Word Count - what does it count?

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Guest

I use Word Count to get character and line counts for my business. I need to
know what characters Word counts in a file, and how Word defines a character,
line and word. Also, I use the Tools/ Word Count, and it shows number of
characters, words and lines. However, if I divide the number of characters
by 65, (the average size of a line of typing) the result I get is a much
lower number of lines that what Word Count shows as the 'lines'. This is
very confusing.
 
Word counts the actual number of lines in the document, not some calculated
result based on the number of characters.

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

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However, the word count is not an actual count of the words,
right? It seems I read somewhere that it's only an estimate,
albeit fairly close but I don't recall any % accuracy figures.

Or am I all wet?

Pop

: Word counts the actual number of lines in the document, not
some calculated
: result based on the number of characters.
:
: --
: Suzanne S. Barnhill
: Microsoft MVP (Word)
: Words into Type
: Fairhope, Alabama USA
:
: Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so
: all may benefit.
:
: : > I use Word Count to get character and line counts for my
business. I need
: to
: > know what characters Word counts in a file, and how Word
defines a
: character,
: > line and word. Also, I use the Tools/ Word Count, and it
shows number of
: > characters, words and lines. However, if I divide the number
of
: characters
: > by 65, (the average size of a line of typing) the result I
get is a much
: > lower number of lines that what Word Count shows as the
'lines'. This is
: > very confusing.
:
 
Hi Pop,

The word count in the Tools > Word Count dialog is accurate according
what you would expect -- a "word" is a sequence of letters or digits
delimited by spaces, tabs, or punctuation.

What you may be thinking of is that in a macro, the value of
ActiveDocument.Words.Count is usually much higher. That's because the
..Words collection in VBA counts each paragraph mark and each
punctuation character as a "word" -- which has been causing untold
grief for programmers for many years and is totally inexcusable.
 
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