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Subject:The dream of auto-updates From:technical -at- theverbalist -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 18 Mar 2004 10:10:45 -0700
Heya all,
So here's a little mental mind game--I'm not even sure if what I want to
do is possible, but I'm hoping it is and that one (or more) of you can
point me in the right direction for doing it.
What I've got is a looooong document that shows the names of about 250
business objects (for example, DogContactMethod) and then the elements of
that transaction (<name>, <leashrattle>,<"who wants a cookie?">). Now the name of the business object stays the
same from release to release, but the elements associated with it are
often added to, subtracted from, and otherwise changed (add <whistle> to the list
of elements, delete <name>). Currently, the method for keeping those changes
updated are for my poor SME to spend hours cuttin' and pastin' relevant
info from the DTD into a Word doc and sending them on to me to include in
the doc. She'd like to change the way things are done, and so would
I--poor girl works too hard as it is.
What I can get, that might be useful, is a doc from the database guy that
lists the business object name, and the current elements associated with
it. However, the doc is generated from the database all in Normal style.
Is there any way of setting up ref fields, or something else, in my doc
to, for example, find DogContactMethod in the generated doc, and bring
back all the elements listed underneath it? I'm working with Word 2000,
and I've got Access, but not a clue how to use it (always like to learn
new toys, though).
It seems like a dull and repetitive task that could be automated, but
maybe it's all just a crazy fantasy of mine...
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