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Gee gosh Tom. That's a lotta work to make a lotta work :-)
My method, which is the easiest I have ever had to deal with is:
1) Use Visual Source Safe or any other form of Version Control software.
2) Never use Track changes - a) baggage (file size) b) the odd corrupted
document from overstuffed bit buckets c) unwanted info being left in the
released version. Instead, use Compare Documents between two versions
anytime you like.
3) Don't have reviewers edit the main document - have them complete a
documentation change request form.
With that out of the road, if you MUST use Revision Tracking, ensure each
set of revisions is fully accepted (flushed out of word) before accepting
any more. You simply cannot carry all revisions. If you must keep the
revisions, here is your work plan:
1) Document is ready for review.
2) Ensure no revisions are in it.
3) Send it out, marked for track changes.
4) Document arrives back from review, full of revisions.
5) Save the document with a std name like *-FullOfRevisions-1234.doc
6) Accept / reject all the changes.
7) Cut n paste the entire doc EXCEPT the last para mark into a new one, save
over the "large" old file.
8) Perform any extra editing.
9) Return to step 1.
At the risk of being redundant, Word doc corruption is based on loose binary
baggage. Binary bags are packed with the following trips:
* Styles
* Lists
* Gfx (linked or embedded, just to have a "box" on the screen they cheat and
save the preset size of the display to "pre-display" the picture)
* Headings (and to a lesser degree, bookmarks)
* Drawing objects (which can get "lost" off a page, but stay forever in the
cyber bucket of the doc)
* Sub/master document links
* Revisions and versions
You want to avoid changing any of these elements, as change can (will)
generate loose binary baggage, which will eventually come loose and knock
all your passengers over, making them very grumpy.
As an example, technically speaking one could corrupt a word document
through nothing more than writing a macro which constantly changes the
heading style of a paragraph to another heading style. Each new style
generates a new internal bookmark reference, and sometimes the old one won't
be deleted - although it will be "unlinked" from the heading. At some point,
this accumulated nonsense will provide Word too much to work out, and your
doc falls over.
Now - some macro code that may help - this is modded from my "Kill Metadata"
set of routines:
Sub KillMDRevisions()
With ActiveDocument
If .Revisions.Count > 0 Then .AcceptAllRevisions
End With
End Sub
Steve Hudson
Lead Technical Writer
Wright Technologies (Aus)
steve -at- www -dot- wright -dot- com -dot- au
(612) 9518-1822
The best way to predict the future... is to create it!
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