Developer Forum

I work in an office setting, using Office 2003, where normal.dot is
frequently overwritten. I have some macros that I want to be able to
use. So far, what I have tried in order to solve this problem has not
worked, so I'm asking for help.

I took a blank document, and save it as a template on my personal
drive. I called it my.dot. I then modified the Word shortcut, (after
creating one that would allow me to access the startup path,) and
tried two modifications: (a) appending the switch /tp:\my.dot to the
end of the path, and (b) simply using the path p:\my.dot to launch
Word. When I recreated the macros, I hoped to see my.dot as a
possible template to save them, but so far, this hasn't happened.
Would the results be different if I put my template into the default
templates folder? Are quotes required on the path following the /t
switch? Can anybody share other suggestions?

Thank you for your assistance.

Dean Martineau

Hi Dean

take a look at this article

Distributing macros to other users
http://www.yqcomputer.com/


--
Regards
Jonathan West - Word MVP
www.intelligentdocuments.co.uk
Please reply to the newsgroup

In order to create or copy macros to my.dot my.dot would have to be open for
editing. In order to use the macros from that template you would need to
either create new documents from it (in which case it would have to be in
the Word User Templates folder) or install it as an add-in (in the Word
Startup Folder) in which case the macros would be available to all
documents. However, if your Office system frequently replaces the normal
template (why?) then the chances are that your IT support will have
countered both methods.

I personally find it very irritating when IT departments do this. They do so
to save them support work, not to help you do your job which is (or should
be) their primary task.

If you cannot get around this, the answer would be to keep the template safe
from interference and load it into the Word Startup folder each time you log
in and before starting Word.

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Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://www.yqcomputer.com/
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raham,

I suspect that corporate IT departments frequently replace the Normal.dot
for several reasons.

First, it's a cheaper and easier alternative to creating document-specific
templates that carry the correct corporate look and feel. They reckon - and
rightly so in my experience - that most users will create the majority of
their documents from a blank document. Of course, this means that there's a
risk that the users will do something with to the styles that's not in
keeping with the corporate standards (like Heading 1 set to bold, italic,
underlined, purple, 28 pt, MS Comic Sans, with ants - says the Voice of
Experience...). By simply rolling a new version of Normal these issues become
very short-lived, and usually after the third or fourth time of having their
customisations blown away, most users just give up.

Second, the Normal is regularly used as a source of corporate standard
AutoText entries, and when these need to be updated (or to rectify or prevent
modification)... you get the picture. At least the company I'm contracting to
presently has the good sense to put AutoText into an add-in.

Finally, as I'm sure you're aware, the Normal template is - or at least has
been - extremely susceptible to corruption, and the usual solution is to
delete (or rename) the Normal and allow Word to rebuild it automatically. Of
course, most users have no clue as to what's going on when errors from a
corrupt Normal start popping up, so they ring the Help Desk. Periodically
rolling out a new Normal cuts down on these calls.

As for the OP's question, I think you've covered it. ;-P
--
Cheers!
Gordon

Uninvited email contact will be marked as SPAM and ignored. Please post all
follow-ups to the newsgroup.


"Graham Mayor" wrote:

've heard all the excuses before - and more often than not it is laziness
and an unwillingness to spend money to do the job properly that is at the
root of the problem. Where the companies employ people who actually now how
to use Word, such practices inhibit productivity and irriate the hell out of
the staff.

Some companies even share normal.dot :(

Normal.dot is a personal user file and should be left as such. Company
documents should be created using document templates designed for the task
and staff should be instructed and if necessary trained to use them.

Normal.dot should not corrupt easily - certainly not since Word 2003 - and
deleting it is not the correct approach to correcting it. It should be
renamed, so that the macros, etc that it contains can be recovered. In many
cases even that is not necessary as it is usually a failure to shut down
correctly, leaving lock files lying around that is at the root of most
problems.

Many of the problems would be solved if IT support simply turned on the
option to automatically save a backup file - or allowed the user to do so -
but then they tend not to allow users to take the measures to protect
themselves so canny users have to resort to subterfuge.

In any case if IT support was properly backing up user files, as the users
logged in or out, it would have a backup of the files before the problem
arose that it could replace. You would then only lose the customisations
relating to that session and not those that may have been developed over a
long period.

--
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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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Gordon Bentley-Mix wrote: