Re: Using MS Word 7 with Long and Large docu [Ref:C467529]

[Tom Tomasovic <Tom -dot- Tomasovic -at- NATWEST-PLC-NY -dot- NWMARKETS -dot- COM>]

Bill:

It seems, in my experience and in listening to this (and the Word-PC) list,
that there are few pros and many cons to using master documents, mostly
that they cease to work, unpredictably.  They are resource constrained,
with very little indication of when the resources are running out.  I have
had numerous documents appear to work, and then all of a sudden something
goes wrong.

I don't know a lot about using RD.

I do know that some people have come up with ways around either one, but I
have not tried any of them yet.  In particular, there is a shareware
program called MasterView which was written to address this problem.
Version 1.1 was free, and version 2 is being put out for $49(?).  Info (and
download) is available from:

www.wpi.edu/~tomster/MasterView


Following is a post from the Word-PC list:

Common wisdom says, "forget master documents." You don't need them. Break
your project up into as many files as possible.

1. Make a separate file for the Table of Contents. Use RD fields to
reference each document in the project. See on-line help.

2. Same for index.

3. For cross-referencing, use the Tech-Tav macro suite, just completely
updated, and available for free if you let me know who you are and what you
are planning to do with the macros (it's not my business--I just want to be
reassured that you are not going to sell the macros or any derivate
thereof).

4. There are various ways to number pages across files. The easiest is to
make each file one chapter, and start the numbering over at 1 for each
chapter. The tech-tav template (new as of yesterday) now supports numbering
pages across files.

5. That leaves only search and replace across files. I have never really
needed it, so I haven't written a macro for it, but it is not difficult to
imagine such a macro.

Yisrael van Handel

M.H. [Yisrael] van Handel
Tech-Tav Technical and End-User Documentation Jerusalem, Israel
e-mail:tech-tav -at- netmedia -dot- net -dot- il

HTH

Regards,

Tom <<Tom -dot- Tomasovic -at- NATWEST-PLC-NY -dot- nwmarkets -dot- com>>

You should be aware that the information contained within this message is solely
the opinion of the writer (me).  The people at NatWest have little control over
how I express myself, and they should not be held responsible for anything I say
(unless, of course, I express it as a corporate opinion).


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Using MS Word 7 with Long and Large docu  [Ref:C467529]
Author:  INTERNET TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU at Multimessage
Date:    12/4/96 3:07 PM


     Tech Writer Colleagues,


     What are the pros and cons of using a Reference Document
     versus a Master Document and subdocuments?

     Bill Warner, Ph.D.