Understand Word operation results
Interpret success, failure, ambiguous-target, and stale-selection states.
In this article
- Succeeded
- The operation was applied; the document still needs inspection.
- Not found
- The expected target was not located in the authorized scope.
- Ambiguous target
- Several matches make application unsafe without more precision.
- Stale selection
- The selection changed since the plan was created.
- Unsupported or failed
- The host, format, structure, or execution does not allow the proposed action.
Practical guidance
Read each operation’s result, not only the message-level appearance. A plan can contain several operations and may leave a partial change when one fails. Compare the returned target and error with the document before retrying. Success confirms execution of the supported action, not factual correctness of the inserted text.
Advanced tips
Keep the failed operation distinct from those that succeeded when requesting help. Record the status and a minimal example of the target; repeating the entire plan can duplicate content already applied successfully.
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