Question

Word VBA Stability and Temp Files Question

Asked by: JOrzech

We have a new IT Director.  She seems to think that VBA macros with dialog boxes are unstable and create "zillions" of temp files.  Her ideal idea of a template is a blank document with blank lines in it that you open and type in.  She says "The simpler, the better."  She said that when the dialog boxes come up, they use too much resource and cause problems.  I am in developer's hell.

Granted - we get an occasional winword.exe error when running one of the more complex macros but again, that is only occasional.

In any event, now she wants me to look into "macro packages" to purchase.  I think she wants the ones that users can create their own templates on the fly more or less.  If anyone can recommend one that would be terrific (even though I don't want them to purchase one).

Also, if anyone can address any of these issues so I have some information to bolster my position, I would really really appreciate it.  Otherwise, I may be looking for employment elsewhere.

Many thanks to all.
Joanne


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Asked On
2005-10-25 at 05:51:48ID21606661
Tags

word

,

vba

,

temp

,

files

Topic

Microsoft Word

Participating Experts
15
Points
500
Comments
72

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Answers

 

by: matthewspatrickPosted on 2005-10-25 at 06:06:51ID: 15153827

Hi Joanne,

Your IT Director is, well, wrong.  There is nothing about VBA UserForms that is inherently unstable.  Yes, it is true that under
some circumstances you can get memory leaks, and using exotic ActiveX controls could introduce instability.  Likewise,
doing really complicated stuff or working on really large files can introduce problems, but the same issue applies even if you
don't use VBA.

I *will* say that, in my limited experience with Word VBA, there are some things that are positively infuriating, mainly around
how Word forms and global templates operate via-a-vis VBA.  That's not a reason to swear off VBA, though.

Not sure if this helps you at all...

Regards,

Patrick

 

by: DreamboatPosted on 2005-10-25 at 07:22:55ID: 15154398

Jo:

I am amazed at the number of people who want to write something off because they don't understand it. They would rather spend thousands to learn something new than to use what's already in place. We all know that people spend hundreds of thousands in wasted manhours performing the same tasks over and over again. Then, when you automate it, they want to gripe about the occasional error? And hell, Word mail merge can create zillions of temp files. I haven't met a macro yet that does it, and you know how many I've seen. This software probably does the same thing as VBA, just in a different programming language. Does she believe it will be error-free? Hah! Doubtful! If I had you in-house, I'll be damned if I'd be looking for another way to automate Word. Besides, most templates don't even require macros!

Who is this woman? I want her phone number!! Hee hee...

 

by: LuckyLuke57Posted on 2005-10-25 at 07:40:48ID: 15154588

Hi JOrzech,

If you like a promotion, or a raise: investigate which macro-package she used at her former job, and propose that.

Lucky Luke

 

by: JOrzechPosted on 2005-10-25 at 08:07:10ID: 15154900

I investigated some that she suggested Lucky!  The first program she asked me to look at was $51,000 for 300-seats!  As I said, their "templates" at her old job were blank documents with boilerplate language you typed in.

And do you know one of the programs she asked me to investigate was SoftWise.  Bill Robertson (the President of Softwise), wrote the macro years ago that we're currently using!!!!  So let's pay him to do it again.... duh!

 

by: matthewspatrickPosted on 2005-10-25 at 08:07:49ID: 15154903

Better check her portfolio :)

 

by: JOrzechPosted on 2005-10-25 at 08:14:33ID: 15154984

Hey Dreamie!  I miss you!  

Hope you're doing well.  As you can tell - I'm not.  You want to know the real kicker of the whole thing.... she's been here over six months and HAS YET TO SEE the templates.  She's never used them.... EVER.  She said she doesn't need "all that law stuff" - she said I "just go into Word and create it".

Lord help me....

 

by: DreamboatPosted on 2005-10-25 at 08:17:43ID: 15155020

I actually went into your profile last night to see the last time you posted 'cause I thought you done up and disappeared on us. :)

 

by: DreamboatPosted on 2005-10-25 at 08:18:19ID: 15155025

Tell them to give us the $51,000 and you 'n me will whip up some templates. :D

 

by: JOrzechPosted on 2005-10-25 at 08:18:26ID: 15155027

I hear ya Anne!  What a team!

