Template problems -char styles
CL
formatting using the template--in some documents -- the
style name is replaced by a Character style (for example
Paragraph Char, or Paragraph Char Char Char...). Does
anyone know why this occurs? How to avoid it? And how to
delete the Char styles?
Also occasionally the entire screen will blink
repeatedly.
These are fairly long documents (more than 30 pages).
Any insights would be appreciated.
Shauna Kelly
First, you need to install Service Packs 1 and 2 for Word. You can download them from the microsoft.com site. That will stop the
creation of Char Char Char styles.
Word will still, however, create styles like Paragraph Char (but not Paragraph Char Char). These occur when you apply a style to
*part* of a paragraph. As a test, in a new document, create a paragraph in style Body Text. Select one or two words and apply style
Heading 1. You'll now see that you have style Heading 1 Char in the list of styles.
Note that, with SP-1 and SP-2 installed, you won't see the "char" style listed in the Styles and Formatting Pane. You can only see
them listed if, from the Styles and Formatting Pane, in the Show box, you choose Custom and then tick the Styles button.
Hope this helps.
Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word
Melbourne, Australia
"CL" <cl...@dresources.com> wrote in message news:0e5b01c35c3f$9ae96d30$a601...@phx.gbl...
CL
problems might have started prior to the completion of
that installation. Microsoft tech support also told us it
occurred when Word 2002 docs were opened in Word 2000.
Have you heard that?
Thanks again.
C.
We heard from Microsoft that the multiple Char problem
>.
>
Shauna Kelly
No, I haven't heard of this. I have tried to replicate it, using documents from Word 97 into Word 2002, and from Word 2003 back into
Word 2002. (I haven't got a Word 2000 here to check.) They all behaved differently, but in no case did the document acquire a
"Heading 1 char" style.
Hope this helps.
Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word
Melbourne, Australia
"CL" <cl...@dresources.com> wrote in message news:09b801c35d1e$4d38b570$a001...@phx.gbl...
Klaus Linke
Klaus
"Shauna Kelly" <Shaun...@ShaunaKelly.com> wrote:
> Hi C
>
> No, I haven't heard of this. I have tried to replicate it, using
documents
> from Word 97 into Word 2002, and from Word 2003 back into Word 2002.
> (I haven't got a Word 2000 here to check.)
> They all behaved differently, but in no case did the document acquire a
> "Heading 1 char" style.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
> http://www.shaunakelly.com/word
> Melbourne, Australia
>
>
Paul Moloney
> No, I haven't heard of this. I have tried to replicate it, using documents from Word 97 into Word 2002, and from Word 2003 back into
> Word 2002. (I haven't got a Word 2000 here to check.) They all behaved differently, but in no case did the document acquire a
> "Heading 1 char" style.
I'm _still_ geting the "char char" problem
even though I have Microsoft Word 2002 SP-2
(I've just verified this from "Help->About
Microsoft Word.)
At the moment, my main problem is the fact
that my "Heading 3" style has turned into
*deep breath* "Heading 3,Heading 3 Char,
Heading 3 Char1 Char,Heading 3 Char Char
Char,Heading 3 Char1 Char Char Char,Heading 3
Char Char Char Char Char,Heading 3 Char1
Char Char Char Char Char,Heading 3 Char1
Char1 Char Char,Heading 3 Char1 Char2 Char!"
The normal way that I clear a document of
".. char" styles is to:
1. Create a new temporary style - say "StyleTmp".
2. Replace all incidents of any variation the
original style ("Style Char", "Style Char Char",
etc.) with "StyleTmp")
3. Delete the style "Style", "Style Char", etc.
4. Close and reopen the file, allowing the
document to reimport the style "Style" from the
template.
5. Replace all incidents of "StyleTmp" with "Style".
However, I'm not allowed to delete the above
"Heading 3, Heading 3 Char..." style. Does anyone
know how I can rid of it? And, apart from installing
the service packs (which I've already one) is there
any other ways to prevent "...Char" styles?
Thanks,
P.
Shauna Kelly
Here are some ideas.
1. Prevention
The *only* way that Char styles get created in *new* documents created under Word 2002 with SP-2 is by selecting a portion of a
paragraph and applying a style to that portion only. You can prove it to yourself in a new document. Type a paragraph. Select one
word. Apply Heading 1 to that word only. You'll now have Heading 1 Char.
So to prevent creating new Char styles, ensure that, when applying a style, you either (a) select the whole paragraph including the
paragraph mark or (b) ensure that no text is selected, and the cursor is simply within the paragraph.
2. Cleaning up horrid documents
The method you used below will work in lots of cases, but Word gets very huffy about the Heading styles because they're built-in and
have "magic" properties.
Maybe this would work:
1. Ensure that nowhere in the document are styles applied to just part of a paragraph.
2. Create a new style called, say, MyH1. Ensure that it is based on No Style (ie not based on any existing style).
Search-and-replace to find all your text in Heading 1 and replace with MyH1.
3. Copy and paste all but the last paragraph marker into a brand new document.
4. In the new document, search-and-replace to find all the MyH1 text and replace with Heading 1.
This works for me. That is, I end up with Heading 1, but no Heading 1 Char.
Hope this helps.
Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word
Melbourne, Australia
"Paul Moloney" <paul_m...@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:b917d6bd.03081...@posting.google.com...
