[Stephen Quist]

Hi,

With Word 2003 I'm trying to set up a document with mixed form and free-form
elements.

I would like the document to have a region with check boxes that behave as
check boxes and possibly some text fields.
Another region of the document would have tables, real Word Tables, that are
filled in by one or more reviewers. The tables are variable in size and the
users should be able to expand the tables as necessary.

I have the check boxes in place but when a user clicks on one he get a
dialog box to specify whether it should be checked or unchecked. I
understand this is normal when the "Protect Form" lock is off. When I set
Protect Form, the check box behaves normally. It clicks on and off just as
it should. The trouble comes when I try to then edit the tables. They are
protected also so nobody can enter any data into them.

So I tried Protect Document. I can select the tables in the document and
permit users to freely edit the tables. OK, that's good. But then the check
boxes are rendered inactive. That's bad. I tried selecting the region with
the check boxes and set that to be freely editable. I can change the check
boxes, but now only through the dialog box! I'm back where I started -- if
the users can enter text in the tables they can interact with the check
boxes through the dialog box only.

Am I missing something? Is there a way get a portion of the document
protected for forms and the rest of the document unprotected for editing?

Steve

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

You can protect specific sections of a form and leave others unprotected,
but you will need to insert section breaks to divide the sections. You then
have to use Tools | Protect Document (rather than the padlock button on the
Forms toolbar) for the initial protection. This will allow you to specify
which sections are to be protected.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"Stephen Quist" wrote in message
...
Hi,

With Word 2003 I'm trying to set up a document with mixed form and
free-form
elements.

I would like the document to have a region with check boxes that behave as
check boxes and possibly some text fields.
Another region of the document would have tables, real Word Tables, that
are
filled in by one or more reviewers. The tables are variable in size and
the
users should be able to expand the tables as necessary.

I have the check boxes in place but when a user clicks on one he get a
dialog box to specify whether it should be checked or unchecked. I
understand this is normal when the "Protect Form" lock is off. When I set
Protect Form, the check box behaves normally. It clicks on and off just as
it should. The trouble comes when I try to then edit the tables. They are
protected also so nobody can enter any data into them.

So I tried Protect Document. I can select the tables in the document and
permit users to freely edit the tables. OK, that's good. But then the
check
boxes are rendered inactive. That's bad. I tried selecting the region with
the check boxes and set that to be freely editable. I can change the check
boxes, but now only through the dialog box! I'm back where I started -- if
the users can enter text in the tables they can interact with the check
boxes through the dialog box only.

Am I missing something? Is there a way get a portion of the document
protected for forms and the rest of the document unprotected for editing?

Steve

[Stephen Quist]

Thanks. Once I noticed the section selection link (in teeny-tiny print) I
was able to do what I needed to.

Steve

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message
...
You can protect specific sections of a form and leave others unprotected,
but you will need to insert section breaks to divide the sections. You
then
have to use Tools | Protect Document (rather than the padlock button on
the
Forms toolbar) for the initial protection. This will allow you to specify
which sections are to be protected.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup
so
all may benefit.

"Stephen Quist" wrote in message
...
Hi,

With Word 2003 I'm trying to set up a document with mixed form and
free-form
elements.

I would like the document to have a region with check boxes that behave
as
check boxes and possibly some text fields.
Another region of the document would have tables, real Word Tables, that
are
filled in by one or more reviewers. The tables are variable in size and
the
users should be able to expand the tables as necessary.

I have the check boxes in place but when a user clicks on one he get a
dialog box to specify whether it should be checked or unchecked. I
understand this is normal when the "Protect Form" lock is off. When I set
Protect Form, the check box behaves normally. It clicks on and off just
as
it should. The trouble comes when I try to then edit the tables. They are
protected also so nobody can enter any data into them.

So I tried Protect Document. I can select the tables in the document and
permit users to freely edit the tables. OK, that's good. But then the
check
boxes are rendered inactive. That's bad. I tried selecting the region
with
the check boxes and set that to be freely editable. I can change the
check
boxes, but now only through the dialog box! I'm back where I started --
if
the users can enter text in the tables they can interact with the check
boxes through the dialog box only.

Am I missing something? Is there a way get a portion of the document
protected for forms and the rest of the document unprotected for editing?

Steve

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

The size of the type in your Help task pane is dependent on the View | Text
setting in Internet Explorer. But I agree that the fact that the link does
not appear until after you have (a) created sections and (b) made the
various required settings for form protection doesn't help.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"Stephen Quist" wrote in message
...
Thanks. Once I noticed the section selection link (in teeny-tiny print) I
was able to do what I needed to.

