Re: Convert a directory of Word files to a TOC

Subject: Re: Convert a directory of Word files to a TOC
From: "Chris Morton" <salt -dot- morton -at- gmail -dot- com>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2008 08:35:04 -0700

It's been awhile for sure, but I'm thinking it would be possible to filter
the initial TXT results. The Mr. Knowitall of all things "DOS" these days is
*PC Magazine's* Neil Rubenking (askneil AT ziffdavis.com). I've always found
him to be quite responsive.

I do a lot of redirecting (>) various lists to TXT files. I then usually
import the (ASCII) result into Excel for further manipulation. It's a handy
trick, especially when dealing with a massive MP3 collection such as I am.

> Chris

On Thu, Oct 16, 2008 at 10:29 AM, Paul Hanson <phanson -at- quintrex -dot- com> wrote:

> WOW! Very helpful.
>
> I love DOS - I can find out what I want quickly.
>
> Do you know of a trick to only get files listed after a certain date? I
> have a directory called v:\as400fd and I want a list of files that have a
> date greater than 4/1/2008.
>
> I know I can do dir *.* /od and get them sorted by date and then manually
> remove the files older than 4/1 from the list.
>
> Paul
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+phanson=quintrex -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:
> techwr-l-bounces+phanson <techwr-l-bounces%2Bphanson>=quintrex.com@
> lists.techwr-l.com] On Behalf Of Chris Morton
> Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2008 12:13 PM
> To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: Re: Convert a directory of Word files to a TOC
>
> DIR */B* /S *.* > file.txt
>
> The /B eliminates the extraneous garbage.
>
> > Chris
>
> On Thu, Oct 16, 2008 at 6:57 AM, Paul Hanson <phanson -at- quintrex -dot- com> wrote:
>
> > Apologies if I misunderstand what you are trying to do. Based upon what
> you
> > wrote, this is what I would do:
> >
> > Use the DOS "DIR" command to create a .txt file that has all the file
> names
> > listed.
> >
> > Something like
> > DIR *.* /s >file.txt
> >
> > Then open up file.txt in Word. Strip all the other stuff, like date &
> time,
> > that you don't need. I often replace <space><space> with a tab and
> convert
> > to a table. Then delete the columns that don't apply.
> >
> > You would end up with a list like
> > MPLS20S04L01.doc
> > MPLS20S04L02.doc
> > MPLS20S04L03.doc
> > MPLS20S04L04.doc
> > On the first page of your doc.
> >
> > Insert a page break above the first file so you have
> >
> > <blank page>
> > ---page break----
> > MPLS20S04L01.doc
> > MPLS20S04L02.doc
> > MPLS20S04L03.doc
> > MPLS20S04L04.doc
> >
> > Go to your list of Word files. Apply Heading 1 to all of them.
> >
> > Go to the blank page above your list and insert a TOC field.
> >
> > Update the field making sure Heading 1 is in your TOC field. Bingo.
> >
> > I do this kind of stuff frequently.
> >
> > Paul Hanson
> > Technical Writer
> > RoboHelp ACE -
> > http://www.adobe.com/support/forums/team_macromedia/robohelp.html
> > Quintrex Data Systems http://www.quintrex.com
> > email: phanson at quintrex.com
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: techwr-l-bounces+phanson=quintrex -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:
> > techwr-l-bounces+phanson <techwr-l-bounces%2Bphanson>=quintrex.com@
> > lists.techwr-l.com] On Behalf Of John Posada
> > Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2008 8:50 AM
> > To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> > Subject: Convert a directory of Word files to a TOC
> >
> > Hi, guys...I want to do something that is over my head.
> >
> > I was given over 250mb of Word files from an outside vendor (about 50
> > files). They are named by seqential numbers (MPLS20S04L01.doc,
> > MPLS20S04L02.doc, etc, though the numbers come in different groups) .
> > What I'd like to do is programmitcally, generate a TOC type of doc
> > that contains the file name and H1 title that can be picked up from
> > inside of the document.
> >
> > That means something programmically has to start at the top of the
> > directory, write the file name ot a TOC Word doc, open the doc, write
> > the H1 to the TOC Word doc, close, go to the next file, write the
> > filename to the TOC doc, open and write the H1 title to the TOC doc,
> > etc.
> >
> > No links, just a list. Has anyone done something like this before?
> >
> > --
> > John Posada
> > Senior Technical Writer
> > NYMetro STC President
> >
> > 'Half this game is ninety percent mental.'
> > -- Danny Ozark, Philadelphia Phillies manager
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> True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
> Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
> documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
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Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
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Follow-Ups:

References:
Convert a directory of Word files to a TOC: From: John Posada
RE: Convert a directory of Word files to a TOC: From: Paul Hanson
Re: Convert a directory of Word files to a TOC: From: Chris Morton

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