Insert/Object: Link to File - ToC doesnt work for me

[RjS, CISSP, CISA]

This feature seems like a perfect solution for what I need to do (work on
sub-documents independent of the master document), and I am sure that if I do
it right it will maintain my ToC, Page and paragraph numbering, and indexes
correctly. Problem is:
o- my ToC only contains entries from the master document. The subordinate
documents Header-1, 2, & 3, do not show up.
o- the page numbers from my subordinate documents are numbered 1-x, 2-x,
etc, where the prefix number is the document or chapter number, but they are
not being honored in the master document.

Can someone please point me to a paper or something that sheds light on how
to correctly deploy "Link to File"; using ToC and Page Numbering to their
best advantage?

BTW: I have spent well over an hour searching the help files but no matter
what search topic I choose they only link topics like Mail Merge. It seems
that Link to File is something that was overlooked for the Help topics. Just
a suggestion.

Thanks much

 

[RjS, CISSP, CISA]

Since posting the below problem I have also noticed that "Insert/Pbject: Link
to File" only brings in the first page of the sub-document. Also, although
numerous other posts seem to imply that Insert/Object should resolve to an
INCLUDEFILE field under the covers, my altF9 shows that using Insert/Object
is inserting a LINK field.

 

[Jay Freedman]

Since posting the below problem I have also noticed that "Insert/Pbject: Link
to File" only brings in the first page of the sub-document. Also, although
numerous other posts seem to imply that Insert/Object should resolve to an
INCLUDEFILE field under the covers, my altF9 shows that using Insert/Object
is inserting a LINK field.

Those "numerous other posts" are clearly wrong and should be disregarded. To get
an INCLUDETEXT field (not INCLUDEFILE, as there is no such thing), use the
Insert > File command instead of Insert > Object.

Word can show at most one page of any object inserted _as an object_ regardless
of its source, whether Word, Excel, PDF, or anything else. And the TOC field
won't see anything inside an object. The INCLUDETEXT field has none of those
drawbacks.

 

[RjS, CISSP, CISA]

Thanks much Jay

I see and understand the limits of the Insert/Object however I want to be
able to independently work on the component documents and then be able to
update the master document. Am I expecting too much from WORD or is there a
way to do this.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

IncludeText will do this. See http://daiya.mvps.org/includetext.htm

 

[Jay Freedman]

Word has a "Master Documents" feature, but it's seriously broken and has
been for a long time (see
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/WhyMasterDocsCorrupt.htm).

The IncludeText fields are different from Master Documents and should work
exactly as you described. After you've made changes in a component document,
update the IncludeText fields in the overall document to get the changes.
This updating is not automatic, but it's only two keystrokes (Ctrl+A, F9).

An alternative is to keep the component documents separate, and to make
other separate documents for just the table of contents and for the index.
In the latter documents, insert RD fields (it stands for 'referenced
document') that point to the component files. The TOC and Index fields will
pull their information from the documents listed in the RD fields. The
drawback here is that you have to manage the page numbering of the
components manually.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
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