Under The Hood

2009-12-31T12:59:00.000-05:00

THE LATEST RELEASE can be obtained FREE from My downloads page.

Visit http://www.chrisgreaves.com/blogunder/ to read these posts with associated images and screen shots.

Splitting asUnder

2009-11-21T05:55:00.001-05:00

I am considering splitting UnderTheHood into about 10 smaller applications.
Initial thoughts can be found Here.
Your comments are invited.
My motivation comes from two major sources:
(1) Lily Chambers has shown me the wisdom of offering a smaller application as a pay-per-download item.
(2) I am finding a 2MB template a heavy burden in terms of maintenance and documentation.
By spending some splitting Under asunder I believe that I will gain time and money in the long run.

New web page, products SPLIT!

2008-03-02T07:24:00.001-05:00

In my ongoing development, I have decided to split Under The Hood into about two dozen modules.
As I carve out the territory I'll be documenting each macro in each module.

You can visit http://torontomacros.com/underindex.html to see the latest offerings.

Online definitions

2007-10-16T05:10:00.000-04:00

I have implemented three new functions with associated macros. Look in the definitions menu of the Under toolbar.

Use is straightforward: Click in a word (you don't need to select the entire word) and choose one of the online sources. Your default browser should pop up with the definition of that word.

Colouring characters, words & paragraphs

2007-10-07T13:11:00.000-04:00

I have augmented UnderTheHood with a Colours toolbar.
The four supporting macros are:

1. A colour-picker that allows you to assign colours to a series of command buttons. The highest (rightmost) button you click will be the extent of the colours saved to your INI file.

2. Three macros which apply the series of colours cyclically to characters, words or paragraphs in your selection.

And yes, I will be migrating this to Excel, Publisher and so on.

Count Frames

2007-01-31T19:53:00.000-05:00

Under.zip (XInfo) "CountFrames" - Display a count of the number of frames in the current selection or document.

Microsoft Word no longer promtes Frames, but many legacy documents hold them; some current documents too, since users continue long in old habits.

Part of the macro set " CountFrames ", " DeleteAllFrames ", " FrameGoBackward ", " FrameGoForward ", " FrameGoToFirst ", " FrameGoToLast .

"DeleteAllFrames" – Delete all frames in the current selection or document.

"FrameGoBackwards" – Selects the previous frame in the current selection or document, moving towards the start of the document.

"FrameGoForward" – Selects the next frame in the current selection or document, moving towards the end of the document.

"FrameGoToFirst" – Selects the first frame in the current selection or document, at the start of the document.

"FrameGoToLast" – Selects the last frame in the current selection or document, at the end of the document.

RebuildTable

2007-01-23T17:45:00.001-05:00

Under.zip (XTable) "RebuildTable" – rebuilds a single table by issuing a Convert-To-text followed by a Convert-To-Table command from the Table menu. Uses the Tab character as the delimiter.

TitleCaseHeading

2007-01-23T17:41:00.001-05:00

Under.zip (XStyles)

This is a family of five macros:

TitleCaseHeading1 – sets to title case all paragraphs styled in "Heading 1" style.

TitleCaseHeading2 – sets to title case all paragraphs styled in "Heading 2" style.

TitleCaseHeading3 – sets to title case all paragraphs styled in "Heading 3" style.

TitleCaseHeading4 – sets to title case all paragraphs styled in "Heading 4" style.

TitleCaseHeading1_4 – as you have guessed - sets to title case all paragraphs styled in "Heading 1" through "Heading 4" styles.

Best Fit Toolbars by Name

2007-01-23T05:56:00.000-05:00

Bugs fixed. Many.

I demonstrated this collection of macros last weekend at an Application Development seminar and discovered to my horror that the lovely Best Fit Toolbars By Name was not living up to its name in Word2003.

I ran tests on two machines here, using Offices 97, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2007Trial. Sure enough, Word2003 is different from the others.

In running my tests I uncovered an aggravating programming error in my SetUp utility and another error in my RUse application.

Fixed now, I believe, in Under405.
I hang my head in shame, but am glad that overall the quality of these littel applications is improved.

LoadAllHyperlinksInDocument

2007-01-09T06:58:00.000-05:00

Under.zip (XFiles) "LoadAllHyperlinksInDocument" - Open every document immediately hyper linked to the current document.

This macro examines each hyperlink in the active document and opens the corresponding documents.

Typically you will maintain a high-level document with links to contributing documents. Now you can quickly have all the documents open at once, and use the Ctrl-Tab key or Windows Arrange to navigate between documents.

OrientationLandscapeForward

2006-11-22T19:35:00.000-05:00

Under.zip (XPageLayout) "OrientationLandscapeForward" - Switch to landscape mode from this point forward.

New release

2006-11-17T21:47:00.000-05:00

I have released Under395.dot.
You can obtain it for FREE from my downloads page at http://www.chrisgreaves.com/Downloads/Downloads.html

Precis Sentences

2006-11-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

Under.zip (XInfo) "PrecisSentences" - Extract the first sentences of each paragraph of the current document into a new document.

You are composing a vital memo and want to know if your message will get across. Chances are the reader will skim your memo, reading only the first sentences in each paragraph.

