I'm creating a form which needs some automated text. For example, there are several places in the form where I need to enter a person's name several times over, and it would be nice if I could just enter the name once, and have the other places in the form where the name is required self-populate. I'm talking quicker than cut&paste here. Anyone know how?

You could us a mail merge function. this is common in mass mailings to have the same document personalized to different people. You can read all about it in Help mail merge. there is also a document merge function although i haven't played with it.

Also lookup DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange)

If mail merge isn't for you, then you could record a macro that copies the first one and pastes it in the other locations. You can then assign a shortcut key to the macro so you can get it done in one keystroke after entering the name once. Post back if you need more info. -SN

I've used mail merge to address envelopes, but it grabs names from a database. What I need to do is enter a name once, say on page 1, then on pages 2,3,5, etc. I need that name to automatically be inserted, matching what I entered on page 1. I'm looking up DDE right now in Help, and it says what it is, but now how to use it (I'll keep digging). I'm not sure how to use a macro either. Would this work for a form I need to use over and over again, on different computers?

Yes, a macro would work. You could do it with merge, but it would be a bit of a pain unless you already have a data source. The macro is stored with the document you create it on, so it is (somewhat) portable. DDE would only apply if you are going to be merging. Don't worry about it if you have excluded that option. To create a macro, go to tools-macro-record, enter in a name, and click record. Go through the steps you want the macro to do using only the keyboard (probably something like select sentence, ctrl-c to copy, tab tab tab tab to next field, ctrl-v to paste, tab to next field, ctrl-v to paste again, etc. Then click the stop button. The macro will repeat your keystrokes any time it is run (which you can do either by assigning it to a keystroke such as ctrl-shift-j or by going to tools-macro-play.) If you need more help, post back. -SN

Here's one method. Type up the whole thing. Then at the VERY beginning of the document, Insert, Field, select Ask from under Mail Merge. Type the rest of the statement so it's something like "Ask RepeatName "name?"" RepeatName will be the field name and the prompt, name? You'll be asked for a Name? Type one and hit OK. Now switch to code view by pressing alt+f9. You should see {ask repeatname "name?"/mergefield}. Copy the whole thing and go to the first instance of repeatname and paste. Delete everything inside of the brakets so it says {repeatname}. Copy this and paste it wherever you need to. Switch back to normal view by pressing alt+f9. Now select all, ctrl+A, and then press f9 to update the fields. You'll again be asked "Name?" fill it in an it should appear everywhere you pasted {repeatname}. Hope it helps