Re: Why field shading persists

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Hmmm. I also looked at this yesterday and came across a snag with this
method of unlinking in that check boxes do not appear to unlink. They remain
as check box fields, but in this case you have not re-locked the form so
they don't actually work. I experimented briefly with conditionally
replacing them with checked or unchecked boxes from (say) the Wingdings
font, but I ran out of time before packing up for the day :)

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org
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Jay Freedman wrote:
The following modification of the macro will unlink only form fields:

Sub FinishForm()
Dim thisFF As Field
With ActiveDocument
If .ProtectionType <> wdNoProtection Then
.Unprotect
End If

For Each thisFF In .Fields
If (thisFF.Type = wdFieldFormTextInput) Or _
(thisFF.Type = wdFieldFormDropDown) Or _
(thisFF.Type = wdFieldFormCheckBox) Then
thisFF.Unlink
End If
Next
End With
End Sub

While I was writing this, I discovered something I didn't know about
before (something that happens with great regularity <g>): Using a
bit of VBA, it's possible to turn off the shading of form fields,
while still leaving them as fields, independent of the shading of
other fields. This short macro will do it:

Sub NoFormFieldShade()
ActiveDocument.FormFields.Shading = False
End Sub

You can apply this macro once to the template, and the formfields in
all documents based on the template will stay unshaded -- even if the
Field Shading option in the Options dialog is set to Always, and
therefore the other kinds of fields are shaded.

So now you have two possible solutions. Pick the one you like the
best.
cayce wrote:
This is great news! It sounds like unlinking form fields is what I
seek. I THINK that means those fields that get updated when coworkers
run the custom macros that are in the documents...right? Any other
fields in the files can stay intact (TOC, page nos., outline heading
nos., and the like).

Thanks again Jay for your time spent to date.

"Jay Freedman" wrote:

The macro, as is, would unlink all the fields in the document,
including the TOC; that, too, would become plain text and wouldn't
update any more. If you don't unlink it, it will show field shading
just like the form fields would. That's why I said the macro should
be used "when the document is ready" -- in other words, just before
being sent.

It would be easy to modify the macro in various ways:

- Unlink only the form fields, leaving any other fields (TOC, page
numbers, dates, etc.) intact.

- Unlink all fields except the TOC (or a short list of other field
types).

To do this, I'd need to know what specific kinds of fields are in
the document, and which types you do and don't want to unlink.


On Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:09:01 -0700, cayce
<cayce@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Yes..it is my coworkers who fill in what the macro prompts for. I'd
like to avoid the customer, who ultimately receives these files,
from seeing all this "back office" stuff.

I'll experiment with what you sent. I trust it doesn't disable the
TOC in the process.

I am deeply ignorant about Visual Basic and am tasked with
supporting others here who use the macros. I, however, did not do
any of the VB design we have. I know enough to be dangerous;)

thanks for the additional coaching Jay.
"Jay Freedman" wrote:

I think I may have misunderstood your purpose in asking. I assumed
that the form was being sent to the customer to be filled out by
them and returned to you -- that's a common scenario.

Is it the case that your coworkers are filling the fields, not the
customers? When the document is sent to the customer, would you be
satisfied if the fields were turned into plain text and were not
form fields any more?

If that's the case, then add this macro to the template and
provide a toolbar button to run it when the document is ready
(won't need any further field entries):

Sub FinishForm()
With ActiveDocument
If .ProtectionType <> wdNoProtection Then
.Unprotect
End If

.Fields.Unlink
End With
End Sub

After this runs, there won't be any field shading because there
won't be any fields.

Two things that may not be obvious:

(1) When you add macro code to a template in Word 2007, you must
save it as a macro-enabled template (.dotm instead of .dotx) or
else the code will be stripped out. All of your macro code should
be in this template, not in the "starting document" -- there
should not be any .docm file in your process. You should be using
Office button > New to base new documents on the template.

(2) When you create a new document based on a macro-enabled
template, the macro code stays in the template; the document can
be saved as a .docx file.

cayce wrote:
thanks Jay for the comments. As for field shading not related to
VB code, this is new information for me. Thanks for educating me
about this.

As for field shading on the other end, I think the boilerplate
appearance of all the fields used in the document can be viewed
as impersonalization by the customer. This is the undesirable
side effect I was referring to.

thanks again for your comments.

"Jay Freedman" wrote:

cayce wrote:
Is there a way to have a Word 2007 .docx file not reveal field
shading? The files in questions start out as .docm and are
later saved as .docx.

I know you can unlink field codes by selecting all and doing a
Ctrl + shift + F9 but since it appears the VB code is gone in a
.docx, I do not understand why the field shading persists?

The presence or absence of VB code has absolutely nothing to do
with whether field shading is shown. That's a complete non
sequitur.

I am trying to give coworkers simple instruction on how to
prepare a Word 2007 file before sending to a customer. The
field shading gives a very undesirable boilerplate appearance
should the recipient have the field shading option turned on to
always. The field shading persists with the .dox file, a
surprise to me.

If the recipient has the field shading option set to "always",
then presumably they expect to see field shading. Why are you
trying to override their preference? Just because you don't like
it?

Has anyone ever run into this and have an easy solution?

The only "solution" is an AutoOpen macro that turns off the
field shading option when your document is opened. If you have
any consideration for the recipient, the macro will store the
option's value before turning it off, and an AutoClose macro
will restore that setting. This has many problems, though,
starting with the fact that by default Word doesn't allow
unsigned macros in untrusted locations to run at all. If you
sign the macro code and it runs, then you have the situation
that fields won't be shaded in other documents the user may have
open at the same time as your document, so you're still going
against the user's preference.

My best advice is to leave it alone.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.


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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Why field shading persists
    ... It sounds like unlinking form fields is what I seek. ... don't unlink it, it will show field shading just like the form fields would. ... It would be easy to modify the macro in various ways: ...
    (microsoft.public.word.vba.general)
  • Re: Why field shading persists
    ... This short macro will do it: ... all documents based on the template will stay unshaded -- even if the ... it will show field shading ... I'd like to avoid the customer, ...
    (microsoft.public.word.vba.general)
  • Re: Why field shading persists
    ... "Jay Freedman" wrote: ... You can apply this macro once to the template, ... there won't be any field shading because there ...
    (microsoft.public.word.vba.general)
  • Re: Why field shading persists
    ... The macro, as is, would unlink all the fields in the document, including the ... it will show field shading just like the form fields would. ... When you add macro code to a template in Word 2007, ...
    (microsoft.public.word.vba.general)
  • Re: Why field shading persists
    ... The following modification of the macro will unlink only form fields: ... there won't be any field shading because there ...
    (microsoft.public.word.vba.general)