Word Document Unattaches from Template

[Guest]

A customer, using a set of Templates we sell as a commercial product, is
using Word 2003 and Windows XP. He reports that after creating a document
based on one of our templates, then opening it again, it is no longer
attached to the template.

When I step him through reattaching the document to the template over the
phone (Tools > Templates and Add-in > Attach) he sees the template in the
list that displays, but when he selects it and clicks OK, an error message
displays: "The document does not exist."

This is crazy. The template absolutely exists because he just used it to
create the document, which had all functionality provided by the template
right up to the point he closed the document and opened it again. I have
entered the error message into the knowledge base and nothing is returned.

He has reinstalled the templates several times and I know the problem is not
in the template itself. These templates have run on thousands of computers
(since Word 6) and we have never encountered this problem.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Shauna Kelly]

Hi John

Is the customer using a document management system or some kind of document
assembly system? I've known those to dis-associate documents from their
templates.

he sees the template in the
list that displays

At Tools > Templates and Add-ins the list that displays is a list of
add-ins, not a list of templates. Selecting one of the files listed in the
white box and clicking OK won't attach the template to the document: it will
just load the .dot as an add-in.

The customer needs to do Tools > Templates and Add-ins and then click Attach
and navigate to the correct template.

If this were me, I would also ensure that there's only one copy of the
template on the machine, and investigate exactly how the user is creating a
new document based on the template. Maybe the customer is loading the .dot
file as an add-in (thus making any tools it has available) but is actually
creating the new document based on Normal.dot.

Hope this helps. Let us know how you go.

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

And you've made sure that he is not doing this with a document in his email
client (e.g. Outlook) or on a SharePoint webserver?

I', thinking Outlook: Each time he opens the document, it creates a new
instance in a temporary folder. Each time he closes it, the temporary copy
goes away...

In other words, it's his DOCUMENT that "doesn't exist", not your template


Cheers

A customer, using a set of Templates we sell as a commercial product, is
using Word 2003 and Windows XP. He reports that after creating a document
based on one of our templates, then opening it again, it is no longer
attached to the template.

When I step him through reattaching the document to the template over the
phone (Tools > Templates and Add-in > Attach) he sees the template in the
list that displays, but when he selects it and clicks OK, an error message
displays: "The document does not exist."

This is crazy. The template absolutely exists because he just used it to
create the document, which had all functionality provided by the template
right up to the point he closed the document and opened it again. I have
entered the error message into the knowledge base and nothing is returned.

He has reinstalled the templates several times and I know the problem is not
in the template itself. These templates have run on thousands of computers
(since Word 6) and we have never encountered this problem.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Business Analyst, Consultant
Technical Writer.
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[Shauna Kelly]

Hi John

Document assembly applications are much used in places like law offices that
routinely produce documents that are a mix'n'match collection of existing
blocks of text. HotDocs is a popular document assembly tool.

Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word

 

[Guest]

Dear Shauna,

Thanks for the clarification. No, nothing like that going on here. I’ve
learned the script is being written from long-hand notes on legal pads. The
same customer is having this same problem on two different computers, so I am
starting to imagine that it may have something to do with a “creative†new
way he has found to create and use Microsoft Word templates.

Thanks for providing the information to me. It is appreciated none the less.

 

[Guest]

Dear John,

Thanks for your insight. I know he's not using this in his email client,
since he's reluctant to use email at all. The computers are both
self-standing (same problem on two computers). This customer is not very
computer savvy, so on one hand I know he's not trying to do anything fancy,
but on the other hand I'm starting to think that he's doing something so
off-the-wall that it's just something that I can't imagine anyone even trying.

You're suggestion that it might be the document itself that "doesn't exist"
is at least another avenue of thought down which I can explore. We've sent
another CD on the off-chance that the problem could be caused by a bad CD
(although if the installer runs at all, I can't imagine bad software being
installed). As I indicated, he doesn't use email.

Your help with this is appreciated.

And you've made sure that he is not doing this with a document in his email
client (e.g. Outlook) or on a SharePoint webserver?

I', thinking Outlook: Each time he opens the document, it creates a new
instance in a temporary folder. Each time he closes it, the temporary copy
goes away...

In other words, it's his DOCUMENT that "doesn't exist", not your template


Cheers

A customer, using a set of Templates we sell as a commercial product, is
using Word 2003 and Windows XP. He reports that after creating a document
based on one of our templates, then opening it again, it is no longer
attached to the template.

When I step him through reattaching the document to the template over the
phone (Tools > Templates and Add-in > Attach) he sees the template in the
list that displays, but when he selects it and clicks OK, an error message
displays: "The document does not exist."

This is crazy. The template absolutely exists because he just used it to
create the document, which had all functionality provided by the template
right up to the point he closed the document and opened it again. I have
entered the error message into the knowledge base and nothing is returned.