The macro PrecisSentences will extract the first sentence of each paragraph in your document and load the text into a new document.

If the new document makes sense, then your memo probably will make sense to your reader, but if your extracted summary seems to stagger under assumptions or mis-conceptions, then you need to make changes to that memo!

SaveToolbarLayout

2006-10-10T08:11:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XToolbars) "SaveToolbarLayout" - Save the current toolbar settings in a file. See also LoadToolbarLayout and BestFitToolbarsByName.

Word has a notorious bug whereby the toolbar alignments (and other things) get corrupted in the Data registry key. My workaround for this is to save the toolbar settings in a file of my own - the INI file - and then reload it at will, especially after I have fixed the registry problem by deleting the Data key.

Calendar Tricks

2006-10-04T11:39:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XCalendar) "Calendar" - Generates a calendar in a manner far superior to Microsoft's method.

You like using the Calendar macro. You decide to print off a fresh calendar every month.

Here's what you can do to ease your workload even further:

Save a fresh calendar with a name like "Calendar", so you'll be able to find it again.

Open up the Visual Basic Editor (Tools, Macros, Visual Basic Editor).

In the VBE set a reference to UnderTheHood by choosing Tools, References.

In the module This Document, write or generate a short macro that will call the calendar macro each time the document is opened.

Private Sub Document_Open()
Dim dt As Date
dt = DateSerial(Year(Now()), Month(Now()), 1)
Call Under.XCalen.GenerateCalendarTable(dt, Selection.Tables(1))
End Sub

You can paste that code directly into the module, if you wish.

(Choose debug, Compile to check that you have no syntax errors)

Save and Close the Calendar document.

The next time you open Calendar.DOC, the calendar will be refreshed with the calendar for the current month.

If you are in the habit of printing off next month's calendar sometime in the last seven (7) days of the current month, you can fudge the date calculation like this:

dt = DateSerial(Year(Now() + 7), Month(Now() + 7), 1)

UpdateAllStyles

2006-09-26T08:54:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XStyles) "UpdateAllStyles" - Copies all styles from the attached template into the document, overwriting any existing styles in the document that have the same name.

You will find this very handy when you adopt a document from another user and would like to bring the document's style definitions into line with your own definitions.

If your definitions are within your Normal.dot, then just run this macro and watch the magic.

Otherwise, attach your regular document template - and then run the macro and watch the magic.

ToolsCalculate

2006-09-23T14:27:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (Info) "ToolsCalculate" Display the calculated result from the selected text.

With a numeric expression such as 7*8/(1+2) in your document, select the expression and run the macro ToolsCalculate:

SetHeaderBorder

2006-09-14T10:10:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XPageLayout) "SetHeaderBorder" - Sets a standard line below the current paragraph.

You see this most of all in the page header routines, but it is well-suited to placing a line below text in the document body.

Calendar Ownership

2006-09-09T12:38:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XCalendar) "Calendar" - Generates a calendar in a manner far superior to Microsoft's method.

You have a calendar open on your desktop.

It belongs to you!

You can adjust the appearance in any way you choose.

In the example below I have introduced a dotted line as the lower border of the Normal style. This has the effect of splitting each day cell into a morning and afternoon segment.

As a bonus, it displays an area for comments at the foot of the page.

Calendar Change The Days

2006-09-08T16:45:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XCalendar) "Calendar" - Generates a calendar in a manner far superior to Microsoft's method.

You have a calendar open on your desktop.

I see no reason why your week must start on a Monday. Try changing the column headings to read "Sat" through "Fri"

I see no reason why you should not utilise the French names for the days of your week.

Note in the example below that I have re-arranged the starting day of the week, and hence this example has one less row than the previous example.

Spanish? German? Yes, that might work!

Next: Ownership

Calendar Number Of Days

2006-09-06T06:10:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XCalendar) "Calendar" - Generates a calendar in a manner far superior to Microsoft's method.

You have a calendar open on your desktop.

The Calendar macro has created special styles for you; you have modified the styles to change the appearance of your calendar.

Now delete the rightmost column and change the (new!) rightmost column to read "W/E", as in "Weekend".

Rerun the Calendar macro and note that with a 6-column calendar, each business day has more room for notes.

I see no reason why you should not use an eleven-column calendar to represent a schedule of ten days "on" and four days "off"

Next: Change the days

Calendar Appearance

2006-09-05T08:52:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XCalendar) "Calendar" - Generates a calendar in a manner far superior to Microsoft's method.

You have a calendar open on your desktop.

The Calendar macro has created special styles for you; you can modify the styles to change the appearance of your calendar.

Place the cursor on or next to a day number within a table cell, then choose Format, Style, Modify, Format, Font and change the typefaces, size, colour, or what-have you.

Confirm out of there and admire your work.

Next: Change the number of days

Calendar Basics

2006-09-04T09:18:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XCalendar) "Calendar" - Generates a calendar in a manner far superior to Microsoft's method.

In a blank document, run the calendar macro:

The macro will generate a trivial table and prompt you for a year and month.

Confirm with OK and watch a month of dates being prepared.

