So I pasted in a bunch of student names into word from our student database program at my school, and I need to go about changing them from LastName, FirstName to FirstName LastName.
I'm okay with selecting each student's first name and clicking and dragging it to immediately in front of the last name, except for the fact that this ANNOYING LITTLE CLIPBOARD pop-up menu appears next to their names!#$&)##*!!!!!
Does anyone know of any way of disabling this "feature" of MS Word for Mac?
Alternately, if you have a quicker way of doing this whole project, you will be my hero for at least three whole seconds! There's GOTTA be a more efficient way.
Posted by C3PO the Dragon Slayer (Member # 10416) on :
How many names are there? If it's an insanely long list, I could write a program with a simple while loop and string parsing statement that could do it all... but if the list is less than maybe 3- or 400, you're probably better off doing it by hand.
In regards to MS Word, there is no hope. I had a problem very much like that a couple years ago that I searched all over the place to fix to no avail. My suggestion: stop closing the pop-up and work around it, and it will just seem like another toolbar or something else that's always there.
Posted by BandoCommando (Member # 7746) on :
Yea, it's in that annoying mid-range of around 150 names. not long enough to bother with writing a program, but long enough that it's worth ranting about on Hatrack. (of course, over the course of my career as a band director, I will undoubtedly end up making many many more concert programs and have this same frustration).
Most of the time, names are long enough that I can click on a part of the name where the clipboard ISN'T. But when a kid's name is short for both the first and last name, the clipboard is hard to avoid.
Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :
There's no way to get the database to order the fields the way you want prior to copying the data? (I mean, there has to be a way. Whether it's something you can do yourself in a reasonable amount of time is the question.)
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
Bando, Do you have Excel? If so you could copy the name list into excel and convert the text to columns. You can then insert a column before the first name column and drag the entire last name column into it. You can then easily copy and past them back into word in the new order or save the excel file in space delimited text format and open it in word.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Even without Excel, can't you do the same thing in Word, using the option of converting text to columns?
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
quote:Originally posted by rivka: Even without Excel, can't you do the same thing in Word, using the option of converting text to columns?
I just checked and rivka is right. You can do this in word. Select all the names. Go into the Table menu, convert, text to table. Click of Separate text at comma, if the last and first names and separate by a comma. You can then drag the entire column of last names to the other side of the first names. Then convert the table back to text using sperate text with Other and input a space and you will be done.
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
Also, never buy MS word again, and just download OpenOffice for free. It does everything MS word does, and it is FREE.
Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :
It's weird when MS products actually do what you want.
Just watch, Bando will do it manually before he sees this.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Orincoro: It does everything MS word does
You know, it really doesn't.
I'm in favor of open-source (and free) products. I prefer Foxit to Adobe Reader. I'd much rather use Firefox than IE.
But Word does more things (and does many things more easily) than Open Office.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
*nod* The people who say that OpenOffice is a viable replacement for the MS Office suite are people who clearly do not need to fully utilize (or are simply unfamiliar with the features of) MS Office.
Posted by BandoCommando (Member # 7746) on :
Hi all.
I actually figured out the tables/Excel solution shortly after making my second post. Thanks for the info, though!!!
As for not purchasing MS products, I wish I had some say in it. This is, after all, the computer provided by my school district complete with software packages that leave much to be desired. At least they are fairly lenient with me being able to install my own software solutions like Sibelius for music notation and Filemaker for my own database needs (music library, etc.)
Our school district database is a web-based application that is woefully lacking in customizability, at least as far as the end-user is concerned. Our district techs supposedly have the ability to fiddle with the code and add new feature, but in general, the program is slow, buggy, and cumbersome; basically the antithesis to intuitive software. Apparently the competition for software for educational institutions that combines scheduling, grading, attendance, and all manner of record-keeping by the district is not yet intense enough to result in high-quality products. And yet, our district feels that the convenience of having all of these features in one software package outweighs the annoyances caused by the bad software.
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: *nod* The people who say that OpenOffice is a viable replacement for the MS Office suite are people who clearly do not need to fully utilize (or are simply unfamiliar with the features of) MS Office.
But isn't that a *lot* of people? What does a college student need from MS Word that isn't in OpenOffice?
Having been a recent college student who used OO, the answer, at least for me, is nothing. I'm not an information management professional, and I don't think there are many people who need to be paying the high price for MS word.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
But that's not what you initially said.
Regardless, I still think you're wrong. Most office workers who do a lot of document prep need things OO does not have.
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
Well, when I initially said it, I believed it- I have used both a lot, and I find them to be about the same. But then, I'm not an information worker, so I'd love to hear what those differences actually are. As far as my experience goes, I or anyone like me could get by just fine on OO.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
You mean college students who pretty much use it to write papers?
Probably so.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
The OpenOffice word processor is fine for just writing, and I use it every day for that on my home computer. But it sucks for doing any complicated Find and Replace work, or other complicated things that I sometimes have to do at work (I'm a copywriter). At least, it's a totally different set of commands that aren't as intuitive as Word's. WordPerfect was/is the same way. IMO Word is still head and shoulders above the rest.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Bando: are you guys running Jenzabar, SCT/Banner, or DataTel?
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
quote:Originally posted by rivka: You mean college students who pretty much use it to write papers?
Probably so.
Yes, which is probably the level to which the majority of WS word users utilize their software. I understand your point of view of course- I have heard people say that Garage Band, or some other free-to-use software for music production is as good as Logic or Cubase or Protools, but for me that is just not so. Still, the majority of people should never pay $300 for the basic versions of those applications. To most people, the difference between the two categories is meaningless- and I think this is the same for OO.
Posted by BandoCommando (Member # 7746) on :
Orincoro: fair point.
Tom: we use neither. It's something called eSIS. I believe my old university used Banner, however...
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
You mean someone besides the school I works for uses Jenzabar?
Nahhhhh.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
*laugh* Jenzabar's actually pretty common in that space.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
No one on either of my listservs (one financial aid, one registrarial) seems to use it.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Really? I know it's more popular out here in the Midwest, but I didn't think it was a fringe thing at all. I believe it's the #3 player, actually, and the #1 player for small schools.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Everyone seems to use Banner, PeopleSoft, or DataTel. Not that I've done a survey or anything -- just judging by the questions.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Banner and DataTel are #1 and #2, overall. They're quite a bit more expensive, though, and I don't think they're MUCH more functional than Jenzabar. You wind up paying a lot of money for Oracle licenses that don't pay off in terms of the featureset.
That, by the way, should not be construed as an endorsement of Jenzabar's ERP. It's a condemnation of academic ERPs.