Re: Word and multiple conditions: a how-to

[dmbrown -at- brown-inc -dot- com]

MList -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com wrote:
>
> Certain co-workers are of the opinion that Word can (reliably,
> cleanly, etc.) do something like what FM can do with Conditional
> Text, which is to say:  make various words, paragraphs, objects,
> etc., appear or disappear throughout a big document, according
> to the setting of a global condition.


Yep, you can do this in Word.  Way back in Word for Windows 2.0, I used 
two variables to create four books from one source file.

We had software that could run under Windows or OS/2 on systems plugged 
in to either VME or VXI bus racks.  Whenever the software changed, I'd 
decide whether the change applied to a specific OS or bus, and set it up 
accordingly.

You use SET fields to establish the version you want to create:

  { SET sys = "w" } or { SET sys = "2" }
  { SET bus = "m" } or { SET bus = "x" }

and IF fields to test those variables and display the correct text:

  Blah blah { IF sys = "w" { IF bus = "m" "text for Windows and
  VME" { IF bus = "x" "text for Windows and VXI" "generic text
  for Windows" } } { IF sys = "2" { IF bus = "m" "text for OS/2
  and VME" { IF bus = "x" "text for OS/2 and VXI" "generic text
  for OS/2" } } } "generic text" } blah blah blah.

In this case, I set the variables to the exact text of the OS and bus 
names, so I could use REF fields, too:

  { SET sys = "Windows" } or { SET sys = "OS/2" }
  { SET bus = "VME" } or { SET bus = "VXI" }

  Thank you for buying { REF bus }bus Magician for { REF sys }!

Note that IF fields can specify only two pieces of text:  the first is 
used if the comparison is true, the second is used if the comparison is 
false.  To create multiple cases (a+1, a+2, b+1, b+2) you have to "nest" 
each new comparison into the "else" portion of the preceding comparison. 
 This is easier to see if you write the sample paragraph like a piece 
of code:

  Blah blah
  { IF sys = "w"
    { IF bus = "m"
      "text for Windows and VME"
      { IF bus = "x"
        "text for Windows and VXI"
        "generic text for Windows"
      }
    }
    { IF sys = "2"
      { IF bus = "m"
        "text for OS/2 and VME"
        { IF bus = "x"
          "text for OS/2 and VXI"
          "generic text for OS/2"
        }
      }
    }
    "generic text"
  }
  blah blah blah.

>
> ...a certain locally influential person seems to think that
> Word could handle this easily, for multiple sets of
> several-hundred-page documents... based (I guess) on her/his
> past-life success with form-letters.


Funny you should mention form letters--as recently as Word 2000, anyway, 
most of this is documented under the heading "mail merge."  At 400 
pages, the books I created were certainly pushing the intended use, but 
it worked.

>
> Maybe s/he's right. I'm leery. Is the above task a righteous
> use of the tool (Word), and I'm just a wienie?


Well, there are (or were) a couple of limitations.

Although the conditional text could contain paragraph marks, those 
paragraph marks didn't hold formatting information.  They'd just be 
plain, vanilla paragraph breaks.  Maybe they picked up the formatting of 
the paragraph in which they were embedded--but I don't remember it being 
even that sophisticated.

The practical result was that I always constrained conditional text to 
chunks smaller than one paragraph.  That worked very well for my 
application, but might not for yours.  On the other hand, maybe the 
problem has been fixed.

A related limitation was that the conditional text couldn't include 
conditional index entries (XE fields).  All the index entries showed up 
in the index, so I had to be creative to avoid index entries that 
applied only to specific versions.  Given the level of attention 
Microsfot pays to indexing, I'd be surprised if that's been fixed.

>
> They want to try it with our Test Cases and other QA documents...


Start with the paragraph above to see how it works, and gradually 
increase the complexity of the text you include.  (You can check to see 
whether that paragraph formatting limitation has been fixed.)

Then find the simplest of your own documents that comes in multiple 
versions, determine the variables that control the differences among 
those versions, identify the text that differs among versions, and move 
that variable text into IF fields.

>
> The criteria are that it be set-up then run in automated fashion,
>  and then require only minimal tweaking/fixing, of the generated
> documents.


If you do it correctly, no tweaking will be required.  I did put a lot 
of time into the initial setup, which my manager supported because we 
knew one person couldn't keep four separate books synchronized at the 
pace with which changes were being made.

Once I got it set up, my work flow was:

1.  Edit the doc, being careful to analyze the versions
    affected by any given change.

2.  Set the two variables at the top of the file.

3.  Press Ctrl+A, then press F9 to update all the fields.

4.  Print the book.  (It was 1990.)

5.  Save an archive copy of the file as printed, with all the
    fields converted to regular text (Ctrl+A, Ctrl+Shift+F9).


If you're unfamiliar with Word fields, be sure to read about them in the 
online help.  For one thing, it'll mention that you can't just type 
those braces--they're special characters Word inserts when you press F9. 
 (I prefer to type the field contents by hand, rather than using any of 
the Insert commands.)

Have fun!

--David

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