The macro will (slowly!) adjust the size of the table to fit on one page.

Choose File, Page setup and switch to landscape mode.

Rerun the Calendar macro to obtain a month of dates in landscape mode.

Next: Change the appearance

Playing Favourites

2006-09-01T11:05:00.000-04:00

Or more correctly "Playback Favorites", which is a subtle way of getting both spellings into a search engine!

On the image below you will see that I have used Change Image to set a red heart alongside the HeaderFooter command in the Headers sub-menu.

I have set a Red Heart alongside my favourite command in each sub-menu.

It makes those commands easy to spot.

By "favorite" I mean the most common function used, the one which I am most likely to want to target with the mouse.

Sorting paragraphs of text

2006-08-31T17:29:00.000-04:00

That completes a quick look at some of the macros available for sorting paragraphs of text.

Why is this better than choosing Table, Sort from Word's menu?

If you have a small set of paragraphs to set, and you want to use each paragraph as a sort key, I'd suggest you use Table, Sort from Word's menu! It is what i do in that case.

But if you want to use only the First word of each paragraph as a sort key, rather than the Entire paragraph, you'll want to use Under's macros.

If you want to sort a mass of paragraphs isolated by intervening tables, you'll want to use Under's macros. And here you have a choice of sorting the sets of paragraphs as a complete Block, or as Separate chunks.

On top of that, Under's intelligent selection kicks in - if you haven't selected any text, Under will assume that you want to sort all paragraphs within the current document.

ParagraphSortSeparateEntireKeyDescending

2006-08-30T07:27:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XSort) " ParagraphSortSeparateEntireKeyDescending " - Sort paragraphs of a selection in descending sequence when the selection spans intervening tables.

Open a new document and type in a few paragraphs, insert a small table, repeat the process until you have something like this:

Choose (Under) Sort, Paragraphs, ParagraphSortSeparateEntireKeyDescending and note that the document is sorted by paragraphs treating the paragraphs as separate chunks of data between each table:

Paragraphs 2 and 1 are now in descending sequence, as are paragraphs 14, 13; 26, 25 and so on.

ParagraphSortBlockEntireKeyDescending

2006-08-27T13:00:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XSort) " ParagraphSortBlockEntireKeyDescending " - Sort paragraphs of a selection in ascending sequence when the selection spans intervening tables.

Open a new document and type in a few paragraphs, insert a small table, repeat the process until you have something like this:

Select all text between and including Para 2 and Para 7; that is, select all but the first and last paragraphs.

Choose (Under) Sort, Paragraphs, ParagraphSortBlockEntireKeyDescending and note that the document is sorted by paragraphs across the entire selection:

ParagraphSortAllKeyFirstAscending

2006-08-23T13:12:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XSort) "ParagraphSortAllKeyFirstAscending" - Sort paragraphs of a selection in ascending sequence.

Open a new document and type in two paragraphs "Here is text" and "Here are words".

Choose (Under) Sort, Paragraphs, ParagraphSortAllKeyFirstAscending and note how the document is sorted by paragraphs, just like ParagraphSortAllKeyEntireAscending, except only the FIRST WORD of each paragraph is used as the sort key.

ParagraphSortAllKeyEntireDescending

2006-08-22T07:07:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XSort) " ParagraphSortAllKeyEntireDescending " - Sort paragraphs of a selection in ascending sequence.

Open a new document and Insert a File from another document (a safer method of obtaining text than opening a precious file!). Choose (Under) Sort, Paragraphs, ParagraphSortAllKeyEntireDescending and note how the document is sorted by paragraphs.

Just like ParagraphSortAllKeyEntireAscending but in DESCENDING sequence.

ParagraphSortAllKeyEntireAscending

2006-08-14T10:39:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XSort) " ParagraphSortAllKeyEntireAscending " - Sort paragraphs of a selection in ascending sequence.
Open a new document and Insert a File from another document (a safer method of obtaining text than opening a precious file!). Choose (Under) Sort, Paragraphs, ParagraphSortAllKeyEntireAscending and note how the document is sorted by paragraphs.

If you select a block of paragraphs, that selected block will be sorted while the remainder of the document is unchanged.

If the selection is the text insertion point (as in "Ctrl-Home"), then the entire document will be sorted.

New release

2006-08-13T16:23:00.000-04:00

I have released Under388 this afternoon.

The collection of over 400 macros which sort, drop duplicates, eliminate blank and empty entries from sets of paragraphs, tables, rows, columns and cells has been re-tested, several embarrassing bugs fixed. You will find these 400+ macros distributed across the menu items "Blanks", "Duplicate", "Empty" and "Sort".

There is yet another auxiliary document "SortingAndRelatedIssues.doc" which describes in some detail the various options available to you.

I plan to document these macros over the next two weeks.

Clear All WordArt Shapes

2006-08-11T08:08:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XGraphics) "ClearAllWordArt_Shapes" - Attempts to rid the current document of all Word Art shapes and replace each one with a plain paragraph mark.

Open a document laden with Word Art shapes, save the document with a new name (to avoid corrupting a perfectly good document!) then run the macro.

See also the macro "ClearAllGraphics".

