Don:
> ...HB> Styles aren't optional in Word.
>
> They are not optional in PageStream either!
It's a little different in Word to the extent that every document
derives from a template. Even a new blank document is a template. So the
different templates can have different default characteristics. A
business letter document type will have different default styles. This
is somewhat true in PageStream also, to the extent that margins and
columns are defined and modifiable for new documents. You can't change
those things in Word until you've started the document.
<No Style> in Word is usually called "Normal" and has, I think, a fairly
minimal set of defined characteristics. Also, if I'm not mistaken,
changing those characteristics will only change them for the current
document. Word keeps track of its predefined styles and a user's styles
separately.
> ...The 'automatic' application of some styles most certainly
> does not sound like a blessing.
>
Sometimes it is. Some of them work in exactly the same way you might set
up paragraph dependencies in PageStream. For example, you might have a
paragraph called "Subhead" automatically invoke "Body Text" as the next
paragraph style. Things like outlining in Word consist of a chain of
styles that are related to one another in a similar way. (With
outlining, both and come into play.) However, the Word
system becomes a nuisance in a couple of ways.
One is that once you start using predefined styles, you're not usually
aware of what the rules are and you can get caught by surprise. That
doesn't happen in PageStream because, other than <No Style>, you're
always the one who set up the rules.
The other is that Word sometimes tries to guess what your intentions
are. If it sees a pattern in your usage, it will, on rare occasions, try
to start doing that for you.
> ...I have a basic stable of
> nine styles which suffice for the majority of the docs, and
> for more elaborate docs, one can just 'Load' or 'Append'
> additional scripts from "Window -> Show Script Palette".
Word has this sort of thing, too. But it's complex and difficult to
figure out even with a very "intelligent" help system or a reference
book. It doesn't help that Microsoft has correctly assumed that the
average user isn't going to want to use such features and, therefore,
automated so many things that work behind the scenes. Because users
don't get involved, they're rarely motivated to use the features
intelligently.
Finally, I should say that I'm no expert on Word. Some of what I've said
in these two posts may be off base. I'm sort of an occasional "power
user." I learn what I need to know as I go along, but if I haven't used
a feature in a while, I've probably forgotten or misremembered what I
"learned"; and find myself back at square one.
HB
.
