Export a Word doc - do macros go, too?

[sinbad99]

Usually PDFs are used for downloads on websites. But if for a variation I use Word documents I've prepared in my Word 2010 program, will my macros be present in the documents on the site, too.

Conversely, how can I ensure that my own macros don't accompany a Word doc posted on a website, please?

 

[SkipVought]

hi,

Where are the macros stored? Please be very specific.

Skip,
[sub]
Just traded in my old subtlety...
for a NUANCE![/sub]

 

[sinbad99]

Hello SkipVought - I don't know that they are exactly stored anywhere, anywhere special. The normal path when I have opened Word is Developer/Macros - and there they are.

 

[SkipVought]

They could be stored in Project Normal or Project whatever the VB project name is for your document.

It makes a BIG difference!

Skip,
[sub]
Just traded in my old subtlety...
for a NUANCE![/sub]

 

[sinbad99]

Would the macros from there, or wherever the macros are kept, accompany the document when it is put on a website? Or - better still - how can I make sure that it doesn't happen? (Thanks for helping here, SkipVought.)

 

[SkipVought]

If the macros are in YOUR Normal, then they are not stored in the document.

Skip,
[sub]
Just traded in my old subtlety...
for a NUANCE![/sub]

 

[sinbad99]

Thanks very much, Skip. You've nudged me in the direction of making sure the macros are stored more formally. Many thanks.

 

[macropod]

If your documents are saved in the docx format, they will not have any macros in them. That's a feature of the docx format. Documents saved in the doc and docm formats can have them (but don't have to).

Cheers
Paul Edstein
[MS MVP - Word]

 

[sinbad99]

Thanks, Macropod. Seems there's quite a procedure for macros and docx Word docs. But because so many people I deal with have earlier versions, I almost always use Word in doc format.

It seems that the place to keep a copy of the macros - for use on another machine - is in Microsoft Office\office14\STARTUP
I wonder if this is meant to get around the docx dislike of macros. And come to think of it, I wonder if your advice means that a downloadable Word document in docx format definitely wouldn't harbour macros?

 

[mintjulep]

Normal.dot is a bad place to keep macros because of Word's propensity to frequently and at random decide that normal.dot has been changed, or corrupted, or is "in use" or whatever.

 

[sinbad99]

Many thanks, Mintjulep, will remember that.

 

[macropod]

Normal.dot is a bad place to keep macros because of Word's propensity to frequently and at random decide that normal.dot has been changed, or corrupted, or is "in use" or whatever.

IMHO that's something of an urban myth. Normal.dot is no more or less stable than any other template. It's susceptability to damage arises out of its more fequent alteration. The problem is quite easily over come:
• set Word's option to 'Prompt before saving Normal template'; and
• keep a backup.
In over 20 years' use of MS Word, in both private and corporate environments, I can count on one hand the number of times I've had problems attributable to a corrupt 'Normal' template. Considering the number or Word users out there, the relative number reporting problems attributable to a corrupt 'Normal' template are remarkably low for a file that's supposedly so unstable.

Cheers
Paul Edstein
[MS MVP - Word]

 

[mintjulep]

Well, my experience is quite different.

The thing that get's me frequently is the inescapable loop of.

"Normal.dot has changed, do you want to save the changes?"

<Yes>

"Cannot save Normal.dot. The file is in use"

<No>

"Normal.dot has changed, do you want to save the changes?"

So I have "abNormal.dot" and anytime I get into this loop I simply save the "changed" normal as abNormal.

I never have any problems, because I keep Normal.dot plain vanilla. But it is damn annoying.

 

[fumei]

There are certainly some issues with the - ahem - normal use of Normal.dot, and they pretty much ALL come from (as Paul mentions) the frequent I/O involved.

The other main reason for avoiding macro storage in Normal.dot is that in a corporate environment IT departments regularly delete user Normals as a first "troubleshooting" (and deleting does not seem like troubleshooting to me...) step.

 

[macropod]

And if you configure Word to use a template other than Normal.dot, all you're doing is transferring the issues to that template.

Cheers
Paul Edstein
[MS MVP - Word]

 

[fumei]

Why do you say that? A user template will not have anything close to the I/O issues that normal does. AND, the IT automatic deletion of normal.dot would not affect it. The IT departments delete normal.dot for a reason.

 

[macropod]

And they enforce the use of either Normal.dot or another corporate template. When they delete Normal.dot, they either replace it with a 'corporate' one, or leave Word configured to load the alternate coporate one on startup. The heavy-handed approach of some IT departments sees all user templates blatted at the same time.

Cheers
Paul Edstein
[MS MVP - Word]

 

[fumei]

I spoke too soon. What I really meant was a corporate template. IF (assuming a well run IT department) macros are stored in a global corporate template (maintained NOT by the users), then if there are blah blah yadda yadda issues, then yes, they blow away the user normal.dot. For the most part this resolves user screw ups.