QuickStart

2006-07-28T16:54:00.000-04:00

For those of you who are overwhelmed by the wealth of macros in UnderTheHood, i have prepared a short 15-minute introduction to features that you will recognise as useful.

http://www.chrisgreaves.com/blogunder/Quickstart.html

Keyboard Shortcuts

2006-07-24T11:58:00.000-04:00

(You can read the text with images at http://www.chrisgreaves.com/blogunder/)

Under.zip – The new condensed toolbar.

I have used it for a week, but find myself wanting to use the keyboard to navigate the menu system.

Here’s how that can be done: Preface a hot-letter key with the ampersand character (&).

In the example above, I am in the process of prefacing the “F” of “FixStyles” with an ampersand character.

I have already prefaced “Styles” and “Under” with ampersands.

From now on I’ll be able to Fix Styles by using Alt-U, S, F.

New release

2006-07-21T06:48:00.000-04:00

I have uploaded a new release Under375.

It differs from last week's release in small detail.

The update is a result of my experimentation with the AddIns Ribbon in Word2007. My screen-wide Under toolbar menu caused havoc with alignment of the other eleven applications I fire up as regular add-ins.

By introducing an extra level of navigation in the Under toolbar I have improved the visibility of the AddIn ribbon, for now.

You can read more about this in my blog "Office 2007 for the end-user" later today or tomorrow.

CopyHyperlinkToClipboard

2006-07-14T09:14:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XInfo) "CopyHyperlinkToClipboard" - Copies the target address (typically a web page) of the first hyperlink in the selected text to the clipboard, replacing any existing contents of the clipboard.

LoadReturnAddress

2006-07-12T22:04:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XEnvelopes) "LoadReturnAddress" - Generates a block of return address text.

This macro is used in the automated generation of an envelope (as in MakeEnvelopeFromSelection), but can be called separately by you.

A destination address can be loaded directly into the document from the settings in your string values GUI ("!P" on your Under toolbar).

Statistics

2006-07-09T11:40:00.000-04:00

Under.zip - Under The Hood maintains statistics on your use of macros. You can inspect the table in the folder "Statistics" within your Documents And Settings tree.

I have recorded 7345 uses of macros in Under The Hood.

Here are my most common calls. They account for 46% of all the calls made to macros of Under The Hood

Macro(Count/Percentage) Comments

Stats_ToggleShowAll(852/12%) I display and hide paragraph marks, field codes etc. when I am preparing a document.

Stats_VBEUser(715/10%) I develop applications so I want to open a template AND open the VBE AND maximize its window.

Stats_TypeName(402/5%) I have been generating letters, and that means envelope details.

Stats_TypeTelephone(359/5%) I have been generating letters, and that means envelope details.

Stats_Blue(343/5%) Documenting VBA code and preparing envelope addresses both require that I replace hard returns with soft returns and switch to a courier style.

Stats_FixStyles(299/4%) Preparation of documents includes making body text styles conform to their parent heading styles.

Stats_SaveAsSelection(239/3%) Preparation of any kind of document involves saving it, preferably with a meaningful name selected from the document itself.

Stats_BestFitToolbarsByName(190/3%) I hate wasted real estate space on my monitor, so I am asking the toolbars be packed as tightly as possible.

New release

2006-07-08T07:00:00.000-04:00

I have released Under370.dot.
You can obtain it for FREE from my downloads page at http://www.chrisgreaves.com/Downloads/Downloads.html

LoadAdvertisement

2006-07-08T06:56:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XEnvelopes) "LoadAdvertisement" - Load the advertisement file text to the document. (GUIUnderTags).

This macro is commonly called from an envelope macro, in which case the selection will be placed in the appropriate cell of the envelope's table layout.

You can maintain several different advertisements for your envelopes and switch between files by using the macro GUIUnderTags, which appears as a "!T" toolbar button on the Under toolbar.

Here's where the advertisement will appear on your envelope:
(Read the full article with images at http://www.chrisgreaves.com/blogunder/LoadAdvertisement.html)

LoadAddressFromFile

2006-07-06T06:55:00.000-04:00

Under.Zip (XEnvelopes) "LoadAddressFromFile" - Load the snapshot address from file to the main cell of the envelope table. (GUIUnderTags)

This macro is used in the automated generation of an envelope (as in MakeEnvelopeFromSelection), but can be called separately.

A destination address can be typed directly into the document from an external file. The name of the external file is set by you through the Tags and paths macro ("!T" on your toolbar; the top left-hand item probably shows "C:\Greaves\PCF\ENV.TXT", which you will change).

Make sure that any contacts data base tool that makes a snapshot of an address sends the address to the named file, and then use this macro, and/or other Envelope macros, to bring the data straight into your document, letter or envelope.

GreetingCard

2006-07-05T12:42:00.000-04:00

Under.Zip (XEnvelopes) "GreetingCard" - Build an empty two-column table envelope for greeting cards.

I created a standard size envelope for greeting cards - typically 13cm by 10cm - with a two-row, two-column table.

To send a card I use this macro, and grab the address from the file or snapshot, generate my return address and resize the card to fit, knowing that it will latch over the edge of a regular sheet of paper and pass into my laser-printer in regular mode.