Also, she said she doesn't think all those boxes popping up are necessary for users to type in.  They should just open the "template" and type in it.

P.S. - I almost had disappeared.... but luckily I posted yesterday :)

 

by: DreamboatPosted on 2005-10-25 at 08:23:13ID: 15155075

LOL

 

by: mvidasPosted on 2005-10-25 at 08:35:50ID: 15155194

Hi Jo,

From my experience there are always people who would rather do it manually 'to make sure it is done correctly' rather than use a macro that could save hours.  It is just unfortunate (and bizarre) that your new IT Director is one of them!  Did she work for FEMA before your office?

You could ask her what template she uses most often, and see if you can give her a working example of how something you make can save her time.  Hearing how it would help other people probably won't convince her, but hopefully showing her first-hand would.  Does she not realize who she has on her team!

I'd offer you a job here across the street, but I doubt we have anything open that would even remotely appeal to you.  Maybe you could take over her job, implement macros across the board, then hire your local excel expert :)

Matt

 

by: DreamboatPosted on 2005-10-25 at 08:38:18ID: 15155228

>>Did she work for FEMA
LOL!!

 

by: JOrzechPosted on 2005-10-25 at 08:39:57ID: 15155246

LOL Matt!  FEMA!  You are funny...

I think her concern is that it makes her look bad if someone gets a winword.exe error message.  She seems to think the only thing that causes winword.exe errors are my macros.  She claims everyone complains about getting winword.exe errors but I checked our HelpDesk database and there is NOT ONE call in there about that error message.

Thanks for the advice Matt.  I am seriously considering changing jobs - unfortunate after 25+ years here...

Hope to see you soon and thanks for the advice!
Joanne

 

by: kenpulsPosted on 2005-10-25 at 09:10:05ID: 15155605

Hi Joanne,

I've read many of your posts, but I don't know that I've ever had a chance to meet you yet.  I thought I'd chip in from the perspective of THE IT guy at my company.

I have addins/packages that I've purchased, mainly for Excel, but always written by someone else to automate things.  In my experience, those cause me far more issues than any I've written myself.  One particular addin I use, (which uses no dialog boxes, btw,) kills my Excel at least once every half hour.  By contrast, the things I've programmed myself using VBA do not run into these issues.

On the Word front, I'm equally capable of creating the odd winword.exe error using no macros at all.  Your director's logic about being dialog boxes just does not make sense to me at all.

What I find really intriguing, though, is the backwards approach that she seems to take to user input.  In every template I work with (Word, Excel, or whatever), the key to a strong template is that you validate your users input, put the data EXACTLY where you want it, and give them no control to modify/bugger anything else.  The best way to do that, in many cases, is with input boxes.   Overall it leads to less training time, as it's obvious, and leaves an overall more professional feel to the end documents, as they are consistent.  The fact that your IT director is breaking away from standards I find very strange.

I also had to laugh at the argument that doing it slowly and manually means you can guarantee it's right.  My personal feeling is that if you want something messed up, let a person take control.  9 times out of 10 they won't disappoint!

Hopefully you don't need to move on.  25+ years is an absolutely amazing tenure, especially for a white collar job.

Cheers,

Ken

 

by: dragontoothPosted on 2005-10-25 at 09:22:51ID: 15155715

Hi JOrzech,

I think I would suggest to your boss to purchase VB6. The Word object model is available. You could write comm-add-ins which would be no problem for you. It would eliminate all of the "bogus" temp files that are supposedly there. You would have complete control. You could even learn VB.NET, rewrite all the macros, make it look like tempates that you just type. And all of this without any retraining and no/little loss of productivity. All for less than $3000 which could be deducted from the $51,000 proposed and would make a very nice bonus for the excelent suggestion.

I really don't think all the temp files that are in the "\Temporary Internet Files" directory would cause her to quit browsing the internet, but if she is concerned about temp files she may need to check that area out.:)

I think she also believes users can't cause winword.exe to have errors.

