Dynamic reference of word doc in excel

[tims]

I am creating a master table in Excel that lists several word documents in
columns, then items down the rows. What I want to do is have Excel keep track
of the dynamic page number in the cell.

So I have a handbook for pilots and on page 6 it refers to flight planning.
In the excel spreadsheet, the column would be "pilot Handbook" and the row
would be "flight planning" and I want the cell to say "6" for page 6. It
would be nice to reference paragraph number too, but that seems a tad much.
If, after revision, the flight planning paragraph moves to page 8, I want
that to auto update in the spreadsheet.

I know it is possible to make a master index file, but the spreadsheet is
the requested format by the evaluating authority so I'd like to automate the
process if possible. Thank you,

Tim
Santa Rosa, CA

 

[dhstein]

Tim,

This is a tough one and since nobody responded yet, I'll give you my 2
cents as to the general procedure that would be needed. There is probably a
better way, but I'm not a "Word" expert. Word has some macro capabilities
which I've never used, but there is probably a way of allowing the users to
run a command in the word document to create the index and export it to a
text file. Then in Excel you can create a macro to read in that text file
and populate the appropriate cells in the correct locations. Excel macros
are easy to create with the "Record Macro" feature. However, your macro
might require some additional changes in which case you would need some
knowledge of VBA. That isn't too hard to learn either. The bottom line is
that this can be done but it requires a good understanding of the use of
macros in both Word and Excel. If you're up to the task, then you can give
it a shot. Otherwise, there are sites like Elance that would bid on the job