RemoveAllBookmarks

2006-07-04T10:14:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XBookMarks) "RemoveAllBookmarks" – Removes all bookmarks in the document.

TypeTimeConst

2006-07-02T09:46:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (TextGen) "TypeTimeConst" - Types the current time as a formatted string at the selection point.

This data will be fixed in the document. (GUIUnderPersonal)

TypePageNo

2006-06-29T06:40:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTextGen) "TypePageNo" - Types the page number, suitable for a footer, in the form of "Page n of m".

TileVertically

2006-06-28T07:22:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XPageLayout) "TileVertically" - Tiles open documents side-by-side.

ViewFullPage

2006-06-27T05:39:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XPageLayout) "ViewFullPage" - Switches to Full Page view, returns to the main document and zooms to Fit Full Page.

Run the macro from Normal or Outline View.

I use this so frequently that I have assigned it to a toolbar button.

FOGIndex

2006-06-26T06:12:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XInfo) "FOGIndex" - If the length of the selection is under 100 characters, returns the FOG index of the entire document, otherwise the FOG index of the selected text.

The Fog Index of Readability I calculate as 0.4 * ( (words/sentences) + (100 * (long words/words))), that is, 0.4 times the average number of words per sentence plus 100 times the number of long words divided by the number of words.

LastRowWithParagraph

2006-06-25T10:51:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTable) "LastRowWithParagraph" - Applies Keep With Next to all cells in the last row of all tables in the current document.

KeepParagraphs

2006-06-22T09:51:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XPageLayout) "KeepParagraphs" Applies Widow Control and Keep With Next to each "Heading" paragraph.

If the selection is less than 5 characters, the entire document is formatted, otherwise, only paragraphs in the current selection are formatted.

RemoveAllStyleAliases

2006-06-21T04:30:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XStyles) "RemoveAllStyleAliases" - Attempts to remove all style aliases. If you have not seen these, be grateful.

Inspect your Format, Styles, organizer dialogue; Select a style, choose rename and append a comma and a new name, thus "Footnote Text, FN".

FN is now an alias for the "Footnote text" style. Create some aliases (if you don't already have some!), then run the macro.

BinaryRectangularTriangularTable

2006-06-20T09:03:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTable) "BinaryRectangularTriangularTable" - Build a rectangular triangular table, ascending or descending, eliminating all rows that are not powers of two.

Eminently suitable for a World Cup Soccer playoff.

New Release Under369

2006-06-19T06:57:00.000-04:00

Under.zip Fixes bugs, includes "BinaryRectangularTriangularTable"; ideal for World Cup (Soccer!) fans.

OpenTXTs

2006-06-19T06:26:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XFiles) "OpenTXTs" - Restricts the FileOpen dialogue box to TEXT files only.

DoublePara

2006-06-17T06:08:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTextChange) "DoublePara" - Doubles up paragraph marks in the selection and copies the selection to the clipboard.
I use macro this after saving the document and immediately prior to pasting its text into an email message.

TypeFileNameAndPath

2006-06-15T04:12:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTextGen) "TypeFileNameAndPath" - Inserts the full drive, path, name and extent of your document as a field.
Use Ctrl-Shift-F9 to fix it

ListNumberingToggleRestart

2006-06-13T07:10:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTextChange) "ListNumberingToggleRestart" - Flip-flop between restart-at-1 and continue-numbering.

Place your text cursor in any block of paragraphs with a style such as "List Number 2" and run the macro. The macro will determine the extent of the block of paragraphs and either restart numbering at "1" at the first paragraph of the block, or allow numbering to continue.

There is no need to select the entire block.

ListNumberingContinue

2006-06-12T08:21:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTextChange) "ListNumberingContinue" - Undo any effect of "restart numbering".

Place your text cursor in any block of paragraphs with a style such as "List Number 2" and run the macro.
The macro will determine the extent of the block of paragraphs and allow numbering to continue from the previous block of paragraphs.

There is no need to select the entire block.

ListNumberingRestart

2006-06-09T08:51:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTextChange) "ListNumberingRestart" - Restart list numbering at 1.

Place your text cursor in any block of paragraphs with a style such as "List Number 2" and run the macro. The macro will determine the extent of the block of paragraphs and restart numbering at "1" at the first paragraph of the block.

There is no need to select the entire block.

VBEUpUser

2006-06-08T08:28:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XEnvironment) "VBEUpUser" - Open a template and upgrade the file (version) number. (See also "VBEUser" which merely opens the template and maximizes the VBE window).
Much of my time is spent developing applications in Word/VBA. In consequence I maintain ascending-sequence versions of application templates.
I decided to use a 5-letter identifier for each project - hence "Under", "Nestr", "ApKey" and so on. I use a 3-digit string for a version number, hence "Under362.dot" is the version following "Under362.dot". Years of experience have taught me that numbers are cheap but time is precious, so I like to save with a new filename (read Âhigher version number") just before I make a radical change, or immediately after I reach a milestone in my work.