FWIW my pennies :)
dragontooth

 

by: TonyJollansPosted on 2005-10-25 at 09:26:09ID: 15155743

Lord, Joanne - an IT Director who plainly doesn't understand IT, and is too proud or insecure to trust anyone else. I know there are plenty of them about but it's still awful when you find yourself face-to-face with one. Trouble is that kind of person doesn't usually want to listen. You've got two choices - keep your head down, or get out; I know what I'd do 'cos once before I didn't do it and it was a big mistake. Good luck!

As far as instability goes, it is unlikely that any half tested half decent VBA would itself trigger winword.exe faults - there are lots of more likely candidates. If something in Word VBA is causing resource problems it is either *extremely* complex (and probably invoking other applications behind the scenes) or badly written and tested and in neither case is the display of a dialog to blame - or, I suppose, the hardware is ancient and not fit for purpose.

If she's prepared to spend $50K (more than Word itself costs) to create blank templates, can I have her phone number please?

 

by: JOrzechPosted on 2005-10-25 at 10:12:11ID: 15156150

Oh my goodness!

I've gotten so many responses here.  I wasn't quite sure I'd get this much input but to me what she's proposing almost seems like sacrilege!  The users have been using these macros for about eight years now and I can't believe she wants to take away the functionality that they provide. If you could see these macros, you would be impressed.  As I recall, was probably paid about $15,000 for the letter template to be converted to VBA from WP 5.1 DOS.  

And kenpuls.  Thanks so much for your input.  Of course, I personally don't attribute the winword.exe errors to the macros but she does.  We have found in the past that they can even be caused by hardware or network issues.  Actually, I rarely use input boxes but mostly use VBA user forms that distribute the information through DOCVARIABLES.  This has worked flawlessly for both the firm and me.  I connect to both an Access database with user information and our Groupwise 6 address books to pull the addresses into the Word templates.

And Tony - yes
>>an IT Director who plainly doesn't understand IT

I'm scared.

I have planned to go speak with our Managing Partner about this issue.  But I wanted to have some input from other experts to support my contentions.  If this plan is implemented, I figure I'll just leave the firm and then hire myself out to the firm as a consultant to customize their templates!  

>>If she's prepared to spend $50K (more than Word itself costs) to create blank templates, can I have her phone number please?

Sorry Tony - Dreamie gots first dibs... but I'm sure we can work you for a price :))

Some causes of winword.exe errors
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;300861
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;311741
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;299925
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;220714
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;302602
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;316033
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;812138


Thank you all for your input.  I look forward to more as I'm going to print this page and refer our Managing Partner to it.  Some of the best experts on the net have had their say!

Keep em coming!








 

by: GrahamSkanPosted on 2005-10-25 at 10:13:36ID: 15156161

The only consolation is that she sounds likely to move on quickly as soon as a something more 'suited to her potential' appears.

Can anyone tell me what FEMA is?

 

by: DreamboatPosted on 2005-10-25 at 10:20:07ID: 15156217

Federal Emergency Management, Graham.

They screwed up big time on their response to Katrina.

 

by: JOrzechPosted on 2005-10-25 at 10:25:57ID: 15156273

 

by: JOrzechPosted on 2005-10-25 at 10:29:41ID: 15156310

>>The only consolation is that she sounds likely to move on quickly as soon as a something more 'suited to her potential' appears.
I can only hope Graham....

She's come in here - hired a person from her old job who is now "teacher's pet" and she's trying to recreate the exact structure that she had at her last job - everything to be identical so she feels secure.

 

by: mdmackillopPosted on 2005-10-25 at 10:35:26ID: 15156354

"The simpler, the better."  I go along with that.  
And what can be simpler than selecting data from a drop down list to place into template.  That way, the users even get the spelling right!
I've got some luddite bosses here who consider any time spent creating macros, Userforms etc. unproductive, but they are happy to use them, and complain like hell when they don't work.  (How do we get VBA to recognise and code itself for that new printer?)  I would not have expected that approach from an IT director though.
$51,000?   Would you like my PayPal details?
Good luck for the future
Malcolm

 

by: JOrzechPosted on 2005-10-25 at 10:48:54ID: 15156480

Thanks Malcolm.

