Track changes turning itself on

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mweaver@telus.net - 24 Oct 2007 18:08 GMT

Hi:

Has anyone seen a problem with the Track Changes feature of Word
whereby it spontaneously turns itself on in parts of a document even
though this feature was not enabled? Another user also tells me they
have had a problem where Track Changes reappears in documents
exchanged between different users even though all changes in the
original document had been accepted and Track Changes turned off
before it was emailed.

Thanks,

Michael

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Daiya Mitchell - 24 Oct 2007 21:11 GMT

Not noticed this....what version of Word and OS?

There is probably a keyboard shortcut to turn on Track Changes that you
could try disabling. It's also not that hard to single-click the TRK
button in the status bar and overlook the little glowing dot that
signifies "on."

*Many* many people don't understand that they need to accept changes,
not just turn off View | Markup--it sounds like you do, but are you
*sure* your users do?

I *think*, though I'm not so familiar with this, that sending out a
document that has been Protected for Changes might turn on tracked
changes without user intervention.

> Hi:
>
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> Michael

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Jeff Wiseman - 26 Oct 2007 05:08 GMT

> Hi:
>
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> original document had been accepted and Track Changes turned off
> before it was emailed.

Well this posting got my attention. The interesting thing is it
occurs frequently to me on my work PC running Windows XP and
Office 2003.

When doing an export from Word to DOORS, if the export fails for
some reason (screwy picture or table, etc.) I get this behavior.
All of a sudden it's doing track changes. The funny thing is, if
I turn track changes off again, it will come back on
automatically each time I try to make a change until I quit
completely out of Word and restart it.

I know that this is a Mac group but Word shares most of the same
programming insanity on both platforms.

Unfortunately, other than confirming that Word seems to have
another bug in it, I'm not sure that this is much help to you.

FWIW, I don't trust track changes anyway...

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Jeff Wiseman
to reply, just remove ALLTHESPAM

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John McGhie - 28 Oct 2007 11:04 GMT

Hi Jeff:

That's DOORS doing that. Sounds like it's using Tracked Changes as part of
its export processing, and leaving the document with Tracked Changes turned
on if it fails to complete.

You can set specific sections of a Word document to Track Changes, and
having done so, you can Protect Document for Tracked Changes (on the
Tools>Protect... Menu).

If you do, the user won't be able to turn tracked changes off in that area
of the document.

Cheers

On 26/10/07 1:38 PM, in article ee#BiX4FIHA.3376@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl, "Jeff
Wiseman" <throwawayacct223@ALLTHESPAMearthlink.net> wrote:

>> Hi:
>>
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
>
> FWIW, I don't trust track changes anyway...

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http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory, Australia
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:john@mcghie.name

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Jeff Wiseman - 29 Oct 2007 01:19 GMT

> Hi Jeff:
>
> That's DOORS doing that. Sounds like it's using Tracked Changes as part of
> its export processing, and leaving the document with Tracked Changes turned
> on if it fails to complete.

Actually it's a Word macro that Telelogic provides with DOORS for
this pupose. But what you are saying is what I've suspected for a
while.

> You can set specific sections of a Word document to Track Changes, and
> having done so, you can Protect Document for Tracked Changes (on the
> Tools>Protect... Menu).
>
> If you do, the user won't be able to turn tracked changes off in that area
> of the document.

John, I haven't tried this at work yet, but the flag ("TRK" box)
at the bottom of the page that shows track changes is on is grey
when this situation occurs (i.e., it seems to be showing that
track changes are off). That is why I assumed that the tracking
was no longer on. When I tried this onthe Mac, the little green
indicator comes on as expected.

I will watch for the protection issue next time. If what you say
is true, then the indicator on my work PC that shows track
changes are active starts to "lie" if you protect the document
(i.e., it says that track changes are off when they are really on).

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Jeff Wiseman
to reply, just remove ALLTHESPAM

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John McGhie - 29 Oct 2007 11:39 GMT

Hi Jeff:

That's a pain. The indicator simply means Tracked Changes are "no longer"
being collected. It doesn't mean that the document doesn't contain any :-)

Cheers

On 29/10/07 9:49 AM, in article Oi1hfFcGIHA.2268@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl, "Jeff
Wiseman" <throwawayacct223@ALLTHESPAMearthlink.net> wrote:

>> Hi Jeff:
>>
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
> changes are active starts to "lie" if you protect the document
> (i.e., it says that track changes are off when they are really on).

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little_creature - 29 Oct 2007 11:48 GMT

Hiya Jeff,
There is a addin called Remove hidden date available at MS site (MS is the
manufacturer) This clear all problematic data from document, sometimes it
even help me to repair a broken document. It's available for PC only but it
worths. Not to mention that all your private data a remeoved as well, which
is very handy if you share documents. I would try to run that on your file,
that should clear the track changes as well.

On 29.10.2007 11:39, in article C34BEE66.AD35%john@mcghie.name, "John
McGhie" <john@mcghie.name> wrote:

> Hi Jeff:
>
[quoted text clipped - 34 lines]
>> changes are active starts to "lie" if you protect the document
>> (i.e., it says that track changes are off when they are really on).

Signature

little creature
Don't let the terrorist win!
Think twice before acting. Any mass ideology is way how to control people.

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John McGhie - 28 Oct 2007 11:03 GMT

Hi Michael:

Yes, you can set specific sections of a Word document to Track Changes, and
having done so, you can Protect Document for Tracked Changes (on the
Tools>Protect... Menu).

If you do, the user won't be able to turn tracked changes off in that area
of the document.

Cheers

On 25/10/07 2:38 AM, in article
1193245718.366478.164880@e34g2000pro.googlegroups.com, "mweaver@telus.net"

Hi:

Has anyone seen a problem with the Track Changes feature of Word
whereby it spontaneously turns itself on in parts of a document even
though this feature was not enabled? Another user also tells me they
have had a problem where Track Changes reappears in documents
exchanged between different users even though all changes in the
original document had been accepted and Track Changes turned off
before it was emailed.

Thanks,

Michael

Signature

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Mac Forum / Applications / Word / October 2007

Track changes turning itself on