The macro VBEUpUser lets me browse to a template, select the template and open it in the VBE window with the VBE window maximized. No more "Alt-space, X" for me! That's more time saved!
If the filename portion of the file being opened has a trailing digit-string, VBEUpUser increments the string and saves the file with a new name Â one version higher than that opened.
A special use for this is the first time I open a template each day. I always make my first open with VBEUpUser, rather than VBEUser, so that yesterday's final version remains untouched.

HardAndWhite

2006-06-07T05:32:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTextChange) "HardAndWhite" - Removes all superfluous hard paragraph marks and white space from the selection.

SelectCurrentPage

2006-06-06T05:36:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XPageLayout) "SelectCurrentPage" - Selects the text in the last page that holds the current selection point. To see this work, place the insertion point in any place in a multi-page document and run the macro.

Release Under365

2006-06-05T09:26:00.000-04:00

I have released a bug-fix and some new macros for UnderTheHood.
http://www.chrisgreaves.com/Downloads/Downloads.html

CleanParagraphs

2006-06-05T06:02:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTextChange) "CleanParagraphs" - Standardizes paragraph marks within the current document.
Specifically
(1) Soft paragraph marks are replaced with hard paragraph marks
(2) White Space preceding a paragraph mark is removed
(3) White Space following a paragraph mark is removed and
(4) Multiple paragraph marks are reduced to a single paragraph mark.
Test this out on text from a typical email message, or on a document that doesn't respond well to the use of paragraph marks. Professionals don't use multiple paragraph marks for spacing.

NoSplitBefore

2006-06-03T06:52:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTable) "NoSplitBefore" - Applies Keep With Next to the paragraph preceding each selected row in ALL the tables in the document.

Glue Letters

2006-06-02T07:28:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTextChange) "GlueLetters" - Attempts to glue consecutive paragraphs into accumulated text by deleting paragraph marks that lie between alphabetic, digits, and specific punctuation.

To see this work, in a spare document, replace all spaces with paragraph marks (^p) yielding a rather long document of single-word paragraphs, then run the macro. It's not perfect, but it gets 90% of the job done.

Especially useful when treating text pasted from an email message.

Table Triangular Rectangular

2006-06-01T09:53:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTable) "TableTriangularRectangular" - Creates a triangular table in your document.
You can specify the number of cells in the base row; each successive row will have one fewer cells; the final row will have one cell.

You specify a negative value for rows go from once cell to the number of cells, a positive value to go from the number of cells to one cell.

This is similar to "TableTriangular" in that the number of cells varies with each row, but the entire table has a rectangular outline.

Table Triangular

2006-05-31T04:42:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTable) "TableTriangular" - Creates a triangular table in your document.
You can specify the number of cells in the base row; each successive row will have one fewer cells; the final row will have one cell.
You specify a negative value to have rows go from once cell to the number of cells, a positive value to go from the number of cells to one cell.

I have uploaded a new version of Under
Under362.dot
1,650 KB
Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Make Envelope FromSnapshot

2006-05-30T04:55:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XEnvelopes) "MakeEnvelopeFromSnapshot" - Uses the text in a snapshot file (GUIUnderTags) as an address, and bases a printable envelope on that text.

Show Comments

2006-05-29T07:13:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (Info) "ShowComments" - Provides an opportunity to set or reset the Documents Comments field.. Inspect the document comments (File, Properties), then run the macro.

Count Unique Paragraphs

2006-05-28T09:56:00.001-04:00

Under.zip (Info) "CountUniqueParagraphs" - Display a count of the number of unique paragraphs in the current selection or document.

Count Unique Paragraphs

2006-05-28T09:56:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (Info) "CountUniqueParagraphs" - Display a count of the number of unique paragraphs in the current selection or document.

Password Of The Day

2006-05-26T05:54:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XInfo) "PassWordOfTheDay" - Display a password generated from today's date.

Admit it. It's getting harder and harder to dream up a new password. Already you have a hundred sitting in a file cunningly called "PassWords.doc", and each new service requires a password, and you need to change some of them every 90 days.

See also the macro "PassWordOfTheTime".

Decrease Style Font Size

2006-05-25T05:36:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XStyles) "DecreaseStyleFontSize" - Changes the font size in the selected paragraph style by -0.5; resets to 12 at zero.
Typically I have several block of MacroText styled paragraphs[ in a document; within one block a line wraps around. I want to reduce the font size so that the line does not wrap around, and I want the Macrotext blocks to be consistent in appearance.
I need to change the font size of the paragraph style.
If the font size reduces to zero, it will restart at 12 points.
See also the macro "IncreaseStyleFontSize".

Remove Non Alpha Digit Space

2006-05-24T05:39:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTextChange) "RemoveNonAlphaDigitSpace" - Strips all non-alphabetic non-space non-digital material from the current document.; Note that this will NOT remove digits that result from fields, such as the {SEQ} field.

Best Fit Toolbars By Name

2006-05-23T06:17:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XToolbars) "BestFitToolbarsByName" - This macro will do its best to arrange your toolbars at the top of the screen in the minimum amount of space possible. It is not perfect, but it comes close! See also CloseAllToolbars, OpenAllToolbars, SaveToolbarLayout and LockToolbars.

