Professional Microsoft Office Interview Questions & Answers:

1. In WordPerfect, I could point to a blank part of the page and start typing. Can Word do that?

Word calls this feature "Click and Type". All it does is automatically insert enough blank paragraphs and possibly a tab to position the insertion point, then you can start typing or insert a graphic. To use Click and Type:

1. Make sure that Click and Type is turned on: Choose Options from the Tools menu, click the Edit tab, select the Enable click and type check box, and then click OK.
2. Switch to Print Layout view or Web Layout (on the View menu or use the little toolbar in the lower left corner of the screen).
3. In the document, move the pointer to a blank area where you want to insert text, graphics, or a table.
4. Click to enable the Click and Type pointer.
5. The pointer shape indicates how the item will be aligned (left, center, or right, depending on where you place the pointer).
6. Double-click, and then start typing text or insert an item as usual.

2. Are there any settings that would help a WordPerfect user learn Word?

If you choose Tools from the Options menu, then click on the General tab, you can select two check boxes that will help you learn the equivalent Word commands. Help for WordPerfect users displays instructions or demonstrates a Word equivalent when you press a WordPerfect for DOS key combination. Navigation keys for WordPerfect users changes the function of Page Up, Page Down, Down Arrow, Home, End, and Esc to their WordPerfect equivalents. Note: If you did not install WordPerfect Help when you installed Word, Word will ask you for your install CD the first time you try a WordPerfect key combination.

Note: If you are an experienced Word user, you may find Word's behavior annoying if you enable either of these features. For example, if you press the Delete key to delete a block of text, you have to confirm the delete by pressing the Y key (similar to what happens in WordPerfect when you delete a block of text).

3. Can Word open WordPerfect files?

Word is usually setup to open WordPerfect 5.1 files without doing anything special. You may have to change the Files of type setting in the Open dialog box to All Files (*.*), as Word is usually set to look for Word Documents (*.doc). There are more text converters and graphics filters on the Office install CD, including one for WordPerfect 6.x (WordPerfect 6/7/8/9 use the same file format). WordPerfect files may include WordPerfect Graphics files, so you should also install the WordPerfect Graphics Filters. To install text converters and graphics filters for WordPerfect:

1. Insert your Office or Word CD #1.
2. Setup may start automatically when you insert the CD; if not, choose Start > Run > Browse (on the Windows Taskbar) then locate the CD and double-click on setup.exe.
3. Choose Add or Remove Features.
If you're not familiar with the Microsoft Office install/update procedure, click the Help button before you go on to the next step and read the Help screen.
4. Open the Converters and Filters list.
5. Open the Text Converters list.
6. Choose WordPerfect 6.x Converter, and select Run from My Computer.
7. Open the Graphics Filters list.
8. Choose WordPerfect Graphics Filters, and select Run from My Computer.
9. Click on the Update Now button.

You can also install more text converters and graphics filters by choosing the items you want from the Text Converters and Graphics Filters lists before you click the Update Now button. If you want to simply install all of the available text converters and graphics filters, choose Run from My Computer at step 4 above, instead of selecting particular items from the lists.

4. I like WordPerfect. Where are the Reveal Codes?

The "Reveal Codes" as implemented in WordPerfect are nowhere to be found. [EMPHASIS]Not there; sorry ... get over it.[emphasis]

5. How do I share a document with someone who does not have my version of Word?

1. Choose Save As from the File menu.
2. In the Save as type box, select the file type you want to use.

If you're not sure what file type will work (such as when you are sending a document to someone else) choose Rich Text Format (*.rtf) or WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS (*.doc). All recent word processing programs for Windows or Macintosh can read either of these formats. However, the conversion is sometimes not perfect and any formatting Word cannot convert will be discarded.

6. Can I use Word to make a web page?

Yes. Word has a Save as Web Page command on the File menu. In addition, there is an Insert Hyperlink button on the Standard toolbar, as well as two additional toolbars for the web: Web and Web Tools. To activate these toolbars, choose Toolbars from the View menu. If you save a Word document as a web page, Word includes XML (Extensible Markup Language) tags, which enhances the format of the web page, but may cause problems with some web browsers (pages created with Word probably work best when viewed with the current version of Microsoft Internet Explorer).

You can download an HTML filter for Word 2000 that will allow you to Export as Compact HTML (compact HTML removes most of the XML tags). When you save a Word document as a web page, the formatting is converted into the appropriate HTML code (although some formatting will not be displayed on the web page exactly as it appeared in Word).

NOTE: The Save as HTML command in Word 97 creates much cleaner HTML than the later versions of Word. If you own a copy, you can install it along with a newer version on one machine: Just do a custom install of Word 97 and place it in a unique directory. If you run Word 97, the newer version of Word will quickly "reinstall" itself next time you start it.

