G
Guest
Hi Steve,
Many thanks for the tip. I haven't had any problems since I stopped using
Master Documents in all my new docs, but I'll try your suggestion on my older
sub docs that haven't yet been converted.
This forum has been proving very useful and informative. It's a pity I
hadn't known about it several years ago.
Thanks everyone for all your help.
Gordon
Many thanks for the tip. I haven't had any problems since I stopped using
Master Documents in all my new docs, but I'll try your suggestion on my older
sub docs that haven't yet been converted.
This forum has been proving very useful and informative. It's a pity I
hadn't known about it several years ago.
Thanks everyone for all your help.
Gordon
Word Heretic said:G'day Gordon7000 <[email protected]>,
XML files don't suffer from corruption. Master documents cause
corruption. Mixing and matching the two technologies in any way you
please (Word 2003+) will seriously reduce problem rates.
Try saving all your subs as HTML if you are using 2k. Then quit word,
reload em all, and resave as doc. You lose a lil formatting, and a
TRUCKLOAD of corruption.
Steve Hudson - Word Heretic
steve from wordheretic.com (Email replies require payment)
Without prejudice
Gordon7000 reckoned:
Hi macropod,
Many thanks for this info. I wasn't aware of the method using INCLUDETEXT
fields. However, if this method will allow me to link documents of about 30
pages per chapter in length (with a combined book length sometimes exceeding
500 pages), then I'd be happy to continue using MS Word to prepare the text
for the books and perhaps use MS Publisher to finish them. Ultimately,
however, they'll be published as PDF documents.
Regards,
Gordon
macropod said:Hi Gordon,
There's not much that the 'Master Document' feature offers that can't be
obtained fairly easily by linking documents together via INCLUDETEXT fields,
without the corruption risk.
With a target document that pulls together a variety of source documents
using INCLUDETEXT fields, you can use even the target document to copy/cut &
paste between source documents, just like you can with 'Master Documents',
though the process isn't quite as simple. Cross-referencing between source
documents is less flexible too, but easy enough to deal with.
Word has the power, just not the way MS might have envisaged.
Cheers
--
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]
Hi Charles,
I agree completely with what you and others have said about Master
Documents. I have become very frustrated with using them in previous
versions, and I don't intend to use them again. However, I have many
lengthy
files from the past which have used master documents. Most of these have
since been opened and converted to PDF files, but I still have a few that
I
would like to convert from Word. If Microsoft Word and Publisher can't
cope
satisfactorily with these large files, I will need to look elsewhere -
probably, to one of the DTP software packages. I've hesitated from doing
this
in the past, as I wanted to maintain maximum compatibility with Microsoft
files.
:
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
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This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.
I have a number of book-length documents in Word 2003 doc format, each
chapter using a separate Master Document. How do I open or display
Master
Document pages in Word 2007? I want to view and edit the entire
document -
not just individual chapters.