Including Excel Data Into Word

[Guest]

I’ve been trying to figure out Fields in MS Word (2003), but maybe the
problem is that I’m approaching things incorrectly or inefficiently. I’m
looking for a broad overview of how to approach what I want to do and the
correct terminology so that I can go and do my homework.

I have an empty Word file called Recipes.doc. I also have an Excel file
called Recipes.xls. Recipes.xls has a number of different recipes, each with:

* a recipe TITLE
* a short DESCRIPTION of the recipe
* a list of INGREDIENTS with the following columns:

Adjusted Amount ….. Unit of Measure ….. Food Item ….... Additional Info
….. 25 ………………… grams …………... Flaxseed …….. ground
….. 1 ………………….. scoop(s)………… Protein Powder
….. 1.5 ……………….. Tablespoon ……….. Cinnamon … ground

* step-by-step DIRECTIONS in a numbered list
* possibly a photo of the recipe in question

Somehow I need to create a Word doc that has equivalent fields and call the
information I need. I will eventually have over 100 recipes in Recipes.xls,
and I would like to be able to select the specific recipes I want and pull
them into different Word docs I create. Is there a way to open a blank Word
doc and “include,†say, Recipes 8, 32 and 97? Or does each recipe need to be
in its own Excel file?

Could someone / anyone give me a running head start on the best way to
tackle my project? My hope is that the solution doesn't require VBA
programming because I have absolutely *NO* experience with VBA.

 

[Guest]

If you don't have too many recipies in Excel, I would suggest you consider
entering your recipe data into Word tables instead of continuing to enter
them into Excel first. Word tables are very easy to manage.

 

[Guest]

Thank you for the reply, Reb!!!

The reason I wanted to keep the recipes in Excel is because I'm constantly
performing calculations on the recipes. I might double or halve the amount
of the ingredients. I might multiply the amounts of the ingredients by 1.5
or 1.75. I'm actually a nutritionist, and I take gourmet recipes and adjust
them for people's programs. In the course of my job, I adjust people's
caloric intake (and the grams of protein, fat and carbs they eat). When I
do, I need to make adjustments to the recipes they're using as well.

Do you still feel that using Word tables would do the job I need done?
Ultimately/Eventually, I'd like to set things up so that when I enter a
client's body weight, the changes/adjustments to the ingredient amounts would
be reflected in the recipes in the Word file. I would then make a PDF file
or print the output.

 

[Peter Jamieson]

There are various ways to get data from Excel to Word (copy/paste,
copy/paste link, do a mailmerge, use Word's Database toolbar to insert a
table from Excel) and they all have their advantages and disadvantages. It
is also possible to do simple calculations in Word using fields and table
references, but Word is obviously not designed for calculaitons whereas
Excel is.. Trouble is that it's only when you get down to the details that
you can tell which approach(es) work for you. In this particular case I
wonder whether you could actually do almost everything you need in Excel -
maybe it's a bit harder to format text etc., but it might keep the whole
thing simpler.

 

[Guest]

Thanks, Peter! What's funny is that my brain is an awful lot like yours ...
either that, or at least I've tried to work through things just the way you
said.

* I've tried Mail Merge
* I've tried doing everything in Excel
* I've tried using fields

I don't know any of the above features well enough to be able to bring
things to a successful conclusion.

Playing off of your idea of keeping things in Excel, I could definitely
format things so they would print "pretty." I'd be able to do all my
calculations. I could have pictures and format the text the way I want. I
could even highlight each recipe and name it in the name box. What I have to
find/figure out is whether I could then print (or convert to a PDF) just
those named ranges I want. The scenario is going to look something like this:

Adjust Recipes 6, 19 and 27 so that the amounts are appropriate for a person
weighing 200 pounds. The original recipe is an amount appropriate for a
person weighing 100 pounds, so all I have to do is multiply the ingredient
amounts by 2. from there, I'd either print Recipes 6, 19 and 27, convert it
to a PDF or highlight them and copy them to the paste buffer so that I could
send it to someone in email.

Thanks for kicking things around with me.

 

[Henk57]

I would definitely keep things in Excel.
Design yr workbook in such way that you have a control sheet with input
variables (like the person's weight), calculation sheets per recipe and
output sheets that you ultimately print to pdf and give to yr client.

- With functions as VLOOKUP you can even generate the output file
dynamically, but this requires some more than average skills w/ Excel.

- If you want some instructional generalised text (independent of the
actual recipes, eg about life style) you could make that in word and
assemble both pdf's into one document (although you have to fiddle a
bit with formatting)

Sorry Word forum users - I know I am a bit out of line here ;-)

HTH - Henk

 

[Peter Jamieson]

To me, this kind of decision always comes down to whether you want some
parts to have common formatting and to be able to change the formatting for
all of them "centrally", in which case you do have to work a bit at the
infrastructure, or whether it is much simpler to make each recipe a separate
worksheet/workbook and start each new one by copying from the most
appropriate old one.

+what Henk said...

--
Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

Thanks, Peter! What's funny is that my brain is an awful lot like yours
...
either that, or at least I've tried to work through things just the way
you
said.

* I've tried Mail Merge
* I've tried doing everything in Excel
* I've tried using fields

I don't know any of the above features well enough to be able to bring
things to a successful conclusion.

Playing off of your idea of keeping things in Excel, I could definitely
format things so they would print "pretty." I'd be able to do all my
calculations. I could have pictures and format the text the way I want.
I
could even highlight each recipe and name it in the name box. What I have
to
find/figure out is whether I could then print (or convert to a PDF) just
those named ranges I want. The scenario is going to look something like
this:

Adjust Recipes 6, 19 and 27 so that the amounts are appropriate for a
person
weighing 200 pounds. The original recipe is an amount appropriate for a
person weighing 100 pounds, so all I have to do is multiply the ingredient
amounts by 2. from there, I'd either print Recipes 6, 19 and 27, convert
it
to a PDF or highlight them and copy them to the paste buffer so that I
could
send it to someone in email.

Thanks for kicking things around with me.