Exporting selections from existing doc to new doc

[Joseph N.]

[Wd2003] I have one existing document with a substantial amount of
text that is divided into sections. I would like to be able to select
a section, then export it to create a new document that comprises only
that section. There does not seem to be a way to do that. Is there?

The situation is this: I have multiple documents that vary in many
respects, but there are many sections that are, or ought to be, the
same from one document to the other. It is too difficult, and too
prone to error, to find and modify each section in each document when
changes are necessary. So I would like, instead, to have those
sections as free-standing documents, which can then be brought into
the various "real" documents by an INCLUDETEXT field. It would take
far too long to copy each section, create a new document, paste the
section into the new document, save and close it, and then return to
the composite document and do the same thing with the next section.
Isn't there some way to "zap" a portion of text into a newly created
document?

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

There isn't anything built in to do this (ignoring the master document
feature for the moment). You could write a macro to take the tedium out of
it, but the standard way to do what you want is by copying and pasting into
a new document--and your macro would probably do exactly that. Or... you
could delete everything except the section you want in the new document, and
then Save As to a new file name. Either way, it's tedious.

If it weren't for the fact that the master document feature is notorious for
corrupting document, it could probably do exactly what you want. It
automatically creates separate documents based on document sections. The
problem is, however, that it's very volatile, and in my experience
eventually corrupts EVERY document it touches. As another MVP once said, the
question isn't IF, but WHEN.

Given that, your best best would be to write a macro.

 

[Peter A]

[Wd2003] I have one existing document with a substantial amount of
text that is divided into sections. I would like to be able to select
a section, then export it to create a new document that comprises only
that section. There does not seem to be a way to do that. Is there?

The situation is this: I have multiple documents that vary in many
respects, but there are many sections that are, or ought to be, the
same from one document to the other. It is too difficult, and too
prone to error, to find and modify each section in each document when
changes are necessary. So I would like, instead, to have those
sections as free-standing documents, which can then be brought into
the various "real" documents by an INCLUDETEXT field. It would take
far too long to copy each section, create a new document, paste the
section into the new document, save and close it, and then return to
the composite document and do the same thing with the next section.
Isn't there some way to "zap" a portion of text into a newly created
document?

You could write a macro that does all of this (except for selecting the
text).

 

[Joseph N.]

Peter and Herb, thanks for your replies about macros. That's probably
the way to go.

But, one last question before heading that way. Herb, on the master
document idea, since the corruption problems are generally considered
to be a confusion of pointers, it seems plausible that Wd2007's XML
structure might resolve the issue. So, I guess there are two
questions: 1. Do you, or anyone, have information on whether that's
the case or not? and 2. If that is so, i.e., that OfficeXML repairs
whatever caused master docs in previous versions to corrupt, then
would saving to .docx from Word2003, through the compatibility pack,
be sufficient?

Thanks.

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

As I was writing the Bible, I had high hopes for the master document feature
for precisely that reason. Alas, while putting the master document feature
through its paces, it a) crashed Word 2007 repeatedly, and b) quickly
corrupted every document I was testing. This was true in the released
version of Word 2007... not just the beta. My sense is that the basic
mechanism for handling master documents wasn't reworked, and so the problems
still remain.

 

[Joseph N.]

Oh Herb. That is not the answer I was hoping for.

Between my OP and your last reply, I was playing with the master doc
possibilities for my project, and it really is the ideal solution. I
wonder whether OpenOffice's master document architecture is more
stable....

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

I haven't used the feature in OpenOffice... but I suspect it couldn't be
LESS stable than Word's. ;-)

Still, you might give the one in Word 2007 a try. Admittedly, I haven't
touched the feature since applying SP1. And, while I haven't heard anything
about improvements to it, you never know...

However... Completely replicate ALL of your files involved in the experiment
(i.e., copy to a new folder) before experimenting with the master document
feature. When it screws up, it takes no prisoners! So, if that happens,
you'll want an uncorrupted copy of all files that get touched by Master
Document (yes... he has a whip!).

 

[Joseph N.]

you'll want an uncorrupted copy of all files that get touched by Master

Document (yes... he has a whip!).

And you a Bible writer; you have a wide range, Mr. T!

Thanks for the suggestions. Here goes.

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

Master Document is known by many Biblical names... all synonyms for Satan.
Hmmm... maybe it works properly only if you're trying to combine 666
subdocuments. ;-)