From: leffler@physics.ubc.ca (Steve Leffler )
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.wpcorp-l
Subject: Re: Using Master/Child Documents With Option Codes
Date: 7 Jan 1993 20:46:59 GMT
Organization: The University of British Columbia
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: physics.ubc.ca

msaletni@jade.tufts.edu (Michael J. Saletnik) writes:

>Hi.  I'm writing my Masters Thesis using WP 5.1 (both DOS and Win),

   I just finished doing that (using only the DOS version).  It worked great.
When switching between the two programs, or even between two different copies
of the SAME WP version, be very careful.  Since the defaults on two different
copies of WP installed at different times may be different, you will need to
set everything explicitly in your document, and not depend on the default 
settings being the same.

>and had a question regarding the use of master documents.
>I find that for the size this paper should be, using a subdoc for each
>chapter will work nicely, but I don't know how to handle option codes.

>For example, I'd like to set all my margins, figure options, kerning,
>etc. just once, in the master document.  That way I can change things
>quickly and easily.  Having to change my left margins for binding is
>one thing that comes to mind.

>My first question is ambiguity: do "document initial codes" in a
>subdoc override either "document initial codes" or true codes in the
>master?  Or does the subdocument only override the master if the
>subdoc has an actual inserted code?

   The way it works is this: every time you expand your document, the 
"document initial codes" of the master document overwrite those of the
subdocuments.  When you condense the document, the subdocuments are re-saved
to disk with their inital codes and Styles replaced by those of the master
document.  Because of this, every code that you want to be in effect throughout
the document should be defined in the master document's initial codes section.
Similarly, Styles should be defined in the master document.  When you make a 
change, all you have to do is expand your document and condense it again, and
the change will be propagated throughout all your subdocuments, so that things
will look right when you are editing them.

   If you insert a code in the text of a subdocument, it will affect all text
after it, including text in the master and other subdocuments, provided that
you are printing the expanded document. ie. WP treats the expanded document
as a single file: all codes behave normally.  Such embedded codes will not
have this effect when you are editing a subdocument rather than the 
expanded master.

>the master doc?  I will need, for proofreading, to be able to print
>just one subdoc at a time.  But, if not expanded, will all my margins
>and tabs be different?  If I separately print a subdoc, I want some
>way for it to have the footer and page numbering I've defined in the
>master.  Perhaps a way to expand only one subdoc into the master?

   The easiest way to do this is to simply expand the whole document and
use the Print Multiple pages option to print the section of the text that
you want.  Expanding and contracting the document is a very quick process.

   One other note: from personal experience, I highly recommend that you make
extensive use of Styles in your thesis.  I found that this saved me a lot of
work, by allowing me to change the format of things like section headings and
the bibliography throughout the document without a lot of editing.

				     ---Steven Leffler
					leffler@physics.ubc.ca