She may be good at the hardware stuff and projecting what we need, but when it comes to something she's never experienced before, she wants to do away with it.  She doesn't even want to really discuss it because she's not in control and as I said, she's never even used the templates.  Very frustrating....

Send PayPal details ASAP!
Dreamie - pack your bags!!!  We're going on a big adventure!

Thanks
Joanne


 

by: LuckyLuke57Posted on 2005-10-25 at 10:58:59ID: 15156566

<<
She's come in here - hired a person from her old job who is now "teacher's pet" and she's trying to recreate the exact structure that she had at her last job - everything to be identical so she feels secure.
>>

That's why I said "search for the solution that she used at her former job" and you get a raise or a promotion.
I know the scenario.

 

by: JOrzechPosted on 2005-10-25 at 11:00:18ID: 15156568

She used documents with blank lines in them where the variable information goes Lucky and called them templates.  There is no "solution" to search for....

 

by: LuckyLuke57Posted on 2005-10-25 at 11:05:12ID: 15156612

Then find some paper with lines printed on it that fits in your printer, and use normal.dot.
Say that this is the last update of her old templates.

 

by: DreamboatPosted on 2005-10-25 at 11:07:29ID: 15156628

Too funny. :)
Let's not forget her managing partner might poke their head in here. Hi, Managing Partner!! Jo's right on about this!
Personally, I'd be thinking about getting rid of this IT person if they're scoffing at such automation/standardization/coordination!

 

by: JOrzechPosted on 2005-10-25 at 11:08:20ID: 15156637

ROFLMAO!

Maybe I'll even give her "Kids" font....or "Upright Typo"

That's like the user who came to me with a piece of paper and asked me if I could add "dropdown" boxes to it.... seriously...very scary things out there!

 

by: JOrzechPosted on 2005-10-25 at 11:09:32ID: 15156645

Not to worry Dreamie.  No one from "on high" comes here.  

Are your bags packed?

 

by: DreamboatPosted on 2005-10-25 at 11:11:16ID: 15156659

No. I'm gonna buy all new, k?

 

by: JOrzechPosted on 2005-10-25 at 11:12:20ID: 15156672

I like the way you think DB :)

MD - where's that account number?  C'mon.  Chop chop.....


 

by: DreamboatPosted on 2005-10-25 at 11:22:42ID: 15156768

I got his paypal. Email me for it.

 

by: mdmackillopPosted on 2005-10-25 at 12:06:44ID: 15157130

I've just found a new VBAX signature :)

 

by: DreamboatPosted on 2005-10-25 at 12:08:20ID: 15157144

Yo, Graham! The check's here! :)

LOL, MD.

 

by: JOrzechPosted on 2005-10-25 at 12:14:14ID: 15157184

Oh - my favorite Dragon!  I neglected to acknowledge your comment.

And thank you.  You know I trust your judgment implicitly.  You know - I might suggest they purchase another version of VB.  Just using VBA for years.... maybe it's time.  Seems like there's so much more you can do with it.

And you're right about thinking she can remove winword.exe errors completely.  It just won't happen....and I would be surprised if they got more than one or two error messages a week with 300 users.  That is not a bad stat to me....

 

by: BobPPosted on 2005-10-25 at 13:14:38ID: 15157593

Whilst I struggle to understand the rationale of replacing an existing bug-ridden, but understood, product with a new, undoubtedly bug-ridden, unknown product without a sound business case, I can understand your IT director's wish to replace dialog boxes with just a template that you type in sounds eminently sensible to me. Using the MacroButton field, and a DoNothing macro, you can all manner of type-over fields in the templare, sans pop-ups.

 

by: JOrzechPosted on 2005-10-25 at 13:35:45ID: 15157736

Thanks Bob but the existing templates are far from bug-ridden.  Users get occasional winword.exe errors (not always in the templates) but they get them nonetheless.  

