Re: Advice about Master documents

Tech Tip: Click here to run a free scan for Windows Errors and optimize PC performance

Hi Daiya.

Thanks for all the urls. I'll look them up.

I already do frequent backups, so my concern is not about losing the entire
file, but opening the file and finding the images corrupted, replaced by red
Xs or something like that. That would be very hard to recover from.

Thanks.

--

Jeff Stevens
Email address deliberately false to avoid spam
jeff@xxxxxxxxxxx


"Daiya Mitchell" <daiyaNOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:BEDDC509.35939%daiyaNOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> See here, for one:
> Creating a Table of Contents Spanning Multiple Documents
> http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=148
>
> IncludeText Fields might be an option, though this is a simplistic intro
> to
> them:
> http://daiya.mvps.org/includetext.htm
>
> Steve Hudson [Word Heretic] on how to make Master Documents work safely:
> http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/magazine/technical/wordhomepage.html
>
> More on why MDs are unreliable:
>
> Why Master Documents corrupt:
> http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/WhyMasterDocsCorrupt.htm
>
> How to recover a Master Document:
> http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/RecoverMasterDocs.htm
>
> You are not wrong to worry about putting all eggs in one basket, but the
> answer to that is backup frequently--turn on the Make BackUp option as
> Anne
> said, but also backup frequently yourself.
>
> I am not sure what difference frames may make to any of these options.
> Theoretically, none, I think.
>
>
> On 6/21/05 11:49 AM, "Jeff" wrote:
>
>> Hi (using Word 2002 in XP).
>>
>> I am writing a book that has many chapters. It is a complex book, so I'm
>> writing a little in one chapter and a little in another at various times,
>> adding ideas as they come along. At present each chapter is in a separate
>> file, but that has created a great many separate files and I am looking
>> for
>> a way to coordinate them. I therefore thought of the Master document as a
>> tool to do this. I used to use the Master document when I was writing in
>> WordPerfect 5.1 and it worked very well for me. But I heard that master
>> documents have problems and a great risk of corruption in Word. Is that
>> true? What kind of problems occur with Master documents. Can they be
>> avoided?
>>
>> Any suggestions as to how to maintain a "big picture" of all the chapters
>> in
>> this manuscript? I could of course put them all in one huge file with the
>> heading chapters creating a master list in the TOC - and I'm considering
>> doing that - but the idea of putting all the eggs in one basket that
>> might
>> get corrupted somehow bothers me. Am I wrong to worry about that?
>>
>> This manuscript has a lot of illustrations (if that makes a difference in
>> the responses) and I use frames to position them within the document.
>>
>> Thanks for any suggestions and ideas.
>
> --
> Daiya Mitchell, MVP Mac/Word
> Word FAQ: http://www.word.mvps.org/
> MacWord Tips: <http://www.word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/>
> What's an MVP? A volunteer! Read the FAQ:
> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
>



.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Lost overnite, bibliographies in 7 docs created over months
    ... You should not be using the Master Document recovery methods unless you were ... This message is posted to a newsgroup. ... Bibliography in my most recent document. ... Lots of saves and backup files. ...
    (microsoft.public.word.docmanagement)
  • Re: Advice about Master documents
    ... Make sure that your backups are separate and don't overwrite each other. ... file may corrupt before you realize that it is. ... I therefore thought of the Master document as ...
    (microsoft.public.word.formatting.longdocs)
  • Re: Error Message "A table in this document has become corrupted"
    ... That's the first mention of a Master Document being involved and I assume ... But as far as finding the location of a corrupt table in an ordinary ... >>> involved equipment and rebooted as of today but still the error message ... I have also after verifying all service packs having been ...
    (microsoft.public.word.tables)
  • Re: Whole document disappeared
    ... You can try the regular corrupt doc techniques first, ... That last paragraph mark holds a lot of information which can get ... formatting, ... > The Master Document is not corrupted. ...
    (microsoft.public.word.docmanagement)
  • Re: Word windows 07 docs lets crash win for mac 2008
    ... If it is a "Master Document", ... almost certain to corrupt unless you know what you're doing. ... John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer, ... McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd ...
    (microsoft.public.mac.office.word)