[MaryM]

I'm looking at using Properties to include additional information about our
files, so I can search for files based on something like Language or Client
name. The files are accessible by a group of people. At minimum, I hope to
include the Author in the Properties of each document, but I'm also thinking
of how I can use other fields shown on the Summary and the Custom tabs.
I'd appreciate advice from someone with some experience! ... This is Word
2003, btw.

1. Can you provide some general example(s) of how you're using the
information in Properties?

2. How are you using the Category and Keyword fields? Can you enter
*anything* in these fields? Is it possible to define certain values to use
here?

3. Is it possible to get a list (for printing, or at least to show to my
group) of the Name selections in the drop-down box on the Custom menu? And
could we add to this list?

4. Are there any tricks to searching for information in Properties? I've
been using File-Open-Tools and the search page, but without success so far.

5. Have you experienced any problems using Properties?

Your suggestions are greatly appreciated!


--
.....Mary

[Beth Melton]

The File Properties are used in many different ways, you can add the
standard fields, such as Author and Title, to the Details view in an
Exploring window - just right-click the headers and you'll see the list
which is also similar to how SharePoint utilizes the properties. I've used
them in variou ways, for a standarized form I've added custom properties and
also added the fields to the document. That way I can simply update the
custom property and update the document. I've used them to collect/store
data for a database by collecting data from a UserForm (information that
doesn't appear in the document), writing it to custom properties and then
looping through the collection to create a record. How you can use them is
really up to you. There really aren't any contraints and you can use the
fields however you want. But if you want to create drop-down lists and such
then you should use a UserForm to collect the data and store it in the
properties - there isn't a way to add controls to the built-in Properties
dialog.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

"MaryM" wrote in message
...
I'm looking at using Properties to include additional information about
our
files, so I can search for files based on something like Language or
Client
name. The files are accessible by a group of people. At minimum, I hope to
include the Author in the Properties of each document, but I'm also
thinking
of how I can use other fields shown on the Summary and the Custom tabs.
I'd appreciate advice from someone with some experience! ... This is Word
2003, btw.

1. Can you provide some general example(s) of how you're using the
information in Properties?

2. How are you using the Category and Keyword fields? Can you enter
*anything* in these fields? Is it possible to define certain values to use
here?

3. Is it possible to get a list (for printing, or at least to show to my
group) of the Name selections in the drop-down box on the Custom menu? And
could we add to this list?

4. Are there any tricks to searching for information in Properties? I've
been using File-Open-Tools and the search page, but without success so
far.

5. Have you experienced any problems using Properties?

Your suggestions are greatly appreciated!


--
....Mary

[Bob W]

Beth,
When a custom file property is created in a document, it seems that that new
custom property is only defined and a value stored for it, in the document
itself.

But if that's so, what makes that new custom file property name appear in
the Custom File Properties search dialog?

In other words, before jumping into using this feature, it may be important
to fully understand what's happening, so one doesn't go off creating hundreds
of custom file properties on the fly in a zillion folders and expect them all
to become searchable items in the Custom File Properties search dialog. Have
you seen a good explanation of this in the MVP site? It seems poorly
documented.

"Beth Melton" wrote:

The File Properties are used in many different ways, you can add the
standard fields, such as Author and Title, to the Details view in an
Exploring window - just right-click the headers and you'll see the list
which is also similar to how SharePoint utilizes the properties. I've used
them in variou ways, for a standarized form I've added custom properties and
also added the fields to the document. That way I can simply update the
custom property and update the document. I've used them to collect/store
data for a database by collecting data from a UserForm (information that
doesn't appear in the document), writing it to custom properties and then
looping through the collection to create a record. How you can use them is
really up to you. There really aren't any contraints and you can use the
fields however you want. But if you want to create drop-down lists and such
then you should use a UserForm to collect the data and store it in the
properties - there isn't a way to add controls to the built-in Properties
dialog.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

"MaryM" wrote in message
...
I'm looking at using Properties to include additional information about
our
files, so I can search for files based on something like Language or
Client
name. The files are accessible by a group of people. At minimum, I hope to
include the Author in the Properties of each document, but I'm also
thinking
of how I can use other fields shown on the Summary and the Custom tabs.
I'd appreciate advice from someone with some experience! ... This is Word
2003, btw.

1. Can you provide some general example(s) of how you're using the
information in Properties?

2. How are you using the Category and Keyword fields? Can you enter
*anything* in these fields? Is it possible to define certain values to use
here?

3. Is it possible to get a list (for printing, or at least to show to my
group) of the Name selections in the drop-down box on the Custom menu? And
could we add to this list?

4. Are there any tricks to searching for information in Properties? I've
been using File-Open-Tools and the search page, but without success so
far.

5. Have you experienced any problems using Properties?

Your suggestions are greatly appreciated!


--
....Mary