Steve

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message
...
You can protect specific sections of a form and leave others
unprotected,
but you will need to insert section breaks to divide the sections. You
then
have to use Tools | Protect Document (rather than the padlock button on
the
Forms toolbar) for the initial protection. This will allow you to
specify
which sections are to be protected.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup
so
all may benefit.

"Stephen Quist" wrote in message
...
Hi,

With Word 2003 I'm trying to set up a document with mixed form and
free-form
elements.

I would like the document to have a region with check boxes that behave
as
check boxes and possibly some text fields.
Another region of the document would have tables, real Word Tables,
that
are
filled in by one or more reviewers. The tables are variable in size and
the
users should be able to expand the tables as necessary.

I have the check boxes in place but when a user clicks on one he get a
dialog box to specify whether it should be checked or unchecked. I
understand this is normal when the "Protect Form" lock is off. When I
set
Protect Form, the check box behaves normally. It clicks on and off just
as
it should. The trouble comes when I try to then edit the tables. They
are
protected also so nobody can enter any data into them.

So I tried Protect Document. I can select the tables in the document
and
permit users to freely edit the tables. OK, that's good. But then the
check
boxes are rendered inactive. That's bad. I tried selecting the region
with
the check boxes and set that to be freely editable. I can change the
check
boxes, but now only through the dialog box! I'm back where I started --
if
the users can enter text in the tables they can interact with the check
boxes through the dialog box only.

Am I missing something? Is there a way get a portion of the document
protected for forms and the rest of the document unprotected for
editing?

Steve

[Stephen Quist]

It's one of those cases where if you know where it is and how to do it you
can find it.

If you don't know, good luck. I kept setting Editing Restrictions to
"Comments" or "Tracked Changes" because I focused on the free-text tables. I
didn't even see the section selection until after I chose 'Filling in forms"
*and* put in section breaks around the form fields.

It's almost like they deliberately made it hard to do.

Steve


"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message
...
The size of the type in your Help task pane is dependent on the View |
Text
setting in Internet Explorer. But I agree that the fact that the link does
not appear until after you have (a) created sections and (b) made the
various required settings for form protection doesn't help.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup
so
all may benefit.

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

You didn't see it because it wasn't there. That's my point. It doesn't
appear unless you have inserted section breaks and chosen "Filling out
forms."

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"Stephen Quist" wrote in message
...
It's one of those cases where if you know where it is and how to do it you
can find it.

If you don't know, good luck. I kept setting Editing Restrictions to
"Comments" or "Tracked Changes" because I focused on the free-text tables.
I
didn't even see the section selection until after I chose 'Filling in
forms"
*and* put in section breaks around the form fields.

It's almost like they deliberately made it hard to do.

Steve


"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message
...
The size of the type in your Help task pane is dependent on the View |
Text
setting in Internet Explorer. But I agree that the fact that the link
does
not appear until after you have (a) created sections and (b) made the
various required settings for form protection doesn't help.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup
so
all may benefit.

[Stephen Quist]

Thanks for the help. We noticed another problem.

The regions in the document proper behave as expected. But with Protect
Document on we cannot change the Header, Footer or Document Properties. We
could probably get around the Header and Footer issues if we could edit the
Custom values in the Properties. Those, unfortunately are grayed out. Is
there a way around this?

Steve


"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message
...
You can protect specific sections of a form and leave others unprotected,
but you will need to insert section breaks to divide the sections. You
then
have to use Tools | Protect Document (rather than the padlock button on
the
Forms toolbar) for the initial protection. This will allow you to specify
which sections are to be protected.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup
so
all may benefit.

"Stephen Quist" wrote in message
...
Hi,

With Word 2003 I'm trying to set up a document with mixed form and
free-form
elements.

I would like the document to have a region with check boxes that behave
as
check boxes and possibly some text fields.
Another region of the document would have tables, real Word Tables, that
are
filled in by one or more reviewers. The tables are variable in size and
the
users should be able to expand the tables as necessary.

I have the check boxes in place but when a user clicks on one he get a
dialog box to specify whether it should be checked or unchecked. I
understand this is normal when the "Protect Form" lock is off. When I set
Protect Form, the check box behaves normally. It clicks on and off just
as
it should. The trouble comes when I try to then edit the tables. They are
protected also so nobody can enter any data into them.

