How do I tie Table Numbers to references in the text?

[Tim]

I have a document with a lot of tables. For each table, I have references
which I would like to tie to the table number. The problem I have now is that
if I add a new table then all the table numbers increment, but my references
stay the same. Is there a way to tie them together so that they
increment/decrement together?

For example:

The message shall be set according to Table 3. (This is my reference in the
text)
......

Table 3: Message Content (This is my actual table.)

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

What version of Word?

In Word 2003, insert your table numbers using Insert - Reference - Caption.

Then, for references to them, use Insert - Reference - Cross Reference.

This will ensure that table numbers and references to them remain linked.

 

[Tim]

Word 2002.

I tried the suggestion below and it does allow me to hyperlink the
cross-reference to the caption, but it doesn't allow me to do what I really
want. I want the Table number to automatically update if I insert a new
table. As it is now, whenever I add a new table, all the table captions
increment, but the cross-references stay the same. Everything gets out of
sync and I have to manually increment all the cross-referenced Table numbers.
This is no good. How can I link the numbers themselves so that the track
each other?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Cross-references never update automatically, but they will update if you
Ctrl+A, F9.