[Originally appeared 1999.]
The request for suggestions for improvements to Word in a prior issue has yielded a flood of e-mail. I have begun to sort through those. Some have already been forwarded to Microsoft. Others deserve highlighting in the column.
Among the comments from former WordPerfect users, there never ceases to be a desire to “Reveal Codes.” This column will share some tools and strategies for exposing Word’s formatting controls. Beyond that, we all can be helped by considering the functions of WordPerfect’s methods of revealing its codes and whether Word could benefit from further development.
Why are WordPerfect users so devoted to revealing codes? Since the beginning of WordPerfect, users could view the codes that control its formatting in a split window. In this viewing mode, the document text appears in the upper portion of the screen, while the text together with formatting codes is “revealed” in the lower portion of the screen. As a user navigates through the text, the matching codes follow. This function has been maintained from the DOS through the Windows versions of WordPerfect.
Nearly all of the formatting of a WordPerfect document is controlled by the codes revealed in that lower portion of the screen. The WordPerfect user can modify or delete the codes by editing directly in the code window.
Microsoft’s official position about former WordPerfect user’s need to reveal codes was expressed briefly in Chapter 4 of the Office 97 Resource Kit:
In WordPerfect, users reveal codes to find and correct many errors. There is no need for reveal codes in Word 97. Word is WYSIWYG – what you see is what you get. Users see exactly what a document looks like on the screen. Sometimes, however, it is helpful to see what formatting has been applied to text or a graphic image. The Reveal Formats feature allows this. http://www.microsoft.com/Office/ORK/021/021.htm#ORK021C3
Since the release of Word 97, Microsoft has offered a more complete guide in its White Paper: Word 97: Life After Reveal Codes. http://support.microsoft.com/support/downloads/DP2461.ASP
EXPOSING FORMATS AND OTHER CONTROLS IN WORD
There are several tools that help expose the formatting of a Word document. Before a user (especially one who grew up on WordPerfect) can be fully comfortable with these, they must understand the structure of a Word document. The Life After Reveal Codes White Paper emphasizes these issues. By starting The Word of Law column in issue 4.20 with the Laws of Styles, we offer a strategy that maximizes effective use of Word’s document structure, and minimizes the hidden aspects of Word’s formatting. At the start, the WordPerfect user must learn that Word does not have the same kinds of codes as WordPerfect. Learning the way Word really works is the best way to avoid difficulties.
Still, many times it helps to be able to see as much as possible what controls a Word document’s formatting.
One strategy for Word users is to make its Normal View as revealing as it can be . The settings are on the View tab of Tools|Options. In Word 97, these must be set while in Normal View. In Word 2000, the settings on this tab are always visible. In the “Show” group at the top of the dialog, turn on bookmarks and Field Codes. Set Field Shading to “Always.” Set Non-printing characters to “Show All.” At the bottom, set the Style Area Width to a number greater than 0, such as 1 inch.
Together, these settings expose spaces, tabs, paragraph marks, page breaks, section breaks, stylenames and field codes. For documents that follow the Laws of Styles, this approach reveals nearly all of the necessary formatting controls, especially if direct formatting has been minimized. Showing Field Codes can make a document hard to read, so many users will want to turn that function on temporarily for diagnostic purposes. With default keystroke assignments, ALT F9 toggles between showing and hiding Field Codes.
A problem with using the Tools|Options View tab as instructed above is that many of these choices will apply automatically to both Normal and Page Layout View. Page Layout looks much cleaner if nearly all of the formatting controls are not visible. We still recommend leaving the paragraph marks showing. To avoid the problem, the Normal View and Page Layout View settings should be controlled by macros. A really aggressive approach names the macros “ViewNormal” and “ViewPage.” Then they will take over from Word’s standard functions altogether.
The other tool for revealing formats is what the Resource Kit called the “Reveal Formats” feature. That is a good name for it, although you would be hard pressed to find the tool using that name. It can be found on the Help Menu as “What’s This?” and is assigned SHIFT F1 in the default keystroke layout. The macro name for the command is “HelpTool.” When used, it first shows a northwest pointing arrow with a question mark. By clicking the mouse on a character or paragraph mark, a balloon appears that reports the formatting and font applicable to that character or paragraph mark. I have not found a keystroke method for selecting the point revealed. The balloon identifies the formatting and font settings derived from the currently applicable style and those applied directly.
IMPROVEMENTS TO WORD
When we combine this understanding of WordPerfect’s and Word’s functions when they reveals codes and formats, potential improvements for Word emerge.
1. Offer an ability to link navigation in split windows. Word allows more than one window into a document. They can be in different Views. If the top view were in Page Layout and the bottom in Normal, with the configuration changes described above, AND if the views would scroll together, Word users would gain a function demonstrated in WordPerfect’s Reveal Codes.
2. Name the styles in the HelpTool balloon. The balloon tells use the settings from the style, but leaves us to look to the Format toolbar to find the name of the style. Put all of the information in one place.
3. Support an option where the HelpTool balloon automatically appears when passing the mouse over a paragraph mark. This could function similar to the popup expansion of comments.
4. Have the Style Name in the StyleArea Width report whether the accompanying paragraph has direct formatting. We know the hook exists, since the HelpTool can tell us. What we need is to see this dynamically.
This 1999 article originally appeared in Office Watch. Subscribe to Office Watch free at http://www.office-watch.com/.