Re: Word automation, etc.

Hi =?Utf-8?B?d2lsc29uZA==?=,

> We will
> be using Word 2003. The development environment is .NET (2003) and C#.
>
OK, this opens up additional possibilities for you. One is XML. You could,
for example, dump all the document content and formatting into a "blank"
document in the form of XML. This won't carry across everything (some of
the page layout stuff, for example), but it would certainly be faster than
automating the creation of a document from scratch. (This in answer to
creating a new document from a URL, via d/l from a Web Server).

You can also extract the content of a document the same way. Or, if you
don't need the entire document, just certain parts, you can parse the XML
and extract only what you need.

> I have to check with the super on the tab key issue. I don't know if she
> will allow me to use anything other than tab. If that's the case, I'll
> probably go the keybindings/macro route...
>
Word 2003 provides a special kind of document protection: you can
lock/unlock specific document ranges for editing. There's a task pane that
lets the user move from editable area to editable area.

There's also the possibility of protecting a document as a form and using
Form Fields (then you can TAB). And there are ActiveX controls that can be
used with forms protection. The biggest issue with forms protection comes
if the user needs to do more than just enter text content. Formatting,
headers, footers and graphics (basically) are locked out with forms
protection active.

What might be very interesting for you would be VSTO 2005 (for that, you
need VS 2005), where you can use data-caching, create custom task panes and
provide a wide range of controls (including Windows controls you create
yourself).

SmartDocument solutions might also be something for you to consider
(especially if VSTO 2005 isn't an option). There you place XML tags in your
document. You then define what should appear in a special task pane to aid
the user with the expected in-put. (Including displaying lists from
databases, and even sending data back through the list.)

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

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.

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