Finding and Fixing "Char" Styles

Applies to: Word 2007, Word 2003

Linked character styles—a stealth formatting feature introduced in Word 2002—continues to mystify most Word users and document and template designers. In this extended Tip & Trick, we'll de-mystify the functionality, reveal changes made in Word 2007 and chronicle management methods used to combat the feature's high "annoyance" factor.

Is there a difference between "Char" styles in Word 2007 and "Char" styles in previous versions of Word?

Yes, there are four:

1. Linked (paragraph and character) is now a visible Style type choice, whereas in previous versions this was not exposed through the Word interface.

2. When a style is Linked (paragraph and character) style it is identified as such when launching the Styles task pane. In the illustration below, you'll notice the paired paragraph and character icon highlighted to the right of the style name.
3. Most (but not all) built-in styles are defaulted as Linked (paragraph and character) styles.
4. There is now a way to Disable Linked Styles' use—however, just as in previous versions, there remains no way to disable their creation. You'll find this new option at the base of the Styles task pane as highlighted in the illustration to the right.

What are linked "Character" styles named?

Linked character styles, created and named by native Word, are named of the form "Paragraph StyleName Char." As one example, "Heading 1"'s linked character style is named "Heading 1 Char," while "Body Text" is linked to "Body Text Char."

Does the presence of linked "Character" styles indicate the document is corrupt or will have problems?

We have seen the presence of "Char" styles cause errors with template vendors' automation or when using in-house-developed solutions. Because "Char" styles are valid styles, and their names are valid (albeit occasionally long), they are considered 'okay' to native Word itself. They should not be considered as indicative of corruption, but considered an issue that can take on a very high nuisance value, particularly when you are in Office XP (see Word 2002 Clipboard discussion below). Because the styles have an insidious nature, they can compromise consistency and quality control measures of the firm. Read on...

When do "Char" styles become problematic?

Linked "Char" styles become most problematic as you Copy|Paste and/or attempt to unravel them. Because the same "Char" style can be linked to multiple paragraph styles and because they deliver formatting to the text against which they are often inadvertently applied, attempting to delete them will, without following precise techniques, alter all formatting associated to content in the document.

It can also befuddle users when making a font modification to a paragraph style, and that font formatting makes changes across random characters as well. This is by design: when paragraph and character style are "Linked," all font assets are coupled and change in unison.

What else have you noticed? What should we do?

During DocXchange conversion planning and programming, we've been handed templates from many clients where linked "Char" styles are present—often, the client is totally unaware. As styles are moved from the template into the resulting documents, they simply replicate—OR, worse, link up with styles present in the converted result. The effect: unexpected formatting changes as user applies otherwise firm-sanctioned styles. Advice to all: If you are moving to or have arrived at Word 2007, 2003 or 2002, routinely run health checks against your templates and boilerplate content using DocXamine. Ensure "Char" styles have not populated themselves into these source bits of work product, as they will assuredly compromise predictability down the road.

Does DocXtools have anything that eliminates them?

Yes. Both the v6 and v5 releases of DocXtools have an automated "Char" style correction; it is located in the "Do It Yourself" cleanup dialogue/taskpane.

Why would Microsoft create such a feature?

The linked character styles feature does have a purpose. A linked style behaves as either a character style or a paragraph style, depending on what you select. If you click in a paragraph or select a paragraph and then apply a linked style, the style is applied as a paragraph style. However, if you select a word or phrase in the paragraph and then apply a linked style, the style is applied as a character style, with no effect on the paragraph as a whole.

For example, if you select (or click in) a paragraph and then apply the Heading 1 style, the whole paragraph is formatted with the Heading 1 text and paragraph characteristics. However, if you select a word or a phrase and then apply Heading 1, the text that you selected is formatted with the text characteristics of the Heading 1 style, but none of the paragraph characteristics are applied.

