Gripe 3: Word XML (Issue 1)

First I have to say I love the new Word XML features and this posting isn?t really meant as a complaint, but a few thoughts on issues I hope MS will rethink in the next version of Word. As a side note, if you haven?t downloaded the new Word XML Toolbox you should do so. It gets the OfficeZealot stamp of approval. My favorite feature of the toolbox is it allow you to change the annoying pink color of the XML node tag in Word. I?m currently using Cobalt blue!

Issue #1: Schema Mapping Should Be More Flexible
Right now when you map in a schema into a Word document, you have to put nodes in sequential order (or in the order defined by the schema). What though if you want to put one node at the top of the document and another node at the bottom of a document? Unless the schema is organized in this order, you won?t be able to do it. This issue is hard to explain, but if you haven?t mapped a schema into Word, you will notice it right away.

The approach Excel uses is more flexible. In Excel you can map in a node or group of nodes anywhere on a workbook. It would be nice if Word allowed us to do this.

What is the work around? I have often had to build a custom schema solely for use in Word so I can have the nodes in the order I want in the document. I then transform the custom schema to the specific business schema when the user saves the Word document.

Tomorrow I?ll talk about the nasty attributes problem.