Type Yesterday

2006-05-22T15:16:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTextGen) "TypeYesterday" - Types yesterday's date as a formatted string at the selection point. (see GUIUnderPersonal).
This data will be fixed in the document.
Confession: Sometimes I don't get around to writing your report until the next morning. I use this macro to make it look as if I wrote the report yesterday!

Find Non Alpha Backward

2006-05-20T05:31:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XInfo) "FindNonAlphaBwd" - Locates the next string of non-alphabetic characters in the current document. Ideal for skipping backwards to the next punctuation.

BookMarkEachHeading

2006-05-19T05:33:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XBookMarks) "BookMarkEachHeading" - Assign a bookmark to each major Heading level. Paragraphs that is styled as "Heading 1" will receive a craftily coded bookmark that indicates the heading level and sequence in the document. See also the macro "RemoveAllBookmarks".

Hard Space Digits

2006-05-18T09:48:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTextChange) "HardSpaceDigits" - Locates each instance of a letter followed by a space character followed by a digit, and replaces the soft space with a hard space (ASC 160).
I use this macro to avoid line run-overs with strings such as "178 Victoria Park Avenue 7th Floor"

Digit Hard Hyphen

2006-05-17T06:57:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTextChange) "DigitHardHyphen" - Locates each instance of a digit-hyphen combination (dhl, lhd, dhd, lhl) replacing the soft hyphen with a hard hyphen (ASC-030). I use this to avoid line run-overs with strings such as "416-967-1111 X102"

Hard Spaces

2006-05-16T15:54:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTextChange) "HardSpaces" - This macro replaces soft spaces (ASCII 032) with hard spaces (ASCII 160) in the current selection.

Rule Of Digits

2006-05-15T06:19:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTextFormat) "RuleOfDigits" - The debate continues; I learned it as the "Rule of Seven", but some technical writing colleagues of mine say it is the "Rule Of Six". As a compromise I've named it the "Rule Of Digits".
The rule of seven, especially for presentations, suggests no more than seven lines per slide, no more than seven words per line.
Microsoft has several different definitions of what constitutes a word.
This macro lets you choose the maximum allowable length of any paragraph, and then flags excess material in Red.
Run the macro on any document that has long paragraphs.

Insert Left Column

2006-05-13T05:32:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTable) "InsertLeftColumn" - Places an extra column, with no visible grid lines, to the left of each table in the current document.
I use this as a simple means of indenting a table from the left hand side of the page.

Convert To Delimited Form All Tables

2006-05-12T05:04:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTable) "ConvertToDelimitedFormAllTables" - Standard convert-to-text, but can be applied to a set of tables simultaneously.
Word allows you to convert a single table to delimited form. I allow you to convert a complete set of selected tables, all at once.

A short note about selection: I have tried to be consistent in interpreting your selection. If you are messing about with tables and the selection point is zero-length outside a table (for example, you click in a paragraph), I assume that you want to apply the operation to all tables in the document. If you have clicked in a table, I assume you want the operation to apply only to the selected table. If you have selected a range within the document, I assume you want the operation to apply only to those tables in the selection.

Page Breaks DisAllow Fractional Tables

2006-05-11T05:03:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTable) "PageBreaksDisAllowFractionalTables" - Do not permit any table to break across a page.
To the best of my knowledge you will not find this in any Word menu system, certainly not in Word2000, but it is available to the VBA programmer. In yesterday's blog entry I produced a macro that inhibits page breaks within a row. Today we inhibit page breaks within a table.

Page Breaks DisAllow Rows All Tables All Rows

2006-05-10T06:36:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTable) "PageBreaksDisAllowRowsAllTablesAllRows" - Do not permit any row of any table to be broken across a page boundary. This corresponds to what you see (Word 2000) when you choose Table, Table Properties, Row, to wit, a check box with "Allow row to break Across pages".
Our command "PageBreaksDisAllowRowsAllTablesAllRows" turns OFF that check box for all rows in every table in the current document.
Tomorrow you are in for a treat!

Auto Fit Content Only Fractional Tables

2006-05-09T13:11:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTable) "AutoFitContentOnlyFractionalTables" Only tables that are partially in the selected region of the document will be automatically aligned to best-fit their column width to the contents. See also "AutoFitContentAllTables".
Continuing from the example given in "Auto Fit Content Only Entire Tables", only the first and last tables in any selection would be eligible for Auto Fit techniques with this particular macro.

Auto Fit Content Only Entire Tables

2006-05-08T04:44:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTable) "AutoFitContentOnlyEntireTables" Only tables that are entirely in the selected region of the document will be automatically aligned to best-fit their column width to the contents. See also "AutoFitContentAllTables".
Consider a document with a series of tables separated by descriptive text. You can select any part of that document. In particular you can make a selection such that the starting point of your selection is part-way through a table, and the end-point of your selection is partway through a table, and so those two tables, at the start and at the end of your selection, are only partly within the selection. Tables that lie in between these two tables must be "Entire"ly within the selection, and only those tables will be considered.
If your selection point is of length zero, for example, if you have clicked your mouse between two characters which lie outside any table, then the entire document will be considered to have been selected, just as if you had used Ctrl-A to select the entire document.

