Total Editing Time bug in Word?

[CliffordSF]

The other day I right-clicked a Word file to look up some info...can't even
remember what I was looking for because I stumbled across an entry on the
DETAILS tab that said "Total Editing Time" and showed how much time I'd
worked on the file! I was in heaven -- what a cool feature. Anyway, I wanted
to know what would happen if I left the file open and didn't work on it,
having switched to another program. The result was that when I wasn't
actually working on the word file, no additional time was added. Brilliant!
At least I thought so. It appears, if I leave the file open for a LONG
time...more than an hour or so, it begins to add time to the editing total.
Can anyone tell me what triggers additional edit time being added? I
generally work with multiple apps/windows open and switch back and forth
between them -- it would be AWESOME, and enough to get my writer friends to
upgrade if they knew they could keep track of how much time they spent on a
project. But in the end, I wanna know for me Does anyone know what
triggers the edit clock, and how I can stop it from adding time when a file
is left open overnight, for instance? Thanks!

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

When you left the file open for a long time, was the focus on that window? I
would think that would make a difference. I, too, have wondered about how
this works. I have several digital kitchen timers with a stopwatch function
that I use to time work, so I depend on Word's "editing time" usually at the
beginning of a project when I realize I've forgotten to start the clock. One
thing I've noticed recently that I think is different from in the past:

I am almost certain that in the past when I created a file and worked on it
for a while without saving and naming it, the "editing time" restarted when
the file was named; so if I started a project and needed to know the elapsed
time on it (so I could add that into my timer), I needed to remember to do
it before I saved and named the file. The other day, I noticed that the time
was the same before and after I saved and named it (that is, it started at
creation and was not reset). That's a great step in the right direction!

 

[CliffordSF]

Suzanne,

Thanks for the prompt response. I did a number of tests to try to figure out
what is going on, similar, it seems, to your own.

I agree -- it doesn't seem to matter whether you've saved the file or not as
newly created files behave the same way. I can leave the file open, out of
focus, and the edit time won't be updated for the first few hours. It seems
that it only gets updated after a lot of time has elapsed. Hmm...there should
be somewhere where we can find out what actually triggers Word to consider
the file in edit mode again. The only guess I have is that something is going
on in the background that triggers the return to edit mode. Initially, I
thought it might be a save by the automatic backup feature, but mine is set
to do so rather frequently, so that doesn't seem to be the issue. I'm gonna
keep poking, and asking questions, because if this can be made to actually
work, it would be invaluable in many, many situations.

Your response has got me thinking about focus -- does returning the file to
focus, even for the briefest amount of time, cause it to consider itself in
edit mode again? How about 3-D flip? Is that enough to make the file think
it's being worked on again?

Maybe someone on the Word team, who's responsible for this feature, will
chime in. Man, that would be cool Gotta run -- my cat, who is toilet
trained, just used the toilet and he's giving me that look that says, "I just
done good, didn't I?"

Cliff

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Congratulations on toilet-training your cat. I'll ask about this in our
private Word NG and see if any Softie can provide more info, as now you've
got me curious. I'm not running Vista, so "3-D flip" would definitely not be
a factor here.

 

[CliffordSF]

Excellent! Thanks so much, Suzanne.

-Cliff

Congratulations on toilet-training your cat. I'll ask about this in our
private Word NG and see if any Softie can provide more info, as now you've
got me curious. I'm not running Vista, so "3-D flip" would definitely not be
a factor here.

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

 

[CliffordSF]

Suzanne or others... any luck in finding an answer to this problem? If I can
get this to work reliably it would be a joy. Thanks.

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Clifford,

For the 'Edit Time' field ("The total document editing time") Word has pretty much done this (not updated time or other fields in
Word when it's out of focus and sitting). It's update or non-updating has been an issue that caused inserted dates to not update
from the system correctly once you went past midnight unless there was an event that caused Word to reaccess the system clock. The
number of minutes the document has been open http://support.microsoft.com/kb/49188

Viewing the Word document properties
Word 2003: File=>Properties=>Statistics
Word 2007: Office Button=>Prepare=>Properties=>Statistics

Saving the file, Printing will update that particular field in the Statistics tab but viewing statistics does not update the
EditTime field when it's placed in a document (there are various settings in Word that affect when Word fields are updated).

If you're in Windows XP and in Word 2007, if you right click on a .docx file and choose 'properties' in the 'Advanced' section you
usually won't see the Edit time listed, although you will for the older format binary .doc files.

From the Word 2007 document format spec
EDITTIME - Description: Retrieves the total editing time, in minutes since the document was created, as recorded in the TotalTime
element of the Application-Defined File Properties part..."
<TotalTime> is the name of the file element that holds the value of the EditTime field.

============
Suzanne or others... any luck in finding an answer to this problem? If I can get this to work reliably it would be a joy. Thanks. >>
--

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

It has been escalated to my contact at Microsoft who is looking for someone
knowledgeable about this.