1. When you select or click in a paragraph and apply a linked style, the style is applied to the whole paragraph.

2. When you select a word or phrase and apply a linked style, the style is applied only to the selected text.

How is this useful? Consider the scenario above, in which an Alert character style and a Headline paragraph style each format text as bold and red. If the Headline style were a linked style instead of a paragraph style, you would not need a separate character style for formatting words and phrases. Wherever you wanted a headline in your document (bold, red, centered, with extra space above), you would select a paragraph and apply the linked style. Wherever you wanted an alert, you would select a word or phrase and apply the same linked style.

Word includes many built-in linked styles, notably the heading styles (Heading 1, Heading 2, and so on). We have rarely seen the feature used intentionally in legal or life sciences work product—primarily because our use of Heading styles is to deliver outline numbering. Since outline numbering cannot be delivered through a character style, the feature's capability for TOC generation has very little applicability.

How do "Char" styles get created?

Whether in Word 2003 or 2002, selecting characters and applying a Paragraph style creates a linked style. In Word 2007, the linked "Char" style is inherent as most of the Built-in Paragraph styles possess their linked "Char" edition by default. Linked "Char" styles, then, are no longer created on-the-fly as was the case in 2003 or 2002. Rather they must be purposefully assigned in 2007 using the New Style type provided.

Additionally, "Char" styles propagate via the use of the Office Clipboard within Office XP/Word 2002. In the latter circumstance, you'll see the "Char" style name becomes elongated. Steps to reproduce and to manually eliminate appear below.

How to make it happen in Word 2002:

1. Start a new document.
2. Type two paragraphs.
3. Apply Body Text style to all paragraphs in the document.
4. Select a couple of words (do not select the paragraph mark) and apply another style, such as Block Text, to the selected text.
5. Copy the entire paragraph.
6. Display the Office Clipboard.
7. Close the Office Clipboard.
8. Paste the paragraph to the end of the document.
9. Note that the name of Block Text, has been changed to the a new 'mutant' name.

Training Issue:

Word 2007: Emphasize in training the behavior and presence of linked character styles, and ensure users are familiar with the ability to Disable Linked Styles.

Word 2002/2003: Emphasize in training that in Word 2002 and 2003 users should not apply a style to a partially-selected paragraph. Accurate selection techniques must be reinforced.

Document Clean-up Process:

Realize that three situations may exist in any document that shows a "Char" style name: (i) there may be paragraphs that contain partial style formatting and this is what creates the "Char" style name; (ii) there may be paragraphs that have been completely formatted with the "Char" style and this happens after the style gets into the list and is applied in a document or an infected paragraph is copied into to the document; and (iii) there may have been entire paragraphs that were initially formatted with the style that later became "Char"-infested.

First, remove any style formatting that is partially applied to paragraphs:

1. In Word 2003, use the Styles & Formatting task pane with "Show" set to "Formatting in Use" to locate text that is partially formatted with a style. Right click on the "Char" style name(s) and choose "Select all # instances" to view each instance.
2. Remove all partial style formatting (Ctrl + Spacebar), replacing with a character style or direct formatting if appropriate.
3. Second, replace the "Char" style with a healthy style and remove the "Char" style from the document.
4. Create a style called, for example, "No Char."
5. Using the Styles task pane, right click on the style name and choose "Select all # instances."
6. Apply the "No Char" style to the paragraphs.
7. In the Styles task pane, right click on the style and choose "Delete."
8. Using the Organizer copy a clean version of the style from Normal.dot to the document.
9. Replace "No Char" style within the document with the clean style.
10. In the Styles & Formatting task pane, right click on "No Char" style and choose "Delete."

Resources:

Word 2002/2003: Our Migratory Paths article explains how to 'see' "Char" styles, and a trick to eliminating them.

Our excerpt of issue/solution in the recent Peer to Peer magazine from LawNet.

Our tips/tricks—how to use Style Manager to find/rename Char Styles.

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