Normal.dot - How to avoid using it.

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Normal.dot - How to avoid using it.
Using Normal.dot (bad idea) 
John Smith




Posts: 20
 Joined: 2006-10-11
From this thread, MS states that modifying the normal.dot is not a good idea. How can I prevent doing that?

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/HA011514521033.aspx

Posted 11 Jan, 2007 13:01:45 Top
Sergey Grischenko


Add-in Express team


Posts: 7233
 Joined: 2004-07-05
Hi John.

I wouldn't suggest you to do something to prevent saving the normal.dot.
Otherwise COM add-ins may not work correctly. The fact is that Add-in Express based add-ins store its command bars in normal.dot too and you can't change this behavior.

P.S. Note that we take up your forum requests in the order we receive them.
Besides, it may take us some time to investigate your issue. Please be sure we will let you know as soon as the best possible solution is found.
Posted 12 Jan, 2007 10:17:24 Top
John Smith




Posts: 20
 Joined: 2006-10-11
As a practice my client makes the normal.dor read only for all their users. This is why they are asking me to look at alternatives, especially when MS states that it is not a good idea to modify the normal.dot. What can I tell my client?
Posted 15 Jan, 2007 10:13:13 Top
Sergey Grischenko


Add-in Express team


Posts: 7233
 Joined: 2004-07-05
Hi John.

I would tell him please make a copy of the Normal.dot template.
Posted 15 Jan, 2007 16:21:28 Top
John Smith




Posts: 20
 Joined: 2006-10-11
Hi Sergey,

So what you are saying is make a copy of the normal.dot so the user doesn't have a read only copy? That is not possible. This is an enterprise installation. Word is setup to get their normal.dot from a network drive. That normal.dot is read only. How can I use Add-In Express in this scenario? I have an add in which items are turned on and off. The add in also adds dynamic (temporary) commands when it starts and clears them when it finishes. I need to provide the client with a solution that works in his environment without getting the ?Â?Ð?ìcannot save to the normal.dot?Â?Ð?í error message every time they close Word.

Thanks.
Posted 16 Jan, 2007 15:13:28 Top
Sergey Grischenko


Add-in Express team


Posts: 7233
 Joined: 2004-07-05
John, I would suggest you to use temporary command bars and controls that are created dynamically when Word starts. I think it should solve the issue.
Posted 17 Jan, 2007 09:37:37 Top
ron vader




Posts: 8
 Joined: 2006-08-28
have a look at the CustomizationContext property. that enables you to temporarily change the active template. though use it with caution, it's very temperamental.
Posted 18 Jan, 2007 10:48:10 Top