embedded files in Word documents - any limitations?

Can anyone tell me if there is any limit to the number of files that can be
embedded within a Word document? The files in question are other Word
documents - embedded as icons, not full text. I've heard that the maximum
filesize for a Word document is 32Mb - does anyone know if this is still true
for Word 2003?

I'm trying to anticipate potential problems to this approach, so any advice
would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Callanish

Hi Callanish

Callanish wrote:
Can anyone tell me if there is any limit to the number of files that can be
embedded within a Word document? The files in question are other Word
documents - embedded as icons, not full text. I've heard that the maximum
filesize for a Word document is 32Mb - does anyone know if this is still true
for Word 2003?

The 32 MByte limit is not mentioned anywhere for Word 2003 anymore
AFAIK. FWIW, that limit always related to the raw text amount of the
document, so embedded pictures and other objects did not bring you to
that limit (your might run into other problems if your hardware or
installation is not generous enough, of course :-)).

2cents
Robert
--
/"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign | MS
\ / | MVP
X Against HTML | for
/ \ in e-mail & news | Word

Thanks, Robert

That's very helpful - I'd not realised that embedded objects were excluded
anyway.

The hardware limitations might be more problematic for us - this method is
being considered as a way to send specificiations (held in multiple
documents) to clients whose Word skills (and possibly PC set-up) are not very
sophisticated.

I think some experimentation is required...

Thanks again,

Callanish

"Robert M. Franz (RMF)" wrote:

Hi Callanish

Callanish wrote:
Can anyone tell me if there is any limit to the number of files that can be
embedded within a Word document? The files in question are other Word
documents - embedded as icons, not full text. I've heard that the maximum
filesize for a Word document is 32Mb - does anyone know if this is still true
for Word 2003?

The 32 MByte limit is not mentioned anywhere for Word 2003 anymore
AFAIK. FWIW, that limit always related to the raw text amount of the
document, so embedded pictures and other objects did not bring you to
that limit (your might run into other problems if your hardware or
installation is not generous enough, of course :-)).

2cents
Robert
--
/"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign | MS
\ / | MVP
X Against HTML | for
/ \ in e-mail & news | Word

Callanish wrote:
The hardware limitations might be more problematic for us - this method is
being considered as a way to send specificiations (held in multiple
documents) to clients whose Word skills (and possibly PC set-up) are not very
sophisticated.

Can anyone tell me if there is any limit to the number of files that can be
embedded within a Word document? The files in question are other Word
documents - embedded as icons, not full text. I've heard that the maximum
filesize for a Word document is 32Mb - does anyone know if this is still true
for Word 2003?

Interesting: What exactly do you mean with "insert as icons", anyway? A
Hyperlink to a different file?

Greetinx
Robert
--
/"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign | MS
\ / | MVP
X Against HTML | for
/ \ in e-mail & news | Word

Sorry, I'm not explaining myself too well! This is what I mean:

1) Insert Object
2) On the Object dialog, select the "Create from File" tab
3) Check "Display as Icon" box, then Browse to the file, and OK

The main document would be a top-level summary document, containing the more
detailed design documents (inserted as above).

Do you think this is a completely mad thing to do? It's not my idea, I'm
just the technical writer! ;-)

Thanks again,

Callanish

"Robert M. Franz (RMF)" wrote:

Callanish wrote:
The hardware limitations might be more problematic for us - this method is
being considered as a way to send specificiations (held in multiple
documents) to clients whose Word skills (and possibly PC set-up) are not very
sophisticated.

Can anyone tell me if there is any limit to the number of files that can be
embedded within a Word document? The files in question are other Word
documents - embedded as icons, not full text. I've heard that the maximum
filesize for a Word document is 32Mb - does anyone know if this is still true
for Word 2003?

Interesting: What exactly do you mean with "insert as icons", anyway? A
Hyperlink to a different file?

Greetinx
Robert
--
/"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign | MS
\ / | MVP
X Against HTML | for
/ \ in e-mail & news | Word

Hi Callanish

Callanish wrote:
Sorry, I'm not explaining myself too well! This is what I mean:

1) Insert Object
2) On the Object dialog, select the "Create from File" tab
3) Check "Display as Icon" box, then Browse to the file, and OK

The main document would be a top-level summary document, containing the more
detailed design documents (inserted as above).

Do you think this is a completely mad thing to do? It's not my idea, I'm
just the technical writer! ;-)

OK, I see what you are doing. What is the ultimate purpose of this
document, BTW? Internal usage? Sending off with the product to the
customers?

I would not do it with objects. Inserted objects like this look rather
tricky to me, esp. when you imagine the lifecycle of such a document;
whether it should work on systems with different earlier and/or later
versions of Office installed, too, for instance.

If you really want to have a kind of "table of contents" document
(instead of bringing the content together in one file [directly, or via
INCLUDETEXT fields]), I'd try RD fields.

Greetinx
Robert
--
/"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign | MS
\ / | MVP
X Against HTML | for
/ \ in e-mail & news | Word

Hi Robert-

If the doc size is that large and would contain many embedded docs, you
might be better off to create the finished product as a PDF... Especially if
the users are not expected to edit the file.

