unlock a subdocument ?

[Guest]

I have a master document that shows a subdocument is locked and will not
allow me to unlock it. I have expanded the file and tried to unlock it.The
file property has been checked and it is not read-only. The file is not being
shared and edited by anyone else. It is not unlocked in another master-doc.
How can I unlock it?

MS Word version 2002 SP 3 on XP
Thanks

 

[Charles Kenyon]

Sorry, I don't have an answer because I don't use Master Documents. However,
you may need the reason I don't more than you need an answer. "Master
Document" is a term of art in Word referring to a "feature" that not only
doesn't work but also destroys documents. The consensus (with the limited
exception of Steve Hudson) among those offering advice on these newsgroups
is that using the Master Document feature is a good way to destroy your
document. It can destroy parts of your document that you are not even
working on! I think John McGhie said it succinctly when he said that there
are two kinds of Master Documents: Those that are corrupt and those that
will be corrupt soon. See
http://www.addbalance.com/word/masterdocuments.htm for information on the
Master Document feature and workarounds. See
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/WhyMasterDocsCorrupt.htm for more
information on what goes wrong, and
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/RecoverMasterDocs.htm for ideas on how
to salvage what you can. See
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/magazine/technical/masterdocs.doc for
Steve Hudson's instructions if you are willing to follow them very
carefully.

--

Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word which is awesome!
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from my ignorance and your wisdom.

 

[Guest]

This is an update and the answert to my own post. I believe that it is
possible to manage large documents with subdocuments in a master file. The
answer to my first problem -
1) Could not unlock a subdocument which is necessary to remove it.
Answer: The error message indicated that the subdocument was open in another
master document which it wasn't. However, it was linked twice into the same
master document. The first time the file is open. The second time it is
locked. Solution: remove the first open subdocument; then you can unlock the
second one by clicking on the lock icon in the tool bar. After that remove it
or whatever you need to do.
2) Header and footer not propagated throughout the entirw document.
Solution: Make sure that the section breaks are removed from all of your
subdocuments so the header and footer can propagate throughot the document.

Noel