Our macros are highly sophisticated and have been written (not by me) specifically for our firm.  The firm requested these features and I know for a fact that they cannot be recreated by using macrobuttons.

I don't think our users would find it sensible at all - for example.  The macro selects the appropriate print trays depending on if you're printing an original letter or a cc or whatever.  Our IT Director thinks the users should be made to go to Page Setup and select the print trays manually.  I disagree.

But thank you for your input.  I value both pro my side and agin it :)

 

by: BobPPosted on 2005-10-25 at 13:42:37ID: 15157796

I appreciate that Joanne, but what I am saying in essence, that your IT director seemingly has some odd ideas, and taht isn't restricteed to IT directors, but some not so (don't underestimate how she got where she is).  I would suggest that you find the points of agreement and work on those, rather than try and fight on points of disagreement.

Your point on the print tray is well made, and I agree with you on that one, but I would still advise to fight-smart.

 

by: JOrzechPosted on 2005-10-25 at 13:46:27ID: 15157824

Thanks Bob.  Believe me, I will fight smart.

As I said, I've been here 25+ years and have a great deal of credibility and respect with the lawyers.  They tend to listen and trust my judgment.  That being said, all I can say is I will listen, I will voice my opinion but I will not implement the new "templates."  I just can't be a part of that...

 

by: dragontoothPosted on 2005-10-25 at 13:46:34ID: 15157825

BobP,

Having helped develope, debug, and test one or two "existing bug-ridden" macros I take some offense. When someone says bug ridden it tells me either the programmer didn't follow the scope of the macro, or the end user exceeded the scope. In this case it was not Joanne nor I nor anyone else involed. In this case it is in the opion of someone that hasn't made an effot to see/check.

Going to template would over simplify and cause a much greater effort on behalf of the users to do the job IMHO.

There's more pennies on the stack, at  this rate I'll have a dollar there in no time. LOL

GO ASTROS!!!

dragontooth

 

by: BobPPosted on 2005-10-25 at 14:02:42ID: 15157944

Take offence! Why? I was referring to the products not the macros, but anyway, show me someone who has never written buggy code and I will show you someone who has never written code, or a liar.

 

by: DreamboatPosted on 2005-10-25 at 15:59:37ID: 15158746

Better stick around if you want to learn something, Bob. Some of the best programmers in the world are in this thread. They're one hell of an impressive group. I bow to their expertise.

(Here it comes, Jo and Ken. Too many of us in here to resist!)

If it weren't for these wonderful experts, I would NEVER have received the email that I received today. It started like this...

>>Dear Anne, My name is ... I’m a member of the Microsoft® Most Valuable Professional (MVP) team ... I’m
>>contacting you to let you know that you were nominated to be considered for an MVP Award in recognition of your
>>contributions to technical communities over the past year.

YAY!!! (Yes. Sorry. Can't keep my mouth shut about it, but it's NOT official yet!!)

 

by: TonyJollansPosted on 2005-10-25 at 16:06:25ID: 15158771

Anne :)

Congratulations - even if it's not official, and I'm sure it will be soon. Very well deserved and long overdue.

 

by: DreamboatPosted on 2005-10-25 at 16:06:32ID: 15158772

LOL!!!

Is that *our* BobP???

Bob!! I'm surprised at you!! I'm pretty sure that Jo wouldn't be using inefficient code. I believe she's a darn good programmer herself. I can't imagine she'd continue to use buggy code. :)

 

by: mdmackillopPosted on 2005-10-25 at 16:22:53ID: 15158869

An unofficial Great News DB; very much deserved.
.

 

by: matthewspatrickPosted on 2005-10-25 at 16:30:04ID: 15158903

Anne,

Way to go!

Patrick

 

by: brettdjPosted on 2005-10-25 at 18:07:05ID: 15159263

Hi Jo,  best of luck with the IT luddite, looks like you have enough fire power above to win the day

I think we need a new congrats thread for Anne - and about time too.

