[WesT]

I want to build an index, but I have a large file currently over 100 pages
and growing. Instead of building and index and going through and selecting
each word to index, I would like to just build an index of all the words in
the document with their page numbers. I saw a section in help where you can
build a file with a table but you still have to add the words in to it. I
know this will get messy with a lot of 'the' 'of' and 'is' but can anyone
help me with this?

[Jezebel]

The method is to create a list of all the words in the document, save that
into a separate file, then use that to create a concordance index. You can
create a unique word list by copying the document, removing all punctuation,
replacing all spaces with paragraphs, then copying into Excel and doing a
unique sort.

Be aware that for most purposes, this is a seriously lousy way to create an
index. The index should contain words, phrases, and synonyms thereof (that
might not actually occur in the text), that *you* judge will be of use to
your readers. Most of the words in your document, even after you remove the
articles and prepositions, are not useful in an index (Just consider your
own post: would you want to index it on 'want', 'build', 'large',
'currently', etc?). Creating a good index is a creative, intellectual act,
not a bit of mindless word-processing.



"WesT" wrote in message
...
I want to build an index, but I have a large file currently over 100 pages
and growing. Instead of building and index and going through and
selecting
each word to index, I would like to just build an index of all the words
in
the document with their page numbers. I saw a section in help where you
can
build a file with a table but you still have to add the words in to it. I
know this will get messy with a lot of 'the' 'of' and 'is' but can anyone
help me with this?

[The Sexton[_2_]]

Here's a macro that will do part of what you want but I don't know how to add
the page numbers.

Text of document from PC Magazine

CreateListOfWords macro
PCUser Magazine

To run this macro:

1 First put this code into your Normal.dot file (instructions below).

2 Open a file you want to create a word list from. Run the macro
createListOfWords on the file (Tools, Macro, Macros, createListOfWords and
click Run). You will end up with a list of words only, one per line. You know
the macro is finished when you see a message box on the screen. Wait! It will
take some time to run, depending on the file size and the speed of your
computer.

3 Save this file as a plain text file (File, Save As, from the Save as type
list choose Plain Text (*.txt) and give it a name.

4 Open Excel. Open the saved text file (you may have to choose .txt from the
Excel Files of type list in the Open dialog to see the file).

5 Press Finish when the Import Text dialog appears €“ theres nothing you
need do.

6 Run the Excel macro calculateFrequency to calculate the frequencies of the
words in the file.


Problems?
If you get a message saying "The macros in the project are disabled. Please
refer to the online help or documentation of the host application determine
how to enable macros", change the macro security level by choosing Tools,
Macro, Security, Security Level tab. Select the Medium option and click OK.
Exit and restart Word for the change to take place. Now, when you open this
file, or any other file which and contains macros, you'll be prompted to
enable or disable the macros -- to run a macro in a file you must choose
Enable Macros.

Macro code
This is the text of the macro:

Sub CreateListOfWords()
'strip out the word "the" and all punctuation. Place one word per line
Set myRange = ActiveDocument.Content
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:=" the ", ReplaceWith:=" ",
Replace:=wdReplaceAll
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:="^p", ReplaceWith:=" ", Replace:=wdReplaceAll
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:=" ", ReplaceWith:=" ", Replace:=wdReplaceAll
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:=" ", ReplaceWith:="^p", Replace:=wdReplaceAll
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:="^p^p", ReplaceWith:="^p",
Replace:=wdReplaceAll
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:=",", ReplaceWith:="", Replace:=wdReplaceAll
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:=".", ReplaceWith:="", Replace:=wdReplaceAll
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:="!", ReplaceWith:="", Replace:=wdReplaceAll
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:=";", ReplaceWith:="", Replace:=wdReplaceAll
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:=":", ReplaceWith:="", Replace:=wdReplaceAll
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:="(", ReplaceWith:="", Replace:=wdReplaceAll
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:=")", ReplaceWith:="", Replace:=wdReplaceAll
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:="~", ReplaceWith:="", Replace:=wdReplaceAll
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:="1", ReplaceWith:="", Replace:=wdReplaceAll
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:="2", ReplaceWith:="", Replace:=wdReplaceAll
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:="3", ReplaceWith:="", Replace:=wdReplaceAll
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:="4", ReplaceWith:="", Replace:=wdReplaceAll
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:="5", ReplaceWith:="", Replace:=wdReplaceAll
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:="6", ReplaceWith:="", Replace:=wdReplaceAll
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:="7", ReplaceWith:="", Replace:=wdReplaceAll
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:="8", ReplaceWith:="", Replace:=wdReplaceAll
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:="9", ReplaceWith:="", Replace:=wdReplaceAll
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:="^t", ReplaceWith:="", Replace:=wdReplaceAll

'remove all 2 and 1 letter words
fcount = ActiveDocument.Paragraphs.Count
For i = fcount - 1 To 1 Step -1
If Len(ActiveDocument.Paragraphs(i).Range) 4 Then
ActiveDocument.Paragraphs(i).Range.Delete
ElseIf ActiveDocument.Paragraphs(i).Range = "the" Then
ActiveDocument.Paragraphs(i).Range.Delete
End If
Next i
MsgBox "Save the file as a text file and then open it in Excel and run the
frequency macro."
End Sub

You can add more lines to the first part of the macro to strip out other
characters as required. Right now it strips out numbers and basic punctuation
but you may find you use other characters in your text so feel free to add
lines to strip them out too.

Add the macro to Normal.dot
To add this macro to your own Normal.dot file so it is always available when
you start Word, with the file createlistofwords.doc open on the screen,
choose Tools, Macro, Macros, Organizer, Macro Project Items tab. You should
see a dialog with createlistofwords.doc on the left and Normal.dot on the
right. Select the createlistofwords.doc option in the box on the left and
click Copy to move it to the box on the right. Click Close to finish.

Add it to a toolbar button
To add a toolbar button to run this macro, right click any toolbar and
choose Customize, Commands tab. Scroll down to locate the Macros entry in the
Categories list and from the Commands list drag the Normal.
createlistofwords.doc. createlistofwords.doc entry up and onto the toolbar.
Right click the new button and in the Name area give it a shorter name and
click Close in the Customize dialog.

"WesT" wrote:

I want to build an index, but I have a large file currently over 100 pages
and growing. Instead of building and index and going through and selecting
each word to index, I would like to just build an index of all the words in
the document with their page numbers. I saw a section in help where you can
build a file with a table but you still have to add the words in to it. I
know this will get messy with a lot of 'the' 'of' and 'is' but can anyone
help me with this?