I have a template document which I have used to create a number of child
documents. I would like to update just the parent and cascade the changes to
the children. Is there any way of doing this?

Template
document

A template in Word is a very special kind of document. It is one saved by
Word as a template. http://addbalance.com/usersguide/templates.htm It is
used to create new documents and passes text and attributes on to new
documents as they are created.

It sounds like you want a group of cascading templates, rather than
documents. If your "documents" are being used to produce new letters or
reports, they would be better saved as templates.

It is possible to have a group of templates that share a common source of
information so that you only have to change the source. This requires
consistent use of styles and intermediate programming ability.

It is also possible to create one template that has all of your variations
of text. You simply open the template and tell it what you want to write and
it picks your format and text for you. For instance, various form letters
are stored as AutoText in the template. A UserForm opens each time you
create a new document based on your template and lets you make your choices.
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Userforms/CreateAUserForm.htm
This requires somewhat more advanced programming abilities. I've not yet
tackled it because what I am doing works for me.

--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome!
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"Rob" wrote in message
...
I have a template document which I have used to create a number of child
documents. I would like to update just the parent and cascade the changes
to
the children. Is there any way of doing this?

If you have used IncludeText fields to insert bookmarked portions of the
parent document into the child documents, then when the bookmarked text is
changed in the parent (you may have to reinsert the bookmark), the child
documents can be updated with F9 (they won't update automatically).

--
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.

"Rob" wrote in message
...
I have a template document which I have used to create a number of child
documents. I would like to update just the parent and cascade the changes
to
the children. Is there any way of doing this?