identifying changes to normal.dot

[Mike Templeton]

Is there a way to identify *any* differences between an existing copy
of Normal.dot and the default version? Not the usual items in the
Organizer, but the less obvious features and all of those default
format settings.

When Word prompts me to save changes to Normal.dot, I often don't
recall making any changes that would affect it. As a rule, I keep
Normal.dot in its original form (except for deleting the AutoText) and
save any custom AutoText, toolbars, styles, etc. in my own global or
document templates. So, if I've made some change that's worth keeping,
I want to identify it and store it elsewhere. Ideally, I'd like Word
to list the changes in question when it gives the prompt.

Thanks.
Mike T

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Word does not currently offer any information about *what* has changed when
you're prompted to save Normal.dot, but you're not the first person to wish
for this. The proposal of a sort of "Undo list" for Normal.dot that would
list these changes has been submitted to the Word dev team. Perhaps several
versions down the road...?

--
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 Templeton]

Thanks, Suzanne, it's worth something to hear there may be a new
"feature" in the works. For now, hoped someone had written a piece of
VBA code to gather properties from a target template and compare them
to Word's default values. And if not ... well, we'll get by *somehow*,
eh? Thanks again for your help. - Mike T

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

That's not to say someone *couldn't* come up with such a VBA app. Try
posting in microsoft.public.word.vba.general and putting a bug in the
developers' ears.

--
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.