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Subject:Re: This old chestnut again From:John Hedtke <john -at- hedtke -dot- com> To:jopakent -at- comcast -dot- net,WORD-PC -at- LISTSERV -dot- LIV -dot- AC -dot- UK (Word List), techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com (TECHWR) Date:Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:39:22 -0800
At 07:15 AM 11/14/2007, jopakent -at- comcast -dot- net wrote:
>I've been looking through the archives for a bit now and I'm not
>seeing anything "recent" on this topic. The last post I found was back in 04.
>
>I know (in my heart anyway) that the list of gruesome horrors one
>can unleash by using Word's master document "feature" has almost
>certainly not gone away. I'm almost certain that I've seen queries
>relating to Word 2003, not so sure about 2007.
>
>The problem, Sharepoint is heading our way. That is NOT going to
>change. We'll deal with that. The problem is that one of the chief
>proponents of this roll-out is touting that because Sharepoint is so
>tightly integrated with MS Office, when we upgrade to 2007 in Q1,
>we'll be able to use Word to create xml-based, single source
>documents, relying on Words powerful master documents feature.
>
>Seriously, that last sentence is not (intentionally anyway) designed
>to be considered as a Bulwer-Lytton contest entrant. I understand
>that the "xml" that we get from a MS product will not truly be xml.
>I also understand that Sharepoint is not (without ridiculous amounts
>of customization) going to perform the CMS functions we will need to
>perform true single sourcing. I also know that relying on master
>documents to document combination is just stepping into madness.
>
>My problem? (sorry for the long setup) I'm trying to find a couple
>of posts that document the nightmarish scenario of relying on master
>documents to do actual work. I know there are 1 or 2 (maybe even 3)
>people who claim that there is a use for these (other than as a
>means of getting your writers to head for the exits), but I'm not
>looking for the outliers, I'm trying to tap into the main-stream,
>conventional wisdom.
Don't do it! Don't do it, Paul!! It's worth your life and your
soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooul!!!!!
>Can anyone point me to an article, white paper, post, etc. that will
>help me avoid this cruel fate?
Here's a post about this: http://www.teknoids.net/node/8380 Gene
Kim-Eng and John Posada wrote things about it here to the listserve
in June. And I still won't use the feature either, because the
underlying problems (too many Window handles get soaked up by Word in
the process of this and between that and Word's memory leaks, you're
hosed) haven't been solved.
SharePoint's interesting, but it won't simplify the process.
Yours truly,
John Hedtke
Author/Consultant/Contract Writer
www.hedtke.com <-- website
Region 7 Director, STC
541-685-5000 (office landline)
541-554-2189 (cell)
john -at- hedtke -dot- com (primary email)
johnhedtke -at- aol -dot- com (secondary email)
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