Regards |:)


On 6/15/05 11:53 AM, in article ,
"Robert M. Franz (RMF)" wrote:

Hi Callanish

Callanish wrote:
Sorry, I'm not explaining myself too well! This is what I mean:

1) Insert Object
2) On the Object dialog, select the "Create from File" tab
3) Check "Display as Icon" box, then Browse to the file, and OK

The main document would be a top-level summary document, containing the more
detailed design documents (inserted as above).

Do you think this is a completely mad thing to do? It's not my idea, I'm
just the technical writer! ;-)

OK, I see what you are doing. What is the ultimate purpose of this
document, BTW? Internal usage? Sending off with the product to the
customers?

I would not do it with objects. Inserted objects like this look rather
tricky to me, esp. when you imagine the lifecycle of such a document;
whether it should work on systems with different earlier and/or later
versions of Office installed, too, for instance.

If you really want to have a kind of "table of contents" document
(instead of bringing the content together in one file [directly, or via
INCLUDETEXT fields]), I'd try RD fields.

Greetinx
Robert

--

The purpose of the document is to enable clients to review software
specifications prior to the changes actually being built. In the past, all
changes were defined in a single spec, but we are in the process of
implementing RUP, which requires separate documents for each component - for
example, a screeen has its own UI prototype document, each process has a use
case document and so on.

We're trying to minimise clients' resistance to this change in their
process. We anticipate that they will (understandbly) be reluctant to review
multiple documents, where previously they would only have had one long
document to consider.

I share your reservations about using document objects, and was hoping to
find a technical reason to veto this approach. That's a good point about
conflicts between different versions, as we don't know precisely which our
clients are using.

Thanks for the suggestion about RD fields - not something I'd considered
before, but I'll give it a try.

C

"Robert M. Franz (RMF)" wrote:

Hi Callanish

Callanish wrote:
Sorry, I'm not explaining myself too well! This is what I mean:

1) Insert Object
2) On the Object dialog, select the "Create from File" tab
3) Check "Display as Icon" box, then Browse to the file, and OK

The main document would be a top-level summary document, containing the more
detailed design documents (inserted as above).

Do you think this is a completely mad thing to do? It's not my idea, I'm
just the technical writer! ;-)

OK, I see what you are doing. What is the ultimate purpose of this
document, BTW? Internal usage? Sending off with the product to the
customers?

I would not do it with objects. Inserted objects like this look rather
tricky to me, esp. when you imagine the lifecycle of such a document;
whether it should work on systems with different earlier and/or later
versions of Office installed, too, for instance.

If you really want to have a kind of "table of contents" document
(instead of bringing the content together in one file [directly, or via
INCLUDETEXT fields]), I'd try RD fields.

Greetinx
Robert
--
/"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign | MS
\ / | MVP
X Against HTML | for
/ \ in e-mail & news | Word

Callanish wrote:
The purpose of the document is to enable clients to review software
specifications prior to the changes actually being built. In the past, all
changes were defined in a single spec, but we are in the process of
implementing RUP, which requires separate documents for each component - for
example, a screeen has its own UI prototype document, each process has a use
case document and so on.

We're trying to minimise clients' resistance to this change in their
process. We anticipate that they will (understandbly) be reluctant to review
multiple documents, where previously they would only have had one long
document to consider.

I share your reservations about using document objects, and was hoping to
find a technical reason to veto this approach. That's a good point about
conflicts between different versions, as we don't know precisely which our
clients are using.

In that case, I'd rather consider using a bunch of INCLUDETEXT-fields:
you have all your individual files, and compile one large document for
each client by pointing to the parts with INCLUDETEXT. Best make one
template for each client, so you can open up a new document based on it
and right away unlink the fields. In effect, you have a single document
then, comprised of all the parts.

2cents
Robert
--
/"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign | MS
\ / | MVP
X Against HTML | for
/ \ in e-mail & news | Word

Thanks, that sounds a real possibility - I'll give it a go.

Callanish

"Robert M. Franz (RMF)" wrote:

Callanish wrote:
The purpose of the document is to enable clients to review software
specifications prior to the changes actually being built. In the past, all
changes were defined in a single spec, but we are in the process of
implementing RUP, which requires separate documents for each component - for
example, a screeen has its own UI prototype document, each process has a use
case document and so on.

We're trying to minimise clients' resistance to this change in their
process. We anticipate that they will (understandbly) be reluctant to review
multiple documents, where previously they would only have had one long
document to consider.

I share your reservations about using document objects, and was hoping to
find a technical reason to veto this approach. That's a good point about
conflicts between different versions, as we don't know precisely which our
clients are using.

In that case, I'd rather consider using a bunch of INCLUDETEXT-fields:
you have all your individual files, and compile one large document for
each client by pointing to the parts with INCLUDETEXT. Best make one
template for each client, so you can open up a new document based on it
and right away unlink the fields. In effect, you have a single document
then, comprised of all the parts.

2cents
Robert
--
/"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign | MS
\ / | MVP
X Against HTML | for
/ \ in e-mail & news | Word