xml and templates

[raoul dobal]

What I would like to do is to create a word template that
is linked with an xml scheme.
Of course I could write the doc with the xml-hierarchy,
marking and selecting, but I do not see the average user
to really use that. They are used to word templates. I
would like to create a simple template that has a
structure and defined content. This I then could export
into xml, forgetting about the wordML formatting and
process further.

How do I link a template with a tag taken from a scheme
or am I completely off course with this idea?

 

[Cindy Meister -WordMVP-]

Hi Raoul,

First thing you need is Word 2003, which is currently in
beta. XML is supported in that version, for pretty much the
scenario you describe. You attach a schema to a document
via Tools/Templates and Addins/XML Schema (via the Schema
library, if it's a new schema). Note that, in order for
everything to work correctly, the schema must fully support
Namespaces, IOW be valid as well as well-formed.

You CAN then display the document, with the schema in a task
pane on the right, and the user can insert elements and type
text into them. Not terribly user friendly, but it does
work. And there is a VBA interface that could make it
user-friendlier.

What the XML stuff is really there for, however, is SMART
DOCUMENT solutions. This is based on the SmartTag
functionality in previous versions of Word: you create a DLL
in a language like VB6 or Visual Studio. Set up a document,
linked to a schema, with the XML tags. The XML tags are not
visible by default, but depending on where the cursor is in
the document (in which element) the Document Actions task
pane offers the user instructions and tools to create the
document.

What I would like to do is to create a word template that
is linked with an xml scheme.
Of course I could write the doc with the xml-hierarchy,
marking and selecting, but I do not see the average user
to really use that. They are used to word templates. I
would like to create a simple template that has a
structure and defined content. This I then could export
into xml, forgetting about the wordML formatting and
process further.

How do I link a template with a tag taken from a scheme
or am I completely off course with this idea?

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jan
24 2003)
http://www.mvps.org/word

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