Automatic paragraphs???

[fumei]

I post a so few starting threads myself I had to remember how to make one.

OK...

Blank document.

If I double click anywhere on the visible page Word now automatically makes paragraph marks, AND tabs to get to wherever I have pointed the cursor. Say I point near the botton and the middle (horizontally) - Word fills the pages with paragraph marks and one tab to put the cursor there. I double click higher up - Word REMOVES any paragraph marks/tabs past the new location, and has the "appropriate" paragraphs/tabs to put the cursor to the new location.

It has never done this before (that I recall), I don't think I have changed anything, I have checked for viruses...although I still wondering in that direction.

As a strange twist...a VBA procedure that simply gives a messagebox with the paragraph count:Msgbox ActiveDocument.Paragraphs.Countused with akeyboard shortcut gives the "correct" number of paragraphs.

I double click half way down (there abouts), a bunch of paragraph marks appear. I press Alt-P to fire the paragraph count procedure. It displays "23". However, as soon as I press OK on the messagebox ....all the paragraphs disappear and the document reverts back to what it should be...the single paragraph mark at the top. Remember I have put NO text in this document.

I double click half way down (there abouts), a bunch of paragraph marks appear. I double click just a couple of lines down from the top...all the paragraph marks after the "new location" are removed. With the appropriate number needed to get to the new location. Paragraph procedure returns appropriate number.

This is very strange, and annoying.

Oh, and it only does this on a page by page basis. If I make page breaks with no paragraph marks, then do the double click thing...it does the fill up of paragraph marks on that page only.

I have removed all normal.dot(s) from the machine. It still is doing this.

Is this something Word has done for a while and I just never noticed before? I have no recollection of this behaviour before.

[lucas]

Is this something Word has done for a while and I just never noticed before? I have no recollection of this behaviour before.

I think this is likely Gerry, I find the same behavior on my machine. Also noticed that if you have other applications running and you alt/tab to the other app and back the paragraph marks are gone and the cursor is moved to the top of the page.

[fumei]

After all these years....

It seems very intrusive to me, as it actually resets the Tabs for the paragraph. Placing the mouse pointer in from the left margin and double clicking explicitly sets the Tab for the paragraph, so the tab in is only ONE tab.

Shrug...never too late to be surprised by Word, I guess.

[theman]

Hi dude,

have the same behavior, though I noticed that when I missed a doubleclick it returns to prev tabposition (not enter-sign)

I wonder if this not a flaw in word app itself?

[TButhe]

Hi Guys,
According to a book that I have this is a new "feature" since Word 2000 called Click and Type. It says "The new Click and Type feature lets you insert text, graphics, or tables in any blank area of a document -- no more pressing the Enter key to get there! Simply double-click a blank area and start typing!" I don't find that it works all the time. Just another way Microsoft is trying to tell you what you want. :p

[fumei]

The new Click and Type feature lets you insert text, graphics, or tables in any blank area of a document This is not really true. "Any" blank area? No, if you use Styles (ahem....) and a paragraph style has space after, that "blank" space (or so it looks on the page) is not available to Click and Type.

Click and Type only works on truly blank space - that is, the location is not controlled by a paragraph mark.

In any case, thanks....I am still surprised I never noticed this before.

[EricFletcher]

Thankfully, this "new" feature can be turned off: Tools | Options, Edit has a checkbox for "Enable click and type." It may have been set on as a default, but it certainly got turned off on my setup as soon as I encountered it! Perhaps you inadvertently set it on somehow Gerry, because it doesn't take much time to encounter it if you use a mouse with Word...

That being said, I actually did find a use for it recently: my wife had to prepare 10 copies of a form with many of the boxes the same on each one. It arrived as a PDF, so we saved it as EPS and dropped it into a header to act as a page background. With the dreaded click and type turned on, it was pretty easy to double click where she needed to type to "fill in" the content for the underlying box.