Alternatives to Word (was: Re: Script problems with BBEdit 6.5)
Alternatives to Word (was: Re: Script problems with BBEdit 6.5)
- Subject: Alternatives to Word (was: Re: Script problems with BBEdit 6.5)
- From: billp <email@hidden>
- Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 19:16:05 -0600
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