Computer Info – October 23, 2002

This Week’s Meeting

Working with MS-Word to create and use FORMS. Take questions about Word. Then it time for our question and answer session.

Windows Messenger – Turning it Off

Don’t confuse Windows Messenger service with Microsoft's MSN Messenger chat client. Windows Messenger service is enabled by default on Windows 2000, NT and XP systems. This service was designed to enable system administrators to send messages to users on a network – but now it is being used to deliver ADVERTISEMENTS. This is known as NetBIOS Spam. The advertiser can deliver his ads completely anonymous and virtually untraceable – straight to your screen.

So, if we are not using it, why don’t we turn it off. Go to CONTROL PANEL – ADD/REMOVE WINDOWS COMPONENTS and look for Windows Messenger. Can’t find it, right !!!!! That is because Microsoft has it hidden. But you can still uninstall it. Here’s how.

Go to START – SEARCH – FILES AND FOLDERS and search for sysoc.inf. It should be in the INF folder under WINDOWS.

Double click on the file.

Find the line that starts off with msmsgs=msgrocm.dll......
Remove the word "hide" from this line (only remove the 4 letters, do NOT remove the commas or anything else!).
Once this is done (again make sure that you only deleted the 4 letters "hide" on this line and didn't delete ANYTHING else!), click File.. Save.

Close Notepad.

Now go back to the CONTROL PANEL – ADD/REMOVE WINDOWS COMPONENTS. Scroll down to the bottom and you will see Windows Messenger.  Uncheck It.
Electric Forms – Word

(Info from Smart Computing – July & August, 2002)

Create a form that can be emailed, posted for download on a Web site or included in an electronic information kit.

Some terminology – A form’s data fields are arranged in tables. Tables are laid out in horizontal rows. Rows can hold one to five columns. One column in one row – a single data field – equals one cell.

Start with a blank document – from FILE – PAGE SETUP – choose your paper size – orientation – margins. Next, make sure you are in Print or Page Layout view (VIEW – PRINT LAYOUT or VIEW – PAGE LAYOUT) so you can see your full-page margins.

Let’s start with drawing an enclosing border -- boxing your form’s interior with a border will make it look more official. Open the Borders and Shading Window (FORMAT – BORDERS AND SHADING). Click on the tab for Page Border. Set the LINE STYLE to show a solid line – make it thick by setting the LINE WEIGHT – choose your color and click OK.

At the top of your page, type the name and address of your business, plus any slogans, etc. you want to convey. In our example, we are going to create an admissions form for a fictitious Community College.

It is helpful to clearly designate separate areas for the type of information requested. We’ll create shaded boxes to act as horizontal dividers to do so. After the address, press ENTER several times so the next section of text will live in its own paragraph. Type APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION, then increase the font size so it’s noticeable larger than your standard text. Next, select BORDERS AND SHADING from the Format Menu. In the dialog box, click the BORDERS tab and use the following parameters:

Setting: Box

Style: Solid Line

Width: ¾ pt.

Apply to: Paragraph

Click OK. The text is now neatly boxed.

To add shading, click inside the box. Select BORDERS AND SHADING again, and click the SHADING tab. In the grid of color choices under Fill, select Gray – 35%. From the Apply To pop-up menu, choose Paragraph and click OK.

Let’s make this look like a genuine form. Click outside the box to position your cursor just below it. If it’s still set for centered text, switch to Align Left.

Open the Forms Toolbar (VIEW – TOOLBAR – FORMS). From the Forms Toolbar, select Insert Table. This displays a grid that let’s you set the table’s dimensions in row and columns. Move your mouse down to the right until you’ve highlighted three columns in the first row, and it reads 1 x 3 Table. Click to apply it; Word fits this row beneath the shaded box.

When creating a form, you want a document to which the user can add text, but only in the areas that you designate. You can jump among data fields by pressing TAB or clicking the mouse, while Word considers the rest of the page off-limits. The FORMS Toolbar has everything you need to accomplish this.

Place your cursor in the first data cell, type Date: and press the spacebar. Click the TEXT FORM FIELD button, the first item on the toolbar; it has a lowercase “ab” on it. A gray field will appear after the colon and space. This gray shading will appear only on the screen, not on printed hard copies of the form. It can even be turned off with the toolbar’s Form Field Shading button (a lowercase “a” against a background of diagonal lines).

You can also control what information will be accepted by this field. Click the FORM FIELD OPTIONS button (it’s fourth on the toolbar) or simply double-click the field itself. This opens a dialog box that lets you impose various restrictions on each field. For this first field, use the option menus to set the TYPE TO DATE and the Maximum Length to 8 characters. Make sure the Fill-in enabled checkbox in checked and click OK.

Enlarge the second cell by using the mouse to grab the vertical divider and dragging it left into the Date cell’s unused space. You can also stretch cells length-wise by dragging the row’s bottom line downward. This is useful if you want a large block with no character limit for an open-ended question.

In these next two cells, type Semester applied for: and Year applied for: For the Semester field, keep the Type as Regular text and set the Maximum Length to 8. For the Year field, set these options at Number and 4, respectively.

Sometimes all you need is a simple yes or no answer or a selection from an either/or choice. For this, you can utilize check boxes.

Use the Insert Table button to add a 1x1 table beneath the first row. In this full-width data cell, type Applying for full-time status part-time status community education. After each of these three choices, add an extra space and click the Check Box Form Field box in the toolbar. This inserts a tiny box that can be activated by a mouse click or the X key.

For those questions you want a person to choose one answer from several options, such as her income bracket, you may find it more convenient to insert a Drop-Down Form Field rather than Text or Check Box Fields. In this case, the Form Field Options dialog box lets you create a list of possible answers, and the user can select one from a drop-down box denoted by an arrow.

Once you have your form completed, you can Protect the Form by click the padlock on the toolbar. Notice that most of your standard toolbar options (fonts, alignment, etc.) are grayed out and unavailable because the form will only accept input within the designated fields.

While in this write-protected mode, you can press TAB to move among data fields and test how user-friendly everything will be for your form’s recipient.