Description of reasons for Word 2007 macro-enabled document (.DOCM)?
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From: Rick on 12 Feb 2010 14:46 I see the new .DOCM extension in Word 2007 to indicate a macro-enabled document. Is there an advantage to putting macros in a DOCM rather than a DOTM and its associated DOCX? What are the reasons for this new format? Is it a way of avoiding having two files? We use our template only for macros so maybe we could put everything in a DOCM rather than having both a DOTM and DOCX. I couldn't find any detailed info on the Microsoft web site about this new file format, other than just to say it's a macro-enabled document. Is there a discussion about it somewhere? Thanks.
From: Jay Freedman on 12 Feb 2010 22:59
On Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:46:58 -0800 (PST), Rick <rick0726(a)verizon.net> wrote: >I see the new .DOCM extension in Word 2007 to indicate a macro-enabled >document. Is there an advantage to putting macros in a DOCM rather >than a DOTM and its associated DOCX? What are the reasons for this >new format? Is it a way of avoiding having two files? We use our >template only for macros so maybe we could put everything in a DOCM >rather than having both a DOTM and DOCX. > >I couldn't find any detailed info on the Microsoft web site about this >new file format, other than just to say it's a macro-enabled >document. Is there a discussion about it somewhere? Thanks. I'm not certain of Microsoft's motive for creating a .docm file type, but I think it's this: The .docx format is guaranteed *not* to contain any macros, specifically malicious code. Because some people still insist on putting macros into documents, Microsoft therefore needed a format that would allow macros, and that's .docm. There is *no* reasonable advantage to putting macros into .docm files rather than .dotm templates unless you're prepared to digitally sign every macro project, and that requires a certificate that costs hundreds of dollars per year. Unsigned macro-enabled documents are a PITA for every user. In contrast, macro-enabled templates that are stored in a trusted location will just work. -- Regards, Jay Freedman Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. |