"Reveal Codes" for Microsoft Word

This is a review of the CrossEyes add-in application for Microsoft Word. Similar to WordPerfect's "Reveal Codes" interface, CrossEyes allows the user to visually identify and resolve document formatting problems. It also provides tags that link from the CrossEyes area directly to the related settings dialog in Word.

Let's get it downloaded, installed, and try it out.

And here's a closeup of the CrossEyes area.

And there's nothing further to set up. CrossEyes opens in a lower pane of the active Word window when you select Add-ins → CrossEyes and it immediately shows the content of the visible part of the document. Colored tags and codes in the window show formatting applied to the text and other objects in the Word document.

Navigation and Selection

The position of the text cursor in the CrossEyes window is also the position of the cursor in the main document window, and moving either one moves the corresponding cursor in the other window. Selecting text in one window also selects the same text in the other window.

The CrossEyes label at the top of the CrossEyes window is grayed out when the main Word window has the mouse and keyboard focus. ALT+K switches the CrossEyes pane on and off, and Ctrl-Tab toggles between the CrossEyes window and the document.

The left and right arrow keys move the cursor through the text and formatting codes in CrossEyes. Tab can be used to jump to the next code, and Shift-Tab jumps to the previous code. When the cursor lands on a formatting code, pressing Enter or double-clicking the code opens the associate settings dialog in Word. In the image below, the "Times New Roman" code was clicked and Windows responded with the Font settings page for the paragraph.

Several types of codes are available in CrossEyes. Each major type is color-coded and applies to some property within the document.

Character Property Codes, which default to a magenta color, appear in CrossEyes in the same position that they appear in the main text window. "Bold," for example, shows up like this:

[Bold>This•is•some•bold•text.<Bold]

If one then selected "some" in the main window and clicked the "B" or bold icon, CrossEyes would show the effect like this:

[Bold>this•is•[Bold off>some<Bold off]•text.<Bold]

Paragraph Property Codes default to orange, and are usually shown at the end of a paragraph, just before the ¶ sign. That sign, by the way, is fast access to the Word Paragraph Properties dialog - just double-click it or press Enter.

Other Character Property Codes include hidden text, highlighted text, none-proofing text, temporary language change, and some common but non-text characters such as "emdash" and Tab.

Section Property Codes are shown in turquoise and denote characteristics such as section starts, section headers and footers, page numbering, and margin changes. A new document in Word has exactly one section. When one needs to change several attributes in the document at a single point, adding a section break is a logical way to do it. For instance, say that a temporary change in the margin settings and paragraph is needed for part of the document. You may have to visit several settings dialogs in Word to set up the changes - maybe paragraph and page settings, for example. CrossEyes shows all of the codes that make up the section properties in one place, at the end of the section. CrossEyes can also show section breaks of which the user is unaware. The § button, by the way, is a quick way to jump to the end of section properties.

Next: Table and Field Codes, Dealing with Bookmarks and Copy/Pasted Text, Documentation and Tech Support