Wrestling with Word

Log Out | Topics | Search Moderators | Register | Edit Profile

Author Message Steve Taylor New member Username: steveatwi Post Number: 1 Registered: 07-2008 Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 02:00 am:    I will be writing guide specifications for the new "Architectural Woodwork Standards" due to come out in August. In my limited experience it is very difficult to get the Word outlining function to conform to the Section Format / Page Format outline style. Is there a tutorial, guide, template or whatever that I can use to wrestle Word to submission? I'm desperate. Christopher E. Grimm, CSI, CCS, LEEDŽ-AP, MAI, RLA Senior Member Username: tsugaguy Post Number: 196 Registered: 06-2005 Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 08:16 am:    Might be well worth purchasing a license for one or two Masterspec sections - it sounds like you would want to take a look at 064023, & maybe 064013. www.arcomnet.com - not sure if they have any special rules for this type of thing. I think you can also get a sample section or two through CSRF SpecText. There may be a few out of the hundreds of independent manufacturer guide specs out there that also do this well. One other place to look is REED MANU-SPEC, if I remember right, they seemed to have a good format for outline numbering: http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/smartbuildingindex. Many specs you find will be out of date in SectionFormat/PageFormat now, as it has recently been upgraded. http://www.csinet.org/s_csi/sec.asp?CID=1352&DID=11123. Richard Gonser AIA CSI CCCA Member Username: rich_gonser Post Number: 3 Registered: 11-2008 Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 09:47 am:    Steve, I'm out of town right now, but you can call me or I'll call you when I get back to my office on Friday. I've got what your looking for in a couple of books. If you can't wait, look for books on Word or Office by Que Publishing. David E Lorenzini Senior Member Username: deloren Post Number: 82 Registered: 04-2000 Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 10:57 am:    Steve Word's Outline numbering was not intended for a complex format like PageFormat, although it can be done. It's too flimsy and falls apart if not done right. I've suggested in the past that Field Codes fore numbering are more powerful, but it tends to be beyond the level that most Word users want to go. In addition to autonumbering, you will want to create a special Template and use Styles for consistency and productivity. You may also need to break up the document with Section Breaks when the margins, orientation, or headers/footers change. If you are willing to work with these tools, I would be willing to help you set it up and support your efforts. Contact me by email if you want more information. deloren@scip.com David Lorenzini, FCSI, CCS Architectural Resources Co. J. Peter Jordan Senior Member Username: jpjordan Post Number: 325 Registered: 05-2004 Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 05:58 pm:    I have not had problems getting Word to do what I want it to do. MasterSpec's sections are useful, but the editing software that comes with a subscription is worthwhile looking into. Sheldon Wolfe Senior Member Username: sheldon_wolfe Post Number: 337 Registered: 01-2003 Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 06:27 pm:    It's a bit tricky to learn, but I've been using Word for years to produce specs with automatic numbering and PageFormat standards. I have a series of articles online that may help, at SpecProcessor! Steve Taylor Junior Member Username: steveatwi Post Number: 2 Registered: 07-2008 Posted on Thursday, April 23, 2009 - 08:25 pm:    Christopher, The regular license for MasterSpec doesn't allow distribution as a guide spec. They have a system for that, but it is tightly controlled and much more expensive. It makes sense, I would be giving away what they are selling. Sheldon, Thanks for the link. I'll be looking at your articles. David, I'll look into and may contact your. Thank you all for your help. Christopher E. Grimm, CSI, CCS, LEEDŽ-AP, MAI, RLA Senior Member Username: tsugaguy Post Number: 199 Registered: 06-2005 Posted on Friday, April 24, 2009 - 01:21 pm:    Was thinking more along the lines of Masterspec as a look at how they've handled the outline numbering, as an example. Theirs is particularly good - except for those who try to fight it. Word bullets & numbering in general does not play well with those who want to only work intuitively. But it does save a tremendous amount of time when it is well understood, because you don't have to renumber and reletter everything affected by insertions and deletions. David's suggestion about fields is a more flexible approach, I believe he is referring to SEQ (sequence number) fields. The user must know how to refresh by updating field codes. With Masterspec approach no refresh is needed. Steve Taylor Member Username: steveatwi Post Number: 3 Registered: 07-2008 Posted on Sunday, April 26, 2009 - 12:58 am:    Sheldon, I used your articles to set up a template, and so far it works right. Thank you for the help. Steve Taylor, Woodwork Institute