CREATING LETTERS FROM A DATABASE.
Question: I recently worked on a voluntary project that involved receiving
entries from 500 competitors (with all the attendant paperwork), listing the
results of the competition and printing award cards. The process used a
range of
software including FileMaker 7 for the database and lots of Word documents.
Unsurprisingly, it has stopped working. Can you suggest software that could
provide the database and allow us to use information from it for other
purposes?
We need a way to record the entries from 500 competitors. Later in the
process,
we need to print identity tags for competitors and officials, print exhibit
cards using labels, create a results sheet for the judges to fill in and, on
receipt of the judges' marking sheets, enter the winners' details on the
results
sheet and print the award cards.
Graham Sturdy.
Answer: We think you've probably already got your solution in FileMaker.
It's is
the most obvious candidate for doing what you want. The way to avoid
problems is
to work completely within FileMaker for all purposes. Don't export items to
Word; FileMaker can print letters, labels and the results sheet. The problem
with all inherited systems is that you don't know which assumptions have
been
made, so we'd start again with a new FileMaker database. You have the
advantage
of being able to look at the structure of the old database and you can copy
and
modify it in the light of what you now know. Then simply create the letters,
labels and reports as part of the FileMaker database system. By creating the
database yourself, you'll gain the experience you need, and there won't be
any
hidden bits you don't understand.
CAN I APPLY STYLES IN WORD?
Question: I take the meeting notes in our committee using Microsoft Word,
and
would like to differentiate between people by having a different look for
each
person, so Olivia would show up in Calabri, Red, Peter would display in
Times
New Roman, Blue, and so on. Is there a fast way to do this without using a
macro?
Hannah Lambert
Answer: As long as each person has a name that starts with a different
letter,
you can achieve what you want using Word Styles, defining a style for each
person using their name as the style's name. Use the font and font colour
for
the style, along with any other styling elements. You might have problems if
you
have a person called Natalie, for example, whose name clashes with an
existing
style such as Normal, but you can be creative and use a different letter. To
use
the styles while taking the notes, press Ctrl-Shift-S to bring up the Apply
Styles dialog box. Press the initial letter of the person's name and the
style
should be highlighted in the dialog. Press Enter and the name will
autocomplete,
the style will be selected, and you'll be returned to the document where you
can
continue typing.
If you want to be even more snazzy, you can write short macros for each
person,
so:
Sub Olivia()
Selection.Style = ActiveDocument.
Styles("Olivia")
Selection.TypeText Text:="Olivia:"
End Sub
This would apply the 'Olivia' style to the next paragraph, and also enter
the
text 'Olivia:' at the start of the next paragraph. You could give the macro
a
shortcut key combination such as Ctrl-Shift-O, and do similar things for the
other people in the committee.
SETTING TODAY'S DATE IN EXCEL.
Question: When a value is entered into a cell in my Excel spreadsheet (C20,
for
example), I want cell D20 to be set to hold the current date in a way that
won't
be updated the next time the spreadsheet is opened. I'm trying to do this
using
an IF statement that checks for the presence of a value, but this means that
the
date gets updated. So, in column D, I have a set of formulae such as this:
=IF(ISBLANK(C4),"",TODAY())
This would be in cell D4. This formula is copied all the way down the
column. It
works fine for generating dates when the value in column C changes, but it
doesn't stay on the originally generated date. Is there a function I could
use?
Pat Kirkbride.
Answer: There are no automatic ways to do this without using code, but there
is
a manual way. Enter your new values in column C, and the cells in column D
will
be set to the present date. Then select the cells in column D that contain
dates, choose Sort and Filter from the Home tab of the Office ribbon and
click
Filter. Select the Filter icon on the spreadsheet; this is the triangle at
the
top of column D. Drop down the filter button at the top of the selection and
untick Select All. Look down the list of values for the column, expanding
the
dates until you see today's date. Tick that entry and click OK. You should
now
see only the cells containing today's date.
Now press CTRL-;. This is an Excel shortcut to enter the current date as a
static value. If you then look in the visible cells, you should see today's
date
as the value rather than the IF function returning the date. You can then
clear
the filter by choosing Clear from the Filter menu. The cells with today's
date
are now set to a value, and next time you open the spreadsheet they won't be
updated as they no longer contain your formula.
DEFAULT TRANSITIONS IN POWERPOINT:
Question: I'm now using PowerPoint 2010 for my presentations, and the
default
direction for Wipe transitions seems to be set to have a default direction
of
Up. Where is this value set, and how can I change it to default to left to
right, which I prefer?
Ken Taylor.
Answer: This is odd, as Wipe Transitions between slides in PowerPoint 2010
default to Wipe Left. If, when you have a slide transition, the slide
appears
with an Up transition, your presentation is probably using a different
default,
and you need to check the value set in the PowerPoint template you're using
for
your presentations.
To get around the problem in presentations that you've already created, you
can
change the effect on a current presentation by using the Effect Options
drop-down on the Transitions tab. Select the slide you want to change, drop
down
Effect Options and choose the effect you want. You can set the effect for
multiple slides by holding down the Ctrl key, selecting the slides you want
to
change and using the Effect Options button.
MISSING RECENT DOCUMENTS.
Question: I've just upgraded from Office 2007 to 2010, and in Outlook I
can't
see Recent Documents. If I create an email and click the Attach File icon,
I've
got the option of Recent Places, but I no longer have Recent Documents. How
can
I get Recent Documents back?
Dominic Brady.
Answer: Getting Recent Documents back is pretty straightforward. Windows and
Office store the recent documents in a folder called 'Recent'. If you're
using
Windows Vista, 7, or 8, you need to make hidden system folders visible. Open
the
control panel and click the option at the right to view Icons rather than
Categories. Click on the Folder Options icon and, in the dialog that
appears,
click the View tab. Then click on 'Show hidden files, folders and drives'.
Next, go to Outlook and create a new email message. Click on Attach File in
the
Insert menu. In the list in the left-hand panel, you need to click on Local
Disk
(C:). Browse through this disk via Users, (Your Name), AppData, Roaming,
Microsoft, Office.
In this folder, you'll see a folder called Recent. You need to click and
drag it
to the left-hand panel into the Favorites area. Drop it there, and you'll
create
a shortcut to it that will be visible whenever you're using Outlook. The
files
are organised alphabetically by default, but you can click on the Date
Modified
header to re-organise them in date order.
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