7. How can I combine several Word documents into a single document?

To combine several relatively simple documents into a single document, repeat the following procedure until all of the individual documents have been combined. The original documents are unaffected by this procedure.

1. Start a new, blank document.
2. Choose File from the Insert menu.
3. Browse to the document you want to insert.
4. Select the document, then click Insert.
5. Usually, you will want to insert a page break after each file you insert: Choose Break from the Insert menu, select Page break, then click OK.

Some attributes of the documents you insert after the first one may be lost (e.g., margins, headers, and footers). Once you get all the documents combined, you can work on finishing up document formatting details, page numbering, etc. If your individual documents are more complex, Word's Master- and Sub-document feature is what you need. This feature is too complex for coverage here, but Word's Online Help will get you started.

8. Add the Insert Merge Field Button to the Word XP/2003 Mail Merge Toolbar

1. Choose Toolbars from the View menu, then select Mail Merge to display the Mail Merge toolbar.
2. Choose Customize from the Tools menu.
3. In the Customize window, select the Commands tab.
4. Select Mail Merge from the Categories list on the left.
5. Select Insert Mail Merge Field on the right.
6. Drag Insert Mail Merge Field to the Mail Merge toolbar and position it to the left of the Insert Word Field button.
7. Release the mouse button (the Insert Merge Field button will appear on the toolbar).
8. If you don't need the Mail Merge toolbar now, choose Toolbars from the View menu, then select Mail Merge to hide the Mail Merge toolbar.

Note: The method of "data exchange" has changed in Word 2003 from older versions of Office. One detail that is different is that the formatting of data from an Excel spreadsheet is lost when documents are merged. One fix is to use formatting "switches" in the merge fields in the main document, which is somewhat confusing. An easier fix is to change the data exchange method back to Dynamic Data Exchange or DDE (the method used in previous versions of Office). This method will apply the formatting in the Excel worksheet to the fields in the merged document.

To make this change:

1. Choose Options from the Tools menu, then select the General tab.
2. Check the Confirm conversion at Open box.
3. Click OK.
4. When you select your Data Source document, Word will prompt you to Confirm Data Source. Choose MS Excel Worksheets via DDE (*.xls).

9. Add the Mail Merge Helper to the Word XP/2003 Tools Menu

1. Choose Customize from the Tools menu.
2. In the Customize window, select the Commands tab.
3. Select All Commands from the Categories list on the left.
4. Select Mail Merge Helper on the right.
5. Drag Mail Merge Helper to the Tools menu (the Tools menu will open). Continue holding the mouse button and drag Mail Merge Helper to the Letters and Mailings menu item (the Letters and Mailings menu will open). Continue holding the mouse and drag Mail Merge Helper to the first position in the list of items.
6. Release the mouse button (Mail Merge will appear on the menu).
7. Click the Close button.

10. What is Mail Merge? How do I perform a Mail Merge?

Mail Merge is used to create form letters, mailing labels, or envelopes. One document is the Data Document, which contains all of the names, addresses, or other variable information. This data is merged with the Main Document, resulting in a third document, which has as many sections as there are records in the Data Document.

Click here to download a Word document that includes a simple Mail Merge exercise using the Word 2000 Mail Merge Helper.

Note: Mail Merge in Word XP (2002) and Word 2003 has some important changes and new features. The most obvious include the new Mail Merge Wizard and a different method of data exchange, which affects the formatting of the fields in the merged document. Some helpful information on restoring the Mail Merge Helper and using the Word 2000 data exchange method appear at the end of this section, but if you are using Word 2003, you should read through all of the online Help topics on Mail Merge.

To create a set of merge documents, choose Mail Merge from the Tools menu (Word XP/2003 users: choose Letters and Mailings from the Tools menu first). This will start the Mail Merge Helper, which will guide you through the three-step process:

1. Create the Main Document (Form Letter, Mailing Label, or Envelope).
2. Specify a Data Source (create from scratch or use an existing document, which is usually a Word table or an Excel spreadsheet).
3. Merge the Data Source with the Main Document.

Note: Merge Documents is a command on the Tools menu that allows you to merge comments and changes from several reviewers into one document. This command is related to the Track Changes feature and has nothing to do with Mail Merge.

Note: Word XP and Word 2003 use a new feature called the Mail Merge Wizard to guide you through the merge process. If you want to try the Mail Merge Wizard in Word XP/2003, choose Mail Merge Wizard from the Letters and Mailings menu. The directions appear in the task pane on the right side of the screen. If you prefer the Word 2000 Mail Merge Helper, you can be add it to the Word XP/2003 Tools menu using the Customize feature.