Terry's TMG Tips

Macros to Format TMG Reports - Older Versions of Word

This page updated 21 Feb 2010

This article describes how to I created a macro in Microsoft Word 97 to apply additional formatting to reports created in TMG. For further background on this subject, please see my more current article.

If you are not familiar with recording macros in MSWord, my article on Recording Macros in MSWord97 may help.

Steps to Record a Sample Macro

The specific steps that you would record depend on exactly what you want to accomplish. The steps below are those required to make the formatting changes I commonly make. They illustrate a number of useful techniques, and should be helpful as a guide in creating your own sequence of steps.

A. Adjust Margins and Footer Spacing

• Choose File / Page Setup

• Settings: top margin 0.7, bottom margin 0.8, left margin 0.5, right margin 0.5; apply to whole document, footer distance 0.3

• Click OK

B. Change Generation One, Two, etc. to Underlined

• Choose Edit / Replace from the main menu

• Click More

• Enter in Find what: Generation *>

• Click Format / Font

• Choose Italic, click OK

• Tick Use wildcards

• Click in Replace with, but don't type anything, but delete anything that might be left over from a previous search

• Click Format / Font

• Choose Italic, under Underline choose Single, click OK

• Click Replace All

• When you get the confirmation box, click OK, the Close

C. Delete the Extra Spacing After the Headings

• Choose Edit / Replace from the main menu

• Enter in Find what: ^p^p^p

• Click Format / Font, remove all formatting, and click OK

• Untick Use wildcards

• Enter in Replace with: ^p^p

• Click Replace All

• When you get the confirmation box, click OK, then Close

D. Remove the Blank Lines Before and After the Report Title

• Key Ctrl-Home (to get to start of document)

• Key Delete, End, Delete

E. Add the Footer

• Key Ctrl-Home

• Choose View / Normal from the main menu (assuming you normally operate in Page View)

• Choose View / Header and Footer

• On the Header/Footer toolbar, click the Switch to footer icon

• Choose Format / Borders and Shading

• Click the top line of the white box on the right-hand side to set a line at the top of the paragraph, click OK

• Choose Format / Tabs

• Enter 3.75, click Center, click Set

• Enter 7.5, click Right, click Set, click OK

• Key your name in the Footer, tab to the center

• Key "Page" and a space, and click on the # icon on the header/footer toolbar to enter the page number

• Tab to the right side, choose Insert / Field, select Date & Time, then select Date.

• Click Options, select d-MMMM-yy, click Add To Field, click OK

• Edit "d-MMMM-yy" so it reads "d MMM yyyy" click OK

• Key F8, left arrow, Ctrl-Shft-F9 (to change the date field to text, so it will not update every time you print the file)

• Key Ctrl-A to select all footnote text

• Choose Format / Font

• Select Times New Roman, Regular, 9 pt., and click OK

• Close the footer toolbar/dialog box by clicking on the toolbar icon

F. Format the Endnotes

• Key Ctrl-Home

• Choose View / Normal (if you are not already there)

• Choose View / Footnotes

• Select Endnote Separator

• Key Ctrl-A, Delete

• Select Endnote Continuation Separator

• Key Ctrl-A, Delete, click Close

• Choose View > Page Layout

• Key Ctrl-End

• Choose Insert / Break, select Continuous, click OK

• Choose Format / Columns, select 2, select Apply to This Point Forward, click OK

• Key Down, Home, F8, Ctrl-End

• Choose Format / Paragraph

• Settings: Alignment Left, Indention Left 0.0, Indention Right 0.0, Spacing Before 0.0, Spacing After 9 pt., Line Spacing Single; click OK

• Choose Format / Font

• Select 9 pt., click OK

• Key Ctrl-Home

Credits – Thanks to Cheri Casper, who developed the outline of steps I used as a basis for this article.

Copyright 2000- by Terry Reigel