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Kathryn, you can easily create macros to change styles by using Word's
Record Macro feature. What you do (and this applies only as far as Word
95; I've not had the pleasure of using Word 97 yet so I don't know how
different it is) is choose the Tools-Macro option and click the Record
button. Word prompts you for a name to save the macro under, and asks
whether to save it in normal.dot or your current template. You can also
assign a keyboard shortcut, toolbar button or menu option to execute the
macro -- a very good idea. If you plan to record a lot of macros, it would
behoove you to make these naming and storing decisions very carefully. If
you want to use this macro with all the documents in your help project, be
sure to store it with your current template (Robortf.dot or robohelp.dot).
Because RoboHELP makes such extensive use of macros, I named all the macros
that *I* made starting with my initials (like MGFReplaceStyles) -- that
way, they automatically have unique names and are easy to distinguish in
the list of macros should you ever need to go in and edit them. A good
description of the macro is also a very good idea, since macro names seem
to get more cryptic as time goes on.
Once you've named your macro-to-be, you get a mini macro toolbar and you
are ready to record. Now you can simply set up a search and replace for
your style names (for example, search for style abc and replace with style
xyz). You can do as many consecutive searches as you want, but until you
pick the Stop button on your little mini macro toolbar (or choose
Tools-Stop Recording, I think), you are recording each mouse action and
each typing action as part of the macro. So if you plan to use this macro
with other files, try to avoid actions that would be specific to the file
you are currently working in. When you're done, Stop recording. Open
another file (that uses the same template you stored the macro in) and try
out your macro!
I might also suggest: If you create a search and replace macro, after you
begin recording be sure to move to the top of the document first (to avoid
those "Word has finished searching..." messages you'll have to answer), and
make sure that the first thing you do when you open the search dialog is
clear all previous settings. This will enable you to accurately run the
replace every time you run the macro, without any "leftovers" cropping up
to throw things off.
I've set up a number of macros like this in older versions of Word (namely,
2.0, which we are only now bidding good-bye to in favor of Word 95). I
think it's a great feature of Word, especially since I've never had time
(or necessarily desire) to learn Word's macro language. If you have any
specific questions, feel free to contact me.
Melissa Fisher
mfisher -at- automatedlogic -dot- com
So far, I've only figured out how to convert my predefined headings into
topics. Is there a way (through a Word macro) to convert other paragraph
styles to those used in the RoboHELP template? This is the embarassing
part. I never use macros and have no idea if this is possible (seems
like it should be though). Up until now, I've used my own system of
doing this (preferring to tediously update the file rather than find a
way to automate things - don't ask). But we recently hired a new writer
and I think it will help to standardize things (she's also new to
RoboHELP, so the easier the conversion process, the better).
