These twenty docs go into a bar...

October 25, 2007 12:25 PM

How can I optimize an MS Word doc compilation process? 20 into 1.

There are twenty-ish people who email separate individual reports in MS Word to a final person who compiles them into a big report. Each individual report in MS Word is the same format/template. It has name fields, checkboxes and some free form stuff. Probably 3 pages or so. There are, say, 35 or so text fields that are filled out by the individual, including the checkboxes. Some of the free form stuff is like: "notified the bus driver of the route change", and the name of the report sender has to be appended to the front of that sentence for the final report.

The ideal solution to come up with one summary report would be to put the stuff into google docs, share it with all twenty folks and essentially let them compile the report, then the compiler could just be a reviewer/editor. Unfortunately, for several teeth-gnashing reasons, that can't be done. Another way would be to send the document to the first person, who then sent it to the next person, and so on, until once again, they compiled the report themselves, with no additional work for any one of them. Again, teeth-gnashingly not possible. Can't set up any web forms either.

The final person has the twenty docs. What's the best or simplest way you can think of for them to compile the information from the twenty word docs into the final word doc, aside from the stone age way of cutting and pasting?

Is there some macro that could be set to grab the information from each heading and plunk it all down in the master document, grouped? Should the individuals send the information in a plain text email that can somehow be more easily manipulated using google docs or something?

posted by cashman to computers & internet (4 comments total)

Great great question.

Uh, how about "compare document versions"?
posted by KokuRyu at 12:44 PM on October 25, 2007

Do you have Microsoft Sharepoint? Can you use Tools > Shared Workspace? Actually I think this would be a lot easier if you had the forms/templates set up in Excel and could utilize the CONCATENATE function.
posted by mattbucher at 2:30 PM on October 25, 2007

Thanks for the suggestion, KokuRyu. I tried this and it only deleted the previous report and added tracked changes which seems just as time consuming to fix as cutting and pasting.

Matt - Unfortunately, I do not have Microsoft Sharepoint.

Can you explain the concatenate function? I'm good with excel but I aint that good!
posted by cashman at 4:16 PM on October 25, 2007

Word has the ability to create "Master Documents" which contain "Subdocuments". That sounds very much like what you need, although I've never done it myself.

Cutting and pasting from the Help:

A master document (master document: A "container" for a set of separate files (or subdocuments). You can use a master document to set up and manage a multipart document, such as a book with several chapters.) contains links (link: Used to insert a copy of information created in one program into a Microsoft Word document while maintaining a connection between the two files. When the information changes in the source file, the changes are reflected in the destination document.) to a set of related subdocuments. Use a master document to organize and maintain a long document by dividing it into smaller, more manageable subdocuments. In a workgroup, store a master document on a network to share ownership of a document by dividing it into individual subdocuments.

posted by AmbroseChapel at 5:43 PM on October 25, 2007