Word Note (No. 41)
OPC Parliamentary Amendment Forms
Issued May 2002
Updated September 2006
Contents
Introduction	1
Automated Parliamentary Amendments macro	1
Selecting an Amendment	2
Inserting the Amendment	2
Text Boxes	3
Plural values	3
Page numbers	3
Em-rules	4
Topic Notes	4
The Output Box	4
Summary	4
Further information etc.	4
Introduction
1	A new macro has been developed to automate the OPC Parliamentary Amendment Forms manual. Below is a brief description of how the macro works.
Automated Parliamentary Amendments macro
2	Before running the macro, start a new paragraph in the Parliamentary Amendment.
3	Run the macro using the shortcut (Alt+Z or Ctrl+Alt+A). Alternatively, run it from the OPC Macros menu, Miscellaneous sub-menu and Automated Parliamentary Amendments.
4	Some of the examples for Omitting text depend on the House of introduction. If the House hasn’t been specified, the macro will ask you which House the amendment is being prepared for.  It will then update the House of introduction at the top of the parliamentary amendment.
Selecting an Amendment
5	In the top of the screen, the dialogue box displays the types of amendments under the following headings.
A: Body of the Bill;
B: Non-amending schedule;
C: Amending Schedule - proposed blocks of text (not in quotes);
D: Amending Schedule - other than proposed blocks of text.
6	Each heading expands into the following subheadings.
1: Omitting;
2: Adding;
3: Inserting;
4: Omitting and Substituting. 
7	The subheading lists all the parliamentary amendment forms that are in the manual.
8	When you select a form, the macro lists all of the examples for that form.  
9	Select the example that you want to use and press the OK button.
Inserting the Amendment
10	After selecting an amendment, another dialogue box opens with:
(a)	the example as it appears in the manual;
(b)	several text boxes for each value to be substituted;
(c)	a topic note text box;
(d)	an output box displaying the amendment text to be substituted.
11	Notes about the example are displayed in purple text beneath the example.
12	The macro performs some basic validation of line numbers and page numbers. If there is an obvious error (for example, the page numbers are out of order), the macro will beep and display error information in red text.
Text Boxes
13	Type or paste text into the text boxes. The text boxes retain the information from the last amendment that you used. To clear all the values in the text boxes, press the ‘Clear’ button.
14	To move from one text box to the other, the macro was designed so that you can use the space bar. If you need to type multiple words into the text box with spaces in between then there are two ways to do this.
(a)	if the substitution text is in double quotes, you can type spaces in the text box. To move to the next text box press the Tab or Enter key;
(b)	to insert a string longer than one word into an ordinary text box, put a single quote at the beginning and end. After this you can use the space bar to move to the next text box.
Plural values
15	Most of the examples in the manual are in the singular form. When you want to specify a series of values you can either specify a range (with a beginning and end), or a list.
16	If there are only 2 items then it is important whether you type a colon or semi-colon to separate them. A colon separates a range of values. A semi-colon separates a list of values. The main difference is that a list does not include values in between.

Example of Plural forms	
	Example	Required	Text Box	
1.  	Clause 	Clauses 2 to 9	2:9	
2.  	Schedule 	Schedules 2 and 9	2;9	
3.  	Paragraph 	Paragraphs 1, 2 and 9	1;2;9	
Note: If there are more than 2 values, then the macro assumes you are specifying a List.
Page numbers
17	A formula appears above the page number text box to help insert the range of pages and line numbers. The reason for the formula is to make it more flexible when entering the page and line numbers.
Example of inserting Page and Line Numbers	
	Formula	Required	Text Box	
1.  	PL:PL 	Page 67 (line 25) to Page 68 (line 4)	p67l25:p68l4	
2.  	PL:PL	Page 99 (line 33)	p99l33	
3.  	PL:L	Page 99 (lines 33 to 39)	p99l33:39	
4.  	PL:L	Page 99 (lines 33 and 34)	p99l33:34	
5.  	P+L	Page 99 (after line 66)	p99+l66	
6.  	P-L	Page 99 (before line 66)	p99-l66	
7	Page	Page 99	p99	
Note: It does not matter if the P or L are upper case or lower case.

Em-rules
18	To insert an em-rule in a text box or topic note type a forward slash (/). The em-rule will be displayed in the output box.
Topic Notes
19	Type in the text for the topic note. The macro will put square brackets around the topic note.  
20	When you have finished, press the Enter key or tab key.
The Output Box
21	As you type text into the text boxes the macro substitutes the values and displays the result in the Output Box.
22	The Output Box contains the text formatted as it will appear in the document (ie with bold or italics applied).
23	Press the OK button to insert the text into the parliamentary amendment.
Summary

1.	Insert a blank line;
2.	Press Alt+Z or Ctrl+Alt+A;
3.	Select the form from the first list;
4.	Select the example from the next list;
5.	Press OK;
6.	Fill in the text boxes and topic note; 
7.	Check the output box is correct.
8.	Press OK.

Further information etc.
24	If you require further information, or have suggestions for improving the macro, please see one of the IT Staff.

Andrew Newbery
Director of Information Technology