Word Count - what does it count?

[Guest]

I use Word Count to get character and line counts for my business. I need to
know what characters Word counts in a file, and how Word defines a character,
line and word. Also, I use the Tools/ Word Count, and it shows number of
characters, words and lines. However, if I divide the number of characters
by 65, (the average size of a line of typing) the result I get is a much
lower number of lines that what Word Count shows as the 'lines'. This is
very confusing.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Word counts the actual number of lines in the document, not some calculated
result based on the number of characters.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

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all may benefit.

 

[PopS]

However, the word count is not an actual count of the words,
right? It seems I read somewhere that it's only an estimate,
albeit fairly close but I don't recall any % accuracy figures.

Or am I all wet?

Pop

: Word counts the actual number of lines in the document, not
some calculated
: result based on the number of characters.
:
: --
: Suzanne S. Barnhill
: Microsoft MVP (Word)
: Words into Type
: Fairhope, Alabama USA
:
: Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so
: all may benefit.
:
: : > I use Word Count to get character and line counts for my
business. I need
: to
: > know what characters Word counts in a file, and how Word
defines a
: character,
: > line and word. Also, I use the Tools/ Word Count, and it
shows number of
: > characters, words and lines. However, if I divide the number
of
: characters
: > by 65, (the average size of a line of typing) the result I
get is a much
: > lower number of lines that what Word Count shows as the
'lines'. This is
: > very confusing.
:

 

[Jay Freedman]

Hi Pop,

The word count in the Tools > Word Count dialog is accurate according
what you would expect -- a "word" is a sequence of letters or digits
delimited by spaces, tabs, or punctuation.

What you may be thinking of is that in a macro, the value of
ActiveDocument.Words.Count is usually much higher. That's because the
..Words collection in VBA counts each paragraph mark and each
punctuation character as a "word" -- which has been causing untold
grief for programmers for many years and is totally inexcusable.