He has reinstalled the templates several times and I know the problem is not
in the template itself. These templates have run on thousands of computers
(since Word 6) and we have never encountered this problem.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Business Analyst, Consultant
Technical Writer.
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

The only other thing I can think of that might do that is an application
named Deep Freeze http://www.itsltduk.co.uk/deepfreeze.htm

It reverts the PC each time the user logs off. It's often used in training
rooms and schools

I suppose that if he has misconfigured Windows Explorer, it will show him
backup files and temporary files. If he has hidden file extensions, he
won't know that. If he attempts to work with a Word temporary file, it
indeed WON'T be there next time he restarts

With some of these problems, the only way you're going to find it is if you
open a Remote Assistance session so you can get a look at his desktop.

Cheers

Dear John,

Thanks for your insight. I know he's not using this in his email client,
since he's reluctant to use email at all. The computers are both
self-standing (same problem on two computers). This customer is not very
computer savvy, so on one hand I know he's not trying to do anything fancy,
but on the other hand I'm starting to think that he's doing something so
off-the-wall that it's just something that I can't imagine anyone even trying.

You're suggestion that it might be the document itself that "doesn't exist"
is at least another avenue of thought down which I can explore. We've sent
another CD on the off-chance that the problem could be caused by a bad CD
(although if the installer runs at all, I can't imagine bad software being
installed). As I indicated, he doesn't use email.

Your help with this is appreciated.

And you've made sure that he is not doing this with a document in his email
client (e.g. Outlook) or on a SharePoint webserver?

I', thinking Outlook: Each time he opens the document, it creates a new
instance in a temporary folder. Each time he closes it, the temporary copy
goes away...

In other words, it's his DOCUMENT that "doesn't exist", not your template


Cheers

A customer, using a set of Templates we sell as a commercial product, is
using Word 2003 and Windows XP. He reports that after creating a document
based on one of our templates, then opening it again, it is no longer
attached to the template.

When I step him through reattaching the document to the template over the
phone (Tools > Templates and Add-in > Attach) he sees the template in the
list that displays, but when he selects it and clicks OK, an error message
displays: "The document does not exist."

This is crazy. The template absolutely exists because he just used it to
create the document, which had all functionality provided by the template
right up to the point he closed the document and opened it again. I have
entered the error message into the knowledge base and nothing is returned.

He has reinstalled the templates several times and I know the problem is not
in the template itself. These templates have run on thousands of computers
(since Word 6) and we have never encountered this problem.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Business Analyst, Consultant
Technical Writer.
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Business Analyst, Consultant
Technical Writer.
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[Guest]

Mystery finally solved:

The customer turned out to be using a high-end virus protection software
program that saw any Microsoft Word template full of macros as a potential
threat. It would go through every night and quarantine our templates as
suspicious. As our customer was not so computer savvy, he simply ignored the
list of quarantined files, at the same time he wondered where our custom menu
and toolbars went. So he would reinstall and it would work again until the
virus protection program quarantined the templates again that night. All is
well that ends well.

The only other thing I can think of that might do that is an application
named Deep Freeze http://www.itsltduk.co.uk/deepfreeze.htm

It reverts the PC each time the user logs off. It's often used in training
rooms and schools

I suppose that if he has misconfigured Windows Explorer, it will show him
backup files and temporary files. If he has hidden file extensions, he
won't know that. If he attempts to work with a Word temporary file, it
indeed WON'T be there next time he restarts

With some of these problems, the only way you're going to find it is if you
open a Remote Assistance session so you can get a look at his desktop.

Cheers

Dear John,

Thanks for your insight. I know he's not using this in his email client,
since he's reluctant to use email at all. The computers are both
self-standing (same problem on two computers). This customer is not very
computer savvy, so on one hand I know he's not trying to do anything fancy,
but on the other hand I'm starting to think that he's doing something so
off-the-wall that it's just something that I can't imagine anyone even trying.

You're suggestion that it might be the document itself that "doesn't exist"
is at least another avenue of thought down which I can explore. We've sent
another CD on the off-chance that the problem could be caused by a bad CD
(although if the installer runs at all, I can't imagine bad software being
installed). As I indicated, he doesn't use email.

Your help with this is appreciated.

And you've made sure that he is not doing this with a document in his email
client (e.g. Outlook) or on a SharePoint webserver?

I', thinking Outlook: Each time he opens the document, it creates a new
instance in a temporary folder. Each time he closes it, the temporary copy
goes away...

In other words, it's his DOCUMENT that "doesn't exist", not your template


Cheers


On 15/1/07 4:48 PM, in article
(e-mail address removed), "John Morley"

A customer, using a set of Templates we sell as a commercial product, is
using Word 2003 and Windows XP. He reports that after creating a document
based on one of our templates, then opening it again, it is no longer
attached to the template.

When I step him through reattaching the document to the template over the
phone (Tools > Templates and Add-in > Attach) he sees the template in the
list that displays, but when he selects it and clicks OK, an error message
displays: "The document does not exist."

This is crazy. The template absolutely exists because he just used it to
create the document, which had all functionality provided by the template
right up to the point he closed the document and opened it again. I have
entered the error message into the knowledge base and nothing is returned.

He has reinstalled the templates several times and I know the problem is not
in the template itself. These templates have run on thousands of computers
(since Word 6) and we have never encountered this problem.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Business Analyst, Consultant
Technical Writer.
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Business Analyst, Consultant
Technical Writer.
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410