Word 2007 doesn't paginate properly?

[let98007]

I have an application that creates Word documents under OLE automation. Everything seems to work perfectly except Word doesn't insert any page breaks! There is a footer on each page and text runs right over the top of it when I preview or print. Is this a "feature" or a "bug"? Do I have to count the lines manually?!

[Ice-Tea-Jan]

:hi:Hello,

I’m not sure of your question; but I’ll take a crack at it.

When you say OLE, I’m assuming that you mean "object linking & embedding"?

Are you placing objects into a Word file?

It so, it sounds like these objects are set with a layout that sends it "behind" text, and thus it appears that text is running over the top of it.

If so, these objects need to be set "in lne with text."

Can you post the file itself so we can have a look at it?

Janet

[fumei]

"except Word doesn't insert any page breaks! "

Huh? Word does not insert page breaks automatically unless text content can not fit on the current page, in which case Word makes a new page to hold the content.

So I do not know what you mean by that.

If text appears to "run over" the footer, then something is not actually text. Either the "text" in the document is actually text in a textbox - in which case it is NOT text, but is a graphical element, OR something in the footer is graphical.

[let98007]

:hi:Hello,

I’m not sure of your question; but I’ll take a crack at it.

When you say OLE, I’m assuming that you mean "object linking & embedding"?

Are you placing objects into a Word file?

It so, it sounds like these objects are set with a layout that sends it "behind" text, and thus it appears that text is running over the top of it.

If so, these objects need to be set "in lne with text."

Can you post the file itself so we can have a look at it?

Janet

[let98007]

I am using automation to create a legal document within Visual FoxPro. The template is 3 pages but when all of the text (no images or objects) is merged it can easily stretch to 5 or more. There is a footer on all pages. It also contains merged text but is almost always 4 lines. The document runs right over the footer as if Word didn't know it was there.

How would I know if it is text in a textbox? I don't see a textbox but perhaps I wouldn't recognize one. I did not create the template. It was given to my by a client to automate.

[Ice-Tea-Jan]

Hello,

You could right-click the area that you suspect is the text box, and see if the shortcut menu refers to "Text Box."

Hope this helps!
Janet

[let98007]

Thanks for the suggestion. When I right click on the text, the only thing that comes up is a context menu allowing me to choose fonts and colors. There is no mention of a textbox. Even the text in the template fails to respect the footer. In fact, once the text is merged, you don't see the 'pleading stock' (vertical lines in and line numbers in the left margin) or the footer at all unless you are in preview mode. You must 'preview' the document one page at a time and manually insert page breaks. I've used Microsoft Word for at least 20 years and haven't seen anything like this, but Word 2007 does seem to have some strange "features." Unfortunately that is the only version of Word I have installed here.

I'd be happy to share the template, the document or a PDF printout but can't see any way to do that here on the forum.

[Ice-Tea-Jan]

Hello,

To attach your document click on the paper clip icon.

Janet

[lucas]

to attach your document hit post reply at the bottom left of the last post and then scroll down and look for a button that says "manage attachments"

[let98007]

I responded and posted the document last week but now I don't see it here. I'm sorry if this post is a duplicate. A sample document is attached (again!)

[Ice-Tea-Jan]

Hello,

Make your bottom margin a PLUS number instead of a MINUS .25.

I made it a PLUS .5 inches and it worked -- you can make it higher if you wish.

Do you know how to access the margins in order to change them?

Janet

[let98007]

Oh, I was really hoping this would be the solution. The original location of the footer was +.25 from the bottom, the minimum margin for the client's printer. However, I did change it to +.5 (same as the header) and it didn't make any difference to the pagination problem: the text still runs right over the footer. Could it be because there is merged data in the footer? My client uses this document for multiple firms so the company name, address, phone and fax in the footer are constructed and merged during the automation process. Perhaps Word can't accommodate that in a footer? The footer appears perfectly formatted though, you just have to read it through the text!

[Ice-Tea-Jan]

Hello,

I've attached the document with corrected margins, and everything looks okay to me.

Are your getting the margin settings confused with the layout settings?

The Margins were set at:
1 inch for all (meaning top, bottom, left & right)

The Layout for headers and footers were set:
Header at .5"
Footer at .5"

I also removed TWO stray empty paragraph marks at the bottom of the footer.

These revisions appear to have worked on my end.

Please review the attached document, and let me know if it worked on your end.

Janet

[fumei]

"I also removed TWO stray empty paragraph marks at the bottom of the footer."

And THAT is often an issue.

Proper use of Word would have no "empty" paragraphs....ever.

[let98007]

The values I mentioned for the Header and Footer were obtained using these Menu options: Insert, Footer, Edit Footer, and then providing the Header from Top and Footer from Bottom values, both of which are currently set to 0.5 (eventually will set the footer back to 0.3 as needed by the client.)

I did find the two extra paragraph marks in the footer—holdovers from the time when the footer was merged as 4 separate rows rather than including the CR and TAB for all rows within a single string of calculated text. Removing them didn't improve the pagination behavior but...

You brought up a very good point. I am NOT sure how to know what the margins of an existing document are in Word 2007. When I choose “Margins” from the Menu, I see “Last Custom Setting” marked with a star. It seemed logical to assume that those applied to the current document. The values were top .75, bottom 1.0, left 1.25 and right 1.25. They seemed appropriate--but I didn't create the original so couldn't know for sure. However when I choose "Custom Margins", I see something quite different: the values you reported yesterday. When I change the Custom Margins to be those I EXPECTED to see in the original, the pagination works!!

So, for the record, how can I be certain that I am seeing the REAL or CURRENT margins for the document in Word 2007? And why would Microsoft even bother to show all of the non-relavant margins first? [Don't bother to answer the last question. I just needed to vent my continuing frustration with the many features that were relatively straightforward in earlier versions of Word that have become obfuscated or difficult in Word 2007, particularly for those of us who have used the product for 20+ years. I only began 'enjoying' the reduced productivity of 2007 about 18 months ago. I hope there is time to learn all of the changes before a new set are thrust upon us!]

But the bottom line is that it works! Thank you very much for your help and patience. I really appreciate it.