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Subject:Re: Conditional text in Word 6 (Mac)? From:Jay Mead <jlmead -at- OURAY -dot- CUDENVER -dot- EDU> Date:Fri, 2 May 1997 15:58:06 -0600
On Fri, 2 May 1997, Patty Ewy wrote:
>
> Any advice or pointers about where to go to learn more about conditional
> text would be appreciated. Thanks.
Conditional text is possible in Word. It's a little clumsy, but it works,
and I learned how to do it from this list a couple of years ago, so I'm
happy to share it.
You need to set up a base document and a separate template for each
document version. In your
base document, apply one of the templates and type the text appropriate
to that
version. Select the text and give it a bookmark name (and then delete the
text). Apply another template. Type the text appropriate for THAT
document version. Select the text and give it THE SAME bookmark name (and
delete it). Now, in the base document, insert a reference to that
bookmark. Result: when you apply the first template and print the
document, the first text will show up at the bookmark reference point.
When you apply the second template and print the document, the SECOND text
will show up at the bookmark reference point. See how this works?
So, a clunky sort of conditional text is possible. I spent two years
maintaining a very complex set of long manuals in up to eight flavors
using this method, so I know it works. (But if I were doing it again, I'd
certainly clamor for a tool like FrameMaker that has a real conditional
text feature.)
Let me know if you need any more information about this.
Jay Mead
Galileo International
jay -dot- mead -at- den -dot- galileo -dot- com
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