Cheers

Dave

 

by: DreamboatPosted on 2005-10-25 at 18:27:05ID: 15159318

Not yet, Dave!!! :)

 

by: JOrzechPosted on 2005-10-25 at 19:00:27ID: 15159419

Just let us know when Anne.  I seem to recall another thread I started some time ago... time for another one.  It went something like this:

http://www.vbaexpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=633&page=1&pp=20

God bless and hugs to you DB.

 

by: BobPPosted on 2005-10-26 at 05:37:44ID: 15161865


Dreamjboat said

Is that *our* BobP???

Bob!! I'm surprised at you!! I'm pretty sure that Jo wouldn't be using inefficient code. I believe she's a darn good programmer herself. I can't imagine she'd continue to use buggy code. :)

---------------------------------------

If you mean the one that you know and love from VBAX, indeed it is.

Where did I say that Jo wrote inefficeint code? As I said earlier I was referring to buggy products (such as Word, and whetever replacemnent Jo is considering). I bet she does write buggy code, we all do, the best amongst us just try and minimise it and correct it when we find out.

MVP nomination - Word or Excel? And after what you said about MVPs earlier I assume that you will refuse :-)).

 

by: XL-DennisPosted on 2005-10-26 at 07:52:05ID: 15163064

Hi,

In general I believe managers at a certain level should avoid any kind of technical discussions. The best strategy would be to listen to the co-workers and follow their recommendations unless there are certain aspects to be considered. The strategy is also working well when any issues are raised as all the responsibilty can be addressed to the co-workers and a high demand can be raised to find solutions for the stated problems. Empower the co-workers in a managable way and as a manager the life would be a little bit less complicated.

From a strictly technical point of view I would recommend to create COM add-ins only. During the years this kind of solutions have been outstanding when it comes to stability, performance and maintance. So in a way I agree with the manager about VBA but strongly suggest to develop functionally solutions with the COM add-in technology.

Anne - If You should follow Your previous statements on the subject MVP then You should gracefully say Thank You but no.
But on the other hand I can understand You as You will get full access to all their softwares and also all printed books from MS Press etc for free which represent a lot of money if You would buy it on the market. While You consider the offer the rest of the world will continue to search for the excellence ;)

Kind regards,
Dennis

 

by: GrahamSkanPosted on 2005-10-26 at 08:03:58ID: 15163192

Given that everyone writes buggy code, I would prefer to have the writer to hand to fix it, rather than having to wait months for the next point release.

 

by: firefytrPosted on 2005-10-26 at 11:40:40ID: 15165375

Hey all,

Not coming in with a real comment in regards to the main issue at hand.  More to say hello and make a quick comment.  Hehe.  Congrats Anne!!  :D  Course you deserve it.  Whether Anne believe's the MVP's to be of a certain morale or not should NOT automatically preclude her from accepting a nomination invitation.  Why that's absurd.

Jo, Matt, Ken, Tony, Dragon, Anne, Bob, Malcolm, Graham, matthewspatrick, Lucky, Dave, Dennis - to all, hello and have a good one!!!  :D  SMILE!!!!!

Regards,
Zack Barresse

 

by: JOrzechPosted on 2005-10-26 at 11:51:02ID: 15165478

Hey Zack!  Still so sorry we couldn't get together in Syracuse.  Hope things are well with you.  Maybe we can try again next year?

Take care,
Joanne

 

by: firefytrPosted on 2005-10-26 at 16:59:58ID: 15167710

No worries Jo.  We'll get it another time.  Not sure if I'm gonna be able to make it out east this next year; a lot of personal things have came up.  I'm hoping to make it out there at the end of May, my sister is walking for her college graduation.  :D  I'll let you know if it develops further.

Regards,
Zack Barresse

 

by: SteinerPosted on 2005-10-27 at 00:49:51ID: 15168725

Hi Joanne,

how powerful are your users? Maybe you should pick your "favourite" user group and provide them with a demo of the new "solution" to field test it? Then let them write a report stating how much more time they need and how many new errors they created and show that to the person in question or preferably  to someone above her to prove your point of view.