Auto Fit Content All Tables

2006-05-07T08:52:00.000-04:00

Over this week I'll be documenting the new sets of table-related groups of macros. If you explore the lower part of the Table menu you will find a bewildering range of macros; I have scratched the surface as an experiment, and suspended development.
Today's macro is easy enough to comprehend. It applies best-fit (Word menu: Table, AutoFit, AutofitToContents) to all tables in the current document.
Word will allow you to autofit a single table, but try selecting two tables, or all tables (Ctrl-A) and see what happens.
I wanted a mechanism whereby I could create a series of tables, and then apply best fit to the lot.

Under.zip (XTable) "AutoFitContentAllTables" All tables in the document will be automatically aligned to best-fit their column width to the contents.

Type Browsed HyperLink

2006-05-06T08:41:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTextGen) "TypeBrowsedHyperLink" Allows you to browse to a file and places a hyperlink to that file into the current document.

Fractions

2006-05-05T07:25:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (XTextChange) "Fractions" Formats the selected text in a fractional form. Try, for example, selecting 137/4578 in your document and then running the macro Fractions.

Display Character Code

2006-05-04T07:13:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (Info) "DisplayCharacterCode" - Displays (on the application status bar) the ASCII code for current character.
See also DisplayAllCharacterCode, which will display a series of codes for a selection of text.

Type Date Const

2006-05-03T05:23:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (TextGen) "TypeDateConst" - Types today's date as a formatted string at the selection point.; This data will be fixed in the document.
The format string is taken from your environment file. Use the "!T" (Tags details) GUI form to modify the details

Header Footer

2006-05-02T07:09:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (Headers) "HeaderFooter" - Build a set of headers & footers for the current document, different header and footer from the first page. The first time you run this macro you'll see my name and address details pop up in the headers and footers. Don't worry. Use the "!P" (Personal details) GUI form to modify the details, then run the HeaderFooter macro again.

Count Unique Words

2006-05-01T07:15:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (Info) "CountUniqueWords" - Display a count of the number of unique words in the current selection or document.
Handy when you are composing an article and want to have some measure of its impact. Unique words often indicate unique ideas. By comparing the ratio of unique to all words, you can have an idea of how well you are tweaking your short article for better impact.
If you select no text, the count will be delivered on the entire document. You can exclude the address and saluation to gather information solely on the body of a letter.
See also "CountWords".

Make Envelope From Selection

2006-04-30T09:56:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (Envelopes) "MakeEnvelopeFromSelection" - Uses the selected text as an address, and bases a printable envelope on that text.
Typically, at the top of a letter, you will have typed or pasted the address of the person to whom the letter is addressed. Select that text then run the macro.
The first time you run this macro you'll see my name and address details pop up in the "return address" block. Don't worry. use the "!P" (Personal details) GUI form to modify the address; then create another envelope.
The !B GUI form lets you nominate an advertisement file (typically a Word document of about three short lines of text) that will fill the advertisement area on the face of the envelope, as allowed by Canada Post and some other postal authorities( http://www.postescanada.ca/personal/tools/pg/standards/cps1-05-e.asp to get you started.).

Fix Styles

2006-04-28T18:31:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (Styles) "FixStyles" - Assign correct "following" styles for each paragraph in the current document.; Typically assigns “Text 1” style to all paragraphs that follow a “Heading 1” style, “Text 2” to follow “Heading 2” and so on...
Build a document of text, assign the heading styles (perhaps with Shift-Alt-right-arrow, left-arrow), then run the macro and watch it correctly assign styles to all your body text - which typically has been set in the Normal style.

Toggle Show All

2006-04-28T06:57:00.000-04:00

Under.zip (Info) "ToggleShowAll" Toggles all visible settings. A distinct improvement on the old toolbar toggle-paragraph mark.; This macro uses the current “Show Fields” setting (True or False) to toggle all visibility settings. Now you can elect to see your document in WYSIWYG or to see everything under the hood.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE:

Woody Leonhard www.wopr.com got me started in all of this. "The Underground Guide To Windows", now out of print, I hear.

Page 1, Chapter 1, Paragraph1, Sentence1: “Let’s pay for this book right off the bat. … Everything beyond Chapter 1 is just gravy.”.

Right. Except this book paid for itself half-way through the first chapter.

And Toggle Show All is a derivative of the ideas in that first chapter.

Save As Selection

2006-04-27T06:43:00.000-04:00

Under.zip
... and while we are at it (Files) "SaveAsSelectionTitleCase".
Save the active document with a new name. If the document is previously saved, the new copy is saved in the same path, otherwise the macro asks the user to browse for a suitable path.

You've started a new document, from scratch, or as a clone of an existing document. By the time you've typed in a few sentences you realize it's time to save it. Select an appropriate chunk of text then run this macro. If the new document is a clone of an existing (that is, previously-saved) document, it will be saved with the new name in the previous document's folder, a true clone. If you based your new document from choosing File, new, then you will be prompted for a path.

I use this most of all when I'm drafting a letter or other short document. I select the addressee's name and use that as a file name.