So I tried Protect Document. I can select the tables in the document and
permit users to freely edit the tables. OK, that's good. But then the
check
boxes are rendered inactive. That's bad. I tried selecting the region
with
the check boxes and set that to be freely editable. I can change the
check
boxes, but now only through the dialog box! I'm back where I started --
if
the users can enter text in the tables they can interact with the check
boxes through the dialog box only.

Am I missing something? Is there a way get a portion of the document
protected for forms and the rest of the document unprotected for editing?

Steve

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

When you protect any portion of a document for forms, you lose about half of
Word's features in the entire document. That's just the way it is. You can
work around these difficulties with macros.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"Stephen Quist" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the help. We noticed another problem.

The regions in the document proper behave as expected. But with Protect
Document on we cannot change the Header, Footer or Document Properties. We
could probably get around the Header and Footer issues if we could edit
the
Custom values in the Properties. Those, unfortunately are grayed out. Is
there a way around this?

Steve


"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message
...
You can protect specific sections of a form and leave others
unprotected,
but you will need to insert section breaks to divide the sections. You
then
have to use Tools | Protect Document (rather than the padlock button on
the
Forms toolbar) for the initial protection. This will allow you to
specify
which sections are to be protected.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup
so
all may benefit.

"Stephen Quist" wrote in message
...
Hi,

With Word 2003 I'm trying to set up a document with mixed form and
free-form
elements.

I would like the document to have a region with check boxes that behave
as
check boxes and possibly some text fields.
Another region of the document would have tables, real Word Tables,
that
are
filled in by one or more reviewers. The tables are variable in size and
the
users should be able to expand the tables as necessary.

I have the check boxes in place but when a user clicks on one he get a
dialog box to specify whether it should be checked or unchecked. I
understand this is normal when the "Protect Form" lock is off. When I
set
Protect Form, the check box behaves normally. It clicks on and off just
as
it should. The trouble comes when I try to then edit the tables. They
are
protected also so nobody can enter any data into them.

So I tried Protect Document. I can select the tables in the document
and
permit users to freely edit the tables. OK, that's good. But then the
check
boxes are rendered inactive. That's bad. I tried selecting the region
with
the check boxes and set that to be freely editable. I can change the
check
boxes, but now only through the dialog box! I'm back where I started --
if
the users can enter text in the tables they can interact with the check
boxes through the dialog box only.

Am I missing something? Is there a way get a portion of the document
protected for forms and the rest of the document unprotected for
editing?

Steve

[Stephen Quist]

Thank you. I was afraid that was going to be the answer.

Steve

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message
...
When you protect any portion of a document for forms, you lose about half
of
Word's features in the entire document. That's just the way it is. You can
work around these difficulties with macros.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup
so
all may benefit.

"Stephen Quist" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the help. We noticed another problem.

The regions in the document proper behave as expected. But with Protect
Document on we cannot change the Header, Footer or Document Properties.
We
could probably get around the Header and Footer issues if we could edit
the
Custom values in the Properties. Those, unfortunately are grayed out. Is
there a way around this?

Steve


"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message
...
You can protect specific sections of a form and leave others
unprotected,
but you will need to insert section breaks to divide the sections. You
then
have to use Tools | Protect Document (rather than the padlock button on
the
Forms toolbar) for the initial protection. This will allow you to
specify
which sections are to be protected.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup
so
all may benefit.

"Stephen Quist" wrote in message
...
Hi,

With Word 2003 I'm trying to set up a document with mixed form and
free-form
elements.

I would like the document to have a region with check boxes that
behave
as
check boxes and possibly some text fields.
Another region of the document would have tables, real Word Tables,
that
are
filled in by one or more reviewers. The tables are variable in size
and
the
users should be able to expand the tables as necessary.

I have the check boxes in place but when a user clicks on one he get a
dialog box to specify whether it should be checked or unchecked. I
understand this is normal when the "Protect Form" lock is off. When I
set
Protect Form, the check box behaves normally. It clicks on and off
just
as
it should. The trouble comes when I try to then edit the tables. They
are
protected also so nobody can enter any data into them.

So I tried Protect Document. I can select the tables in the document
and
permit users to freely edit the tables. OK, that's good. But then the
check
boxes are rendered inactive. That's bad. I tried selecting the region
with
the check boxes and set that to be freely editable. I can change the
check
boxes, but now only through the dialog box! I'm back where I
started --
if
the users can enter text in the tables they can interact with the
check
boxes through the dialog box only.

Am I missing something? Is there a way get a portion of the document
protected for forms and the rest of the document unprotected for
editing?

Steve