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USING MS WORD® WITH ResSched

If your organization has licensed the Corporate Edition of ResSched you may use Microsoft Word® to generate many of the ResSched reports, but this can be done only if Microsoft Word® is already installed on the same workstation.

Before using Word® to generate ResSched reports, the following files must be installed in the system folder of the work station:

ArcoIntf.Ocx (VB Ocx)
Msvbvm50.dll (VB Runtime DLL)

Usually, these files are in C:\Windows\System for Windows 95/98/ME users, and in C:\WinNT\System 32 for Windows NT/2000 users. If ResSched was installed using its own installation program, these files were copied to the system folder if they were not already present.

Overview

The Word® feature works by calling a Word template and then substituting the relevant words, values and tables at predefined locations. Each report or schedule has its own template with the standard .dot extension. Each location to be replaced by a word, value or table is marked by a word token preceded by and followed by the @ symbol. Users can edit the layout of the schedule as they would any other template. Except for tables, changes to the font or format of the word tokens will be reflected in the words or values that replace them.

The actual data for the schedules and reports is displayed using Word® tables. The layout and format of the tables is controlled by style sheets, which can be edited by the user. Each style sheet consists of one-row tables. Each major section of a table (e.g., table header, body) has its own style sheet. Unlike the templates, all the style sheets can be kept - and are kept by default - in one file. The style sheets also use word tokens, which are replaced by words or values. In this case, the @ symbol only precedes the word. Style sheets are kept in Rich Text Format files. The default style sheet file is ResSchedStyle.rtf

Note to System Administrators: A complete set of the default Word® templates and style sheets should be placed in the shared ResSched data folder. By default, ResSched will look for the template and style sheets at that location, but users can specify a different location at any time.

The Advantages of Using MS Word® to Print ResSched Reports

1. Users can edit the layout and format of their reports. This includes eliminating unwanted data elements. This can be done either by editing the template to obtain the same changes all the time, or by editing a single document.

2. Users can save the output as HTML files for Web pages, or attach the documents to e-mail messages.

The Disadvantages of Using MS Word® to Print ResSched Reports

1. Requires additional time to set up on each workstation.

2. Takes longer to print a report than using the default ResSched printing process.

3. Cannot print graphic output such as Scan-type calendars.

Choosing Settings for Using MS Word®

Users must set some general conditions for the way Word works with ResSched. These settings are established under File>>Word Setup. Unlike User Preferences, the settings here are associated with the workstation rather than the individual user. The settings are stored in the resschm.ini file in the workstation's Windows folder.

Global Settings

1. Users must select whether or not to use MS Word® to generate text-based schedules and reports. When MS Word® has been specified, it will be called whenever the user is printing a text-based document from ResSched.

2. Users must register the ResSched/Word ocx file before Word® can be used for ResSched documents. Simply click the Register OCX button. If the ArcoIntf.ocx file is not already in the system folder, users will be requested to locate and select it through a file selection window. Users will be notified if the registration is successful. This process has to be done only once for each workstation.

3. Users must specify which version of Word® is to be used, which language is to be used, the file format in which the finished documents are to be stored, and how Word is to open when work is being done on reports.

4. Other questions to be answered include: Should table grid lines be displayed when the document is displayed in Word®? Should the document be shown at all? Should the document be printed automatically (that is, printed without being shown)? Should documents be deleted automatically?

5. Users must specify where the document files should be held. This is especially important if a user has chosen not to delete the documents after printing.

Document Template Tab

For each text-based schedule or report, a user must specify a template file and a style sheet file. A look-up button beside each entry can be used to select the appropriate file. Windows NT and 2000 users should note that the complete path to the template and stylesheet must be entered.

While there are only 11 basic schedules and reports, most may cover more than one type of entity or period. Before Word® is called to generate the schedule or report, a user will have already used the relevant window to specify the entity and period to be covered.

Booking Detailed information on one booking.

Browse bookings The equivalent to the main table displayed in the Browse Bookings window. Actual coverage and period are determined by the user's prior selections in the Browse Bookings window.

Day schedule Detailed bookings for one day in chronological order. Actual coverage and day are determined by the user's prior selections in the Print Text Calendars window.

Week schedule Same as Day Schedule, but covering the period of one week.

Flexible period Summary booking information for a period determined by user. Coverage and period are determined in the Print Text Calendars window.

Day by resource Detailed bookings for one day grouped by resource. Covers either all resources or those of a group. Coverage and day are determined by the user's prior selections in the Print Text Calendars window.

Resource list A detailed list of all resources or only those in a resource group. Coverage is determined by the user's selection in the Browse Resources window.

Client list A detailed list of clients. Called from the Browse Clients window.

Resource utilization Resource use for a period and a resource specified in the Resource Utilization window.

Group utilization Resource group use for a period and a resource group specified in the Resource Group Utilization window.

Client Invoice Invoice for a client

After settings are entered, ResSched will call Word® whenever a user selects a text-based report or schedule to be printed.

Note to Windows NT/2000 users: You must enter the complete path to the template and style sheet, not just the file name. Using the lookup button will do that.

Editing Templates and Style Sheets

Users are very strongly advised to make a backup copy of the complete set of templates and ResSchedStyle.rtf before editing or replacing them. The word tokens in both the templates and style sheets must have exactly the same characters for the replacement template or style sheet to work.

The best way to determine what a word token represents in a template is to generate the schedule or report and then compare it against the template and the style sheet.

With style sheets, each section of the table has its own style and is referenced by a number. The number is converted into a token by adding @STIL before the number. The style number token must be at the beginning of the line immediately above the one-row table that contains the layout, format and word tokens that comprise the style sheet for that section of the table.

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