As we have to fight such "capable" managers each week, we managed to create a good user base for such occasions.

For you AND your users, I wish you all the best for your fight.

Daniel

 

by: brettdjPosted on 2005-10-27 at 02:56:22ID: 15169167

>God bless and hugs to you DB.

Dave Brett or Dreamboat :)

 

by: matthewspatrickPosted on 2005-10-27 at 10:30:34ID: 15172978

Since this thread has one of the most amazing collections of talent available, thought I'd pipe up here.

I am having a huge headache with a global template project.  The latest problem is covered here:
http://www.experts-exchange.com/Applications/MS_Office/Word/Q_21610507.html

Hoping everyone feels flattered enough to come to my aid :)

Regards,

Patrick

PS.  Sorry, Joanne, for hijacking your thread...

 

by: DreamboatPosted on 2005-10-27 at 10:31:31ID: 15172991

LOL, Patrick. Can we get anyone else (besides me and you) to hijack Jo's thread?

 

by: JOrzechPosted on 2005-10-27 at 10:39:00ID: 15173081

LOL!  Hijack away!

And to all - I plan to meet with our MP next week to discuss this.  Will keep you posted.  Thanks for all your valuable input.

 

by: DreamboatPosted on 2005-10-27 at 10:40:28ID: 15173098

Yes, please! Keep us posted!! Hi, Jo's MP!! You've got a wonderful person working for you there. :) She is well-loved!! (And I've never even met her face-to-face...just on the phone.)

 

by: JOrzechPosted on 2005-10-27 at 11:39:27ID: 15173652

You're too good to me DB ;)

 

by: JOrzechPosted on 2005-10-27 at 11:52:35ID: 15173758

Daniel!  

Hello! How nice to see you drop in!   I am just reading your post... guess my email came in backwards :)

You know, that's really a great idea.  Obviously, with 300 users, we have some very strong users and some very "not so strong" users.

I think I'll give it a try.

Thanks again to all
Joanne

 

by: JOrzechPosted on 2005-10-27 at 12:00:43ID: 15173824

OH MY!  What a surprise!  I didn't see Dave's post either!  Hee hee - It's a generic "DB"... for both of you :)

 

by: mdmackillopPosted on 2005-10-27 at 14:19:57ID: 15174897

I’ve been given a virtual blank cheque
To get all my documents hi-tech.
With a blank template setup,
Three hours with no letup,
I can now type my letter to JOrzech.

 

by: matthewspatrickPosted on 2005-10-27 at 14:57:57ID: 15175150

Malcolm,

Is that a cry for help?

Double :)

Patrick

 

by: JOrzechPosted on 2005-10-28 at 08:21:59ID: 15179758

MD?  Hee hee - You're a poet and you don't even know it!  Good to see you in the post.


You make a very good point though :)  Unfortunately (in a way), we've created users who would not know how to do half the things the macros do for them.... but at least we're utilizing the software to the max!

 

by: fanpagesPosted on 2005-10-28 at 09:54:55ID: 15180713

Microsoft's VBA environment is its own worst enemy in this respect.

Because the Office suite is an end-user desktop product, it allows users to develop their own applications very easily & quickly.

However, it also allows users to develop very bad application code very easily & quickly that can then be copied & re-used in every subsequent application.

But at least it keeps us in questions & in employment :)

BFN,

fp.

 

by: mdmackillopPosted on 2005-11-20 at 13:15:00ID: 15330412

Thanks for the points Joanne.  Hope things work out.
MD

 

by: JOrzechPosted on 2005-11-20 at 13:21:04ID: 15330434

I have yet to meet with the MP - I had some other issues at work and it seemed wise to me to put it off a little bit but it will be addressed.  And I thank you all so much for your invaluable input.

Hugs to all,
Joanne

 

by: LuckyLuke57Posted on 2005-11-21 at 00:49:36ID: 15332361

Thanks for the points, and success!

Luke

 

by: dragontoothPosted on 2005-11-21 at 07:37:32ID: 15334420

Thanks !! Joanne hope all goes well :)

dragontooth

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