Relative paths in Word (re: screen shot problem)

[David Rapport <dave -at- NETMEDIA -dot- NET -dot- IL>]

Kristie,

If you're using relative paths, this might be able to help you. If you are,
I don't think there's a connection between your memory problem and the
error you are getting.


---

There has been a bit of discussion about relative paths and I would like to
re-send a post from August about the topic. MM (my mileage) is that
relative paths are a life-saver and since we implemented them they have
been extremely useful. I have never had memory problems with relative paths.

Since sending my original message, I have learnt two more things about
relative paths:

1. The working directory for Word always has to be the correct one for the
relative path to work. IOW, _always_ open your doc from File|Open, not
Explorer and not a recently used file list (Word's or Win95's). If you open
new docs or insert graphics and thereby cause the working directory to
change, you will have to return to the correct directory by saving your
file. If the working directory is correct and you still have problems,
press F9 to update the link.

If all that sounds a bit complicated, someone sent me a great macro that
you can run as an AutoOpen macro that makes it all easier. If anyone wants
it, contact me and I'll check if the author doesn't mind me sending it.


2. When creating pdf's from a doc with linked graphics using a relative
path, you first have to save the pdf in the same directory as the Word file
and then move it somewhere else. If you try saving it somewhere else first,
the pictures don't come out.



Good luck,




David




_____________Original Posting from 7th August,
1997________________________________

When inserting a linked graphic into Word, it records the absolute path for
the location of the file. E.g., C:\\WIDGET USER GUIDE\\PICTURES\\LOGON.BMP.
(Word uses double slashes when inserting graphics.) This works fine if you
are the only person using this file. However when you give the file to your
colleague to review or send it to a customer, they don't have the directory
with the pictures on their hard drive so the picture doesn't come out.

There are two solutions:

1) Send all the pictures and ask the person to copy them all to a new
folder called C:\WIDGET USER GUIDE\PICTURES, or

2) Use a relative path.

The problem with (1) is that the person may not have the time, patience or
disk space to copy a few MBs of pictures. So, in come relative paths.

In relative paths, you tell Word to look for a certain directory relative
to where your file is now. In other words, if you specify that the picture
is in .\\PICTURES, Word will look for a sub-directory in your current
location called PICTURES and insert the picture from there. A single dot
sends Word down and two dots will make it go up the directory hierarchy.

The advantage of this is that if your Word file is on a network drive then
your colleague can review the file and Word will take the pictures from the
network without any pictures being copied to someone else's hard drive. If
you distribute documents on CD the user does not need to install files to
their hard drive either, the pictures come straight from the CD.

However, relative paths do not always work. If you have problems, do the
following:

1) Open the file using the File|Open command and not from Explorer of the
recently used file list.

2) If the pictures do not display automatically, select them and click F9
or update them all from Edit|Links.




Many thanks to the helpful techwhirlers and also those on tech-shoret
(Israeli technical writing list) for sending the solution.




Feel free to e-mail me if you want more help on this topic.



Rgds,



David




        --------------------
        David Rapport
        dave -at- netmedia -dot- net -dot- il
        --------------------


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