Hiding the .dot extension on custom Word templates

[TemplatEd]

Hi there,

Can anyone help me with Word templates, please.

I have created a new word template and placed it in the <XP user profile
directory>/Application Data/Microsoft/Templates folder, inside a subfolder
folderA. When I take the New document action in Word I get the Templates
dialog, and it contains a folderA tab as expected. However, my template
appears in the selection pane with its file extension .dot

Is there any way of getting rid of the .dot extension. None of the Microsoft
examples show it, and I think it does not look at all professional to include
it. I have tried altering the summary properties, but to no avail.

Many thanks in advance if you're able to help.

Kind regards

Ed Roberts

 

[Graham Mayor]

The display of filename extensions is an individual user Windows Explorer
file display setting. Many people prefer to display filename extensions so
that they know exactly what they are dealing with and to avoid virus writers
producing files such as filename.txt.exe to attempt to get users to run
them. Without the extension you get filename.txt which appears to be an
innocent text file. Change it for your own PC if that's what you want, but
don't attempt to impose this on others.

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

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[TemplatEd]

Hi Graham,

Many thanks for your post. I agree wholeheartedly with your views on file
extensions if they are distributed by unknown publishers, however I would
still like to understand how Microsoft's templates can achieve the reduced
display when my own do not. Is it an inbuilt feature of the program, or some
kind of trusted signature within the file?

 

[Jay Freedman]

My understanding is that Microsoft's templates that you see in File > New are
not disk-based files. They're embedded in the WinWord.exe code and displayed as
if they were templates.

There are actual .dot files with the same names in a language-specific subfolder
under C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Templates, but they aren't used unless
you modify the templates and resave them.

It's also worth remembering that code can do just about anything its designers
want it to do. Even if Word was written to use regular .dot files for the
built-in templates, the program could have a list of specific names for which
the extension wouldn't be shown. The effect would be the same.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all
may benefit.

 

[Idaho Word Man]

I think you missed the point of Graham's post. When he said, "The display of
filename extensions is an individual user Windows Explorer file display
setting," I think he meant that even if you set your computer to hide the
file extensions, those extensions would still show for everybody else who
currently has their computer set to show extensions. Even if your computer
shows the extensions, they will still be hidden for everybody else who
currently has their computer set to hide extensions.

That setting isn't part of the file, or even part of Word. It's an
individual setting within each user's version of Windows. You can hide those
extensions on your computer if you wish, but that won't change the way
anybody else sees the file.

And by the way -- some people think it looks unprofessional to work with the
extensions hidden. It's all a matter of perception.

Fred