I think I may be unaware of a clear and simple solution to my problem. I am only at beginner level as far as VBA or HotDocs.

I have a number of documents I'd like to automate. These range from a page or 2 with about 6 "fields" to about 30 pages with maybe 20 "fields."

These are not just mailing list type fill-ins, but technical, detailed spaces and paragraphs. Each document that is created then becomes a template for a project folder. I would like to be able to open the fillable form then Save As to a particular folder, and then proceed to locate and fill in the blanks.



In the old days, I saw similar documents done with "stops." But that required typing, or pasting, the data at each stop.

If there is a way to make a list of the data that would go in each space, that would be great. If I could just type up a list of the data to be filled in, give each entry a name, and then have the program populate the document with the data list, this would be ideal.

Is there some copy-and-paste program code someone can post or steer me to that would give me start on this project?

All help greatly appreciated.

There is little hope of anyone providing a clear or simple solution to your problem until you provide a clear explanation of what that problem is.

Yes there are ways to create a data source where you provide the data fields and the data variable. Yes there are ways to use that data source to fill range markers in a new document.

What specifically are you after.

__________________
Greg Maxey
Please visit my web site at http://www.gregmaxey.com/

Sounds rather like you need to create a couple of templates with fields/content controls to fill in, perhaps even with repeating data. For that, see:
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customizat...platePart1.htm
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/wo...005230270.aspx
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/wo...010030746.aspx
http://gregmaxey.com/word_tip_pages/repeating_data.html
http://gregmaxey.com/word_tip_pages/..._userForm.html

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

I have various Word documents that I use as templates. In one of them, I might need to change text that shows 1) what is being attached to the document 2) the date 3) the name and address of the person the document is being sent to. In another, I might need to change entire paragraphs of text, maybe 20 paragraphs throughout the document; these are long documents I have developed over many years.

Ideally, I would like to make a list of the items that will be replaced in the document and be able to have everything inserted with a single click. Rather than having to walk through the document making changes one at a time. I hope this explains the situation well enough.

I do not know how to take my existing templates, code them to automate insertion of data (like <insert data item #1 here>), create that list of data (like "XYZ" goes where the template says <#1>), and link the document and data base so that everything is inserted automatically with a click.

I do work with some HotDocs on occasion, but they are barebones templates and not very good to begin with. I have to enter my personal information every time and even if I do all of that, the final product is not very good; the layouts and template text are poor. Overall, they are not worth the effort. If I could use my own templates in HotDocs, that would be good; but I see no way to do that realistically. Maybe I am wrong.

All help greatly appreciated.

I wasn't referring to the use of Word documents as templates (a poor practice), but actual Word templates. Such templates might include boilerplate text you can delete. All Word versions include autotext, which you can use for selectively adding text and/or choosing from a range of text options. Word 2007 & later also support the use of custom Quick Parts that you can use to selectively add boilerplate text but, since you've chosen not to indicate via your profile what Word version you're using, I have not idea whether any of that is relevant to you.

Evidently you haven't looked at the links I provided as, had you taken the time to study their content, you wouldn't still be saying "I do not know how to take my existing templates, code them to automate insertion of data ...".

I don't really know what you mean by 'HotDocs'. Whatever they are, they are not part of Word. Presumably they're something to do with a 3rd-party automation addin, but that's not Word, per se.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

I am using Word .dot documents now, but would like to find a way to type out all the fill-in information in one place and then click and have all the blanks filled in with this custom information. I am hoping to find a way to do this with VB or something similar.

I did look at those links, and didn't see just what I am hoping to find.

When I use VB now, I create macros to change fonts and that kind of thing.

I'd like to find a way to create a worksheet to enter all my data and then have it all automatically uploaded into the body of a preexisting document, coded for this purpose.

All help greatly appreciated.

That's what those links show how to do...
Can't have looked too hard is all I can say, especially with the last two links...

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

When I worked through doing it that way, it was very cumbersome, for what I am trying to do. Not really preferable to just copying and pasting, as far as I could tell. As I say, I am a novice and may be missing something.

I take one of my preexisting documents. Then, several places throughout the document I want to insert new material, some of it just an address, some of it paragraphs long. I have the new material typed on a new Word document worksheet.

Ideally, I would like to find a way to give the worksheet material portions field names or whatever and then have these field names also appear in the preexisting document. Then have a way to just have the program search the preexisting document for the field names, stop at each, and substitute the new material from the worksheet at each place.

In Quattro, I have set up spreadsheets to link this way. Data from a cell in one spreadsheet is automatically loaded into a given cell in another spreadsheet. I'd like to find a way to do this, or something similar, in Word.

Would there be a way to paste my worksheet into VB. Like create a macro: if <#1> [in the preexisting document] replace with <#1> [from the pasted worksheet text]?

Your terminology is confusing, to say the least. You started off referring to 'HotDocs', which aren't a Word feature, and never really explained what you meant. Six times now you've also referred to worksheets, which Word doesn't have. Word has documents. Excel has workbooks and worksheets. Your reference to Quattro also suggests you have something other than Word in mind. Yes, Word can link to worksheets, but as yet you haven't provided any detail that suggests this is at all relevant to your situation. Since a link between a Word document and an Excel workbook goes to a pre-determined range, I can't see what that would achieve unless the same Excel range was to be updated periodically and you wanted the same updated data to appear in the same document - not in a new document.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]