Word Search and replace

[Genghis the Engineer]

Can anybody help with this.

I've been working on a book, and it's just about ready and stored in a directory as about 70 MS Word files.

The footers of some say (c) Genghis 2003, some say (c) Genghis 2004 and by the time this gets to the publisher it's likely to need to say (c) Genghis 2005. There are good reasons why I need to leave it as all separate files.

Is there an easy way to search and replace a directory full of files and change the years on all the footers so that they're all the same?

G

[joe2812]

Best I can suggest is each file individually and use Ctrl+F, then find and replace 2003/2004 with 2005.

Hope someone can offer a more practical solution!

Good luck with the book! :ok:

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Do you need to bother? What's the publisher going to do with the files anyway? Firstly it's unusual, to say the least, to print from an author's Word files without any copy editing, and secondly it's unheard of to print a copyright notice on each page of a book, so even if your Word files were to be taken as camera-ready surely the publisher would at least remove the footers?

(I'm not a publisher but I'm married to one and have picked up quite a bit about the book production process over the decades.)

If in doubt ask your editor. Editors might well be irritated by questions like this, but they'll be a hell of a lot more irritated if you deliver late because you've been spending time on things you didn't need to do in the first place.

[Genghis the Engineer]

It's an "on principle" thing, I'm not currently up against a deadline. Even when writing (or even especially) I'm still an aviation professional, and thus a perfectionist.

I know from experience that they'll still find things wrong - but I prefer to do everything I reasonably can to minimise them.

G

(N.B. Joe, it's in the footer, so Ctrl-F doesn't work anyhow!)

[drauk]

Google? I found this:

http://www.sharewareconnection.com/batch-replacer-for-ms-word.htm

and several others that cost a few quid. I don't know which, if any, will work with text in a footer.

A Word VBA macro could probably do the job pretty easily.

[Loose rivets]

Hi again Genghis, fascinated to hear about your endeavors. I will be interested to hear how you get on, as I have been slogging on a novel for longer than it's taken some folks to be conceived, become at peace with their gender and gain a command on a big jet, and still I am not near to approaching a publisher.

The gist seems to be to get a well laid out printed copy to a professional proof reader, so that the publisher's task is not too daunting. Double line spacing for all the red ink, and the software only for backup. This is a relatively small investment. Of course things may have changed while I have been working on the last chapter.

I personally, have fallen into the trap of letting a fun sci-fi evolve into a structured theological model that tries to envelope everything...from gravitational theory to the way in which the prime code–of which we are a subset–survives the big bang. Right now it's passing KF's "Pillars of the Earth" in number of pages, and is still growing. The concept of ‘less is more', lost to me ages ago. It sounds as though you are not falling into the same trap.

The subject matter is paramount. I have a life long pal that is penning a novel, it's a good tale, but I feel that he's missing out on a Gann like storey of his own endeavors to become a pilot...and of course the memoirs of the next 40 years. Now that would be a story...if the publishers were willing to take on the legal flack. Good luck

[Genghis the Engineer]

Ah the old novel business - no I'm not writing one of those.

I've actually been writing for a variety of publications - magazines basically - for 18 or 19 years now, with a pretty good (90% ish) success rate. The book business is however a newer exercise for me - I've started two; one is a textbook on how to certify aeroplanes which I'm developing slowly as and when I've got time but mostly is for my own use unless (against all probability) I ever finish it. The other - the one I'm working on at the moment is basically a databook for certain types of aviation professionals - when it's published I'll talk about it more but I've become a bit superstitious on the subject until then.

I've tried for my own interest once or twice to write fiction in novel form and have been forced to the conclusion that I have absolutely no ability in that direction. It's also I suspect by far the hardest form to ever get published in - go into WH Smiths and watch people - there are far more comics, magazines and manuals sold than novels, whilst the writers of magazines are probably making 8-15 pence per word, paid reasonably promptly and the majority of novelists are lucky to see a penny. I know a few people make a fortune from novel writing but sadly, I'm not the next Neville Shute and I know it.

