is possible to change the criteria Word uses to perform counts



3) Is there a way to count "visible" lines, i.e. ones that are not
blank?



We have recently purchased Sylcount Gold IV for Windows, and the line count
difference between Word 2000/2002 and Sylcount IV Gold is very substantial.
If there is any information out there regarding the specifications for Word'
s count function, I would be forever in your debt! Thanks much in advance.


~Dan


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[Dave Neve]

Hi

I can't give you any names of software but I've seen some really good word
count stuff which you can configure eg. for repetitive phrases,
including/excluding headers, excluding small words like 'to' etc.

Maybe it's worth looking into?
_Daniel Sulliv

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Word counts lines that contain text. If your transcriptionists are
accustomed to pressing Enter twice to get a "blank line" between paragraphs,
then you'll need to retrain them. Word creates an empty paragraph when they
do this, and it is counted as a line. Instead, they should use styles that
have Space Before or After. An easy way to add 12 pts Space Before (the
equivalent of a blank line) is to press Ctrl+0. One way to help the
transcriptionists is to insist that they work (at least at first) with
nonprinting characters displayed; then they will be very aware of empty
paragraphs, excess spaces, unnecessary tab characters, etc.

There is no way to change the way Word counts words, lines, paragraphs, or
anything else.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Mike DeTuri]

There is a gross line counting macro for Word on my web site in the
Writing section. It removes blank lines between paragraphs, before the
signature line, or in the blank space of a letter. It then counts the
lines. It's there mostly as an example for MTs who want to create their
own line count macros but you should have no trouble modifying it to
suit your needs.

Here's a direct link to the article:
http://www.deturi.com/writing/glnctw97.html

Mike DeTuri
http://www.deturi.com

 

[Ms. Thompson]

I am a medical transcriptionist and have been for over 10 years. I am
currently working at home and our company uses Microsoft Word (any
version) along with another program to hub information. Microsoft has
several ways of counting words, characters, etc., but the standard for
paying MTs is by 65 characters per line. That means even if you have
to type on 10 lines to get 65 characters, you only get paid for 1
line.