Re: Alternatives to Word (was: Re: Script problems with BBEdit 6.5)
Re: Alternatives to Word (was: Re: Script problems with BBEdit 6.5)
- Subject: Re: Alternatives to Word (was: Re: Script problems with BBEdit 6.5)
- From: billp <email@hidden>
- Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 21:30:05 -0600
Paul,
I have already harnessed VBA to a huge extent. I am just tired of
silly things Word does like write hundreds of temp files on my disk
(choking off memory and causing timeouts); the need to make Word
operate visibly in the foreground during operations where copying
and pasting from the clipboard from one window to another take place,
etc. I have had to architect a lot of stuff just to get around Word's
utterly stupid behaviors. Furthermore, I'm sure that my thousands of
VB commands (mostly search/replace strings) would execute much faster
in another program (of course, no longer in VB). Like AppleWorks.
But it all depends on the Tables getting converted right.
Bill
>
Give up hope of the regular Word AppleScripting being able to do anything
>
useful. It's far too buggy. But if you're prepared to learn VBA (and it
>
sounds as if you may already know some) you can usually anything you want in
>
Word by using the all-purpose 'do visual basic' applescript command, and
>
follow it with an entire VBA script in quotation marks (or a variable set to
>
it). It is entire possible to include variables previously set in your
>
applescript in the VBA section, So if VBA Word knows how to refer to the
>
various objects to which you refer, you can use them as is.
>
>
--
>
Paul Berkowitz
>
>
> From: billp <email@hidden>
>
> Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 19:16:05 -0600
>
> To: "AppleScript Users list" <email@hidden>
>
> Cc: "Craig Nansen" <email@hidden>, "Shane Stanley"
>
> <email@hidden>
>
> Subject: Alternatives to Word (was: Re: Script problems with BBEdit 6.5)
>
>
>
> I have a question - I would love to abandon MS Word as totally as
>
> possible
>
> in my workflow scripts. However, I don't think that's possible. If,
>
> however,
>
> I could have my script use Word for nothing more than a few preparatory
>
> steps before having another word processor take over, that would be fine
>
> with me.
>
>
>
> So, the question becomes - is there conversion tool out there that can
>
> convert
>
> Word files (with Tables intact, and I mean intact as columns and rows of
>
> cellular
>
> text information) to Apple Works or BBEdit files? And if so, can I
>
> expect the
>
> same level of power in the search/replace functionality that Word has (or
>
> more)?
>
>
>
> I don't care about whether style sheets are properly preserved, just the
>
> text
>
> characters.
>
>
>
> And while on the subject of Word and problems with it...
>
>
>
> I run an automated typesetting service setting financial reports.
>
> Most clients send Word for Windows files, and the tables are done
>
> editably within Word (as a Table, with cellular rows and columns).
>
>
>
> My AppleScript performs a lengthy series of cleanup steps before
>
> collapsing the tables into tab-delimited text with a carriage return
>
> at the end of each line.
>
>
>
> What really screws me up is when a client sends over a Word file
>
> wherein the tables have somehow been created in and linked to Excel;
>
> you cannot, for example, select any text in the table within Word.
>
> When you click somewhere on the table, handles appear (as on any graphic)
>
> at the corners and in-between. Double-clicking takes you into Excel
>
> where, finally, you can access the data at the character level.
>
>
>
> It is an utter pain in the ass to have to double-click each table, go
>
> to Excel, select the appropriate rows and columns, go back to Word,
>
> delete the chart, and paste the contents of the clipboard (which come
>
> in as a Word Table - cells and editable text). I was able to figure
>
> out from text that Word was displaying during the process that the
>
> graphic was an "EMF file".
>
>
>
> What I cannot figure out how to do is to have AppleScript perceive
>
> these things as the kinds of objects they are and to have them
>
> automatically
>
> converted to the Word Table format. Has anyone out there dealt with
>
> this?
>
>
>
> I did record my actions using Script Editor, and the Visual Basic
>
> commands that were captured basically called it "Object 25" or "Object 16"
>
> or whatever. The problem is that the objects are not necessarily
>
> sequential, nor all there. There may or may not be an Object 17 if there's
>
> an Object 18. There might be a way to address the object if only
>
> AppleScript could figure out what it was called before going after it.
>
>
>
> Thanks in advance for any help.
>
>
>
> Bill Planey
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> applescript-users mailing list
>
> email@hidden
>
> http://www.lists.apple.com/mailman/listinfo/applescript-users
>
_______________________________________________
>
applescript-users mailing list
>
email@hidden
>
http://www.lists.apple.com/mailman/listinfo/applescript-users