Paul Moloney
> The *only* way that Char styles get created in *new* documents created under Word 2002 with SP-2 is by selecting a portion of a
> paragraph and applying a style to that portion only.
I'm pretty sure you can also get it by cutting and pasting text,
and not being carefully about the insertion point. For example,
if you copy a paragraph in one paragraph style, and paste it inside
(where inside can be anywhere between the first letter and the
paragraph mark of the paragraph) a paragraph in another style.
> 2. Create a new style called, say, MyH1. Ensure that it is based on No Style (ie not based on any existing style).
> Search-and-replace to find all your text in Heading 1 and replace with MyH1.
This was successful for one document. However, in another, I deleted all
section breaks and replaced all occurences of the corrupted Heading 2 styles
with another style, triple-checking this. However, even when I copy the
resulting text, minus the last paragraph, to a blank document, the
Heading 2 style stubborn "sticks" to the text, even when other unused styles
are lost. Even with no template attached to the document, and no text using
the style "Heading 2...." in there, there are still somehow references to
it there.
When I save the resulting document in .rtf format and open it, I can
find references to "Heading 2 Char.. etc" near the beginning, before
any actual text. I'm no expert with RTF, so am not sure what this implies.
Any ideas?
Thanks,
P.
Shauna Kelly
Some idle thoughts.
1. "Char" styles do not, of themselves, represent corruption of a style or a document. The invention of "char" styles in Word 2002
was by design, and it was introduced to solve a common problem. Lots of people want to have run-in headings (like, say, "Budget -
The budget for 2004 will be published ....") where the first word only is to be in a heading style and thus available to a table of
contents. Word 2002 created functionality to enable this, but a side-effect was creating the "char" styles. "Char" styles don't
actually hurt a document, and Word lives with them happily; they just look untidy to humans. And they annoy us because they're so
very difficult to delete!
2. If text is copied from one document to another, and in the donor document the text was in a style that does not exist in the
recipient document, then Word will bring the style with the text. That has been true for as many versions of Word as anyone can
remember. And, it's true for "char" styles as well. So yes, pasting text in style "Heading 1 char" will bring "Heading 1 char" into
the recipient document.
3. In the example you quoted, I suspect that the temporary style was based on Heading 2. For the trick to work, the temporary style
can't be based on Heading 2 (or Heading 2 Char, for that matter). Ensure your temporary style is based on no style.
4. I'm afraid I'm not an expert in RTF either.
Hope this helps.
Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word
Melbourne, Australia
"Paul Moloney" <paul_m...@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:b917d6bd.03081...@posting.google.com...
Paul Moloney
> When I save the resulting document in .rtf format and open it, I can
> find references to "Heading 2 Char.. etc" near the beginning, before
> any actual text. I'm no expert with RTF, so am not sure what this implies.
> Any ideas?
Following up myself, I managed to find this great little macro
at :
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister/MyFavTip.htm
-----------------------8<------------------------
{quote}
If you try to delete the "Char" styles, the paragraph style to which
it is linked will also be deleted. The only way around this is to use
a macro to break the link. The following sample code creates a new
style ("Style1"), links the "Char" style that bases on "Heading 2" to
this new style, then deletes the new style.
Sub DeleteHeading2Char()
Dim styl As Word.Style, doc As Word.Document
Set doc = ActiveDocument
Set styl = doc.Styles.Add(Name:="Style1")
On Error Resume Next
doc.Styles("Heading 2 Char").LinkStyle = _
styl
styl.Delete
End Sub
-----------------------8<------------------------
This _really_ simplifies things, getting rid of your
"Heading <n> char" styles (simply create a different
version of the macro for each heading style). The exact
name of the char version of the heading style isn't displayed
in the "Styles and Formatting" sidebar, but can be obtained
in Find->Format->Style.
Regards,
P.
Paul Moloney
> "Char" styles don't
> actually hurt a document, and Word lives with them happily; they just
> look untidy to humans. And they annoy us because they're so
> very difficult to delete!
They _can_ break templates though; for example, I've designed a
template to be used for our company documents, with various
macros that apply styles to paragraphs and insert text fields,
among other things. If a "...Char" style is accidentally created
based on a style, then sometimes that the style itself disappears
from the document with only the "...Char" version remaining.
When the associated macro is subsequently run, the associated
style can't be found and the macro appears to be broken.
> 2. If text is copied from one document to another, and in the donor document the text was in a style that does not exist in the
> recipient document, then Word will bring the style with the text.
Nope, I'm familiar with that - I'm referring here to text pasted
within a single document from one section to another. I'm not sure
_why_ this behaviour happens, but I've definitely seen it; if I
used [Ctrl-Z] and [Ctrl-Y] to undo and redo the pasting, I could
actually see the "..Char" style disappearing and reappearing in
the list of styles. I can only presume it's associated with whether
or not you select a whole paragraph or part before cutting/pasting.
As is usual for these things, when I attempt to recreate the event,
I can't! :)
I hope the next version of Word includes the option to configure
it so that if you apply a paragraph style to part of a paragraph, it
then applies the style to the _whole_ paragraph. Creating a new
character style just seems completely illogical; most people who go to
the trouble of creating templates do so to keep things regimented
and structured, and having new styles being created willy-nilly is
exactly the kind of behaviour they don't want to see.
Regards,
P.