Chapter 9: Working Faster with Automation

When people think of how to automate Word documents, they typically think of macros (a set of grouped commands and instructions run together as a single command) or Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) code. Both have a few disadvantages. For one, they are a bit more complicated to write, especially VBA. And two, not all end users can open macro-enabled files at work. Because these types of files have the potential to be embedded with malicious code (or even potentially damaging human errors), some companies and IT departments have simply chosen to disable all macros and code contained within these types of files. So, even if you have successfully written a perfect macro-enabled, fully automated Word document or template for someone to use, they may not be able to utilize the automation within because their company has locked down those types of files for security reasons.

So, this chapter thinks a bit outside the box and focuses on preparation...