Thanks Drauk, I shall take a look through that link and see if it helps.

G

[amanoffewwords]

This will do the search and replace - http://www.wingrep.com/index.html

But I haven't tried it yet (just the search) so backup 1st..

Credit to Mac the Knife for the link by the way (from a previous post).

Cheers
Charles

[Gertrude the Wombat]

The gist seems to be ... Seriously, folks, the only answer is to do what your editor says, and follow your publisher's instructions and/or style guide as supplied.

If you follow advice from here or otherwise obtained from other authors the odds are about 1000:1 that you will not be doing what your editor and publisher want, and you will be making more work for yourself and more work for them.

I'm really serious here, editors get very frustrated indeed with authors who not only don't read the instructions and don't do what they're told but also waste vast amounts of time and effort following advice from third parties doing things which are at best a waste of time and at worst seriously conterproductive.

What works for one publisher's production process could seriously bugger up another's - ask your editor what is needed and do what you're told. Apart from speeding up the production of this book, this will greatly enhance your chances of ever getting a contract for another one.

[stickyb]

Genghis, I echo Gertrude's advise, but if you want to produce camera ready copy in Word then I find the best thing is to work with Master and subdocuments. Ie leave all the footers, etc out of the main text, and then create a simple master document to envelope them all.
It is actually easier to start off creating the master first.

[Flypuppy]

Word docs are notorius for size limitations so understand why you would split them into chapter sized individual files. For writing big docs, Adobe's Framemaker is the weapon of choice.

There is, as far as I know, no way of changing footers en masse in individual documents. You will have to revisit each doc seprately. You can create an auto text entry which may update the date automatically. I'll see if I can remember how to do that and post something when it is light outside.

It isnt necessary to have a copyright notice at the foot of each page. Once you have compiled your book, create a cover page and include something similar to the following

The information and intellectual property contained herein remains the exclusive property of Genghis the Engineer. If you find any problems in the documentation, please report them to us in writing. Genghis the Engineer does not warrant that this document is error-free.
The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in any part or as a whole, stored, transcribed in an information retrieval system, translated into any language, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, magnetic, electronic, optical, photocopying, manual, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Genghis the Engineer.

Trademarks
All product, company and brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. When used, they are used for identification purpose only

© Genghis the Engineer 2005

This covers the entire publication.

Dont forget to send a copy of the completed manuscript to yourself through the post and leave it in the envelope unopened. This is a very crude and simple way of retaining copyright.

[Genghis the Engineer]

Okay, I'll explain myself.

I'm fully familiar with Master and sub-documents; I had to be because I'm just finishing off (after 7½ years) a PhD thesis - and that was by far the best way to generate that document.

This particular item consists of a set of kneeboard cards for various aspects of flying (yes I'm being vague - sorry, but it's deliberate), which are held in a looseleaf binder. They are designed (much like Pooleys) to be removed and carried singly in the air - so (again like Pooleys) I need a copyright statement on the bottom. In my case it says....

"(c) Genghis the Engineer 2004, Verify all information with the approved operators manual before use."

The bit about errors and doing something about them is necessarily separate.

G

[Taildragger55]

I don't know why anyone would buy your book.
Everyone knows we can get reams of excellent free technical advice from you merely by joining PPRuNe.
:O

[Memetic]

Everyone knows we can get reams of excellent free technical advice from you merely by joining PPRuNe.

Just so long as your in flight WiFi works or you are low and slow enough for GPRS. :D

[Genghis the Engineer]

And you don't need the advice before landing - I'm not online quite that often.

Thanks for the complement Taildragger.

G

[Tinstaafl]

You could try exporting the documents to Wordperfect for DOS (or possibly the Windoze version). It's cabable of doing a search & replace through the whole of the document. At least v5.x since that was the one I've used used the most although I'd be surprised if v4.x can't do it as well.

I know Word 97 can export/import WP formats.