It's all about cross-references...

[Thommy]

Dear Microsoft ;-),

I have a several-hundred pages document (assembled by "copy-pasting" more
than ten individual documents) and need to implement extensive
cross-referencing in it.

While I'm pretty familiar with the "Insert > Reference > Cross-reference"
command (as well as with the notion of numbered headings and captions), I
sometimes encounter problems which I am not able to fix:

1) Sometimes when I want to introduce a cross-reference to an item with a
correct caption (such as "Listing 1", where "listing" is the label and "1"
the number) and choose to insert "label and number only" simply a "0" will
show, with no hyperlink attached to it. Same problem (again only sometimes)
for cross-references to section headings ("insert heading number"). How
come???
What I currently try to do in order to circumvent this problem is to insert
the entire caption/heading text and to delete what I do not need in the text
of the field result...

2) A second problem I frequently encounter is that word changes/updates
cross-reference fields "on its own". For example, it will reinsert the entire
caption text, even if I edited the text before (see above). Or it will loose
formatting (font color) I added to the field. Or instead of the caption it
will read "Error! Reference source not found."
All of this often happens after operations like turning on/off mark-up or
printing. Is there any means to "force" Word to conserve a cross-reference
the way I edited it? Could it be some "auto-update" function in Tools >
Options?

3) This could help to resolve the problem described under point 2, but I
would need this "trick" anyway, because sometimes I have to cross-reference
to items which are neither headings nor captions... What I would like to have
is something like the "TC field" used to customize TOCs: An invisible field
which will be inserted before the item to be cross-referenced and that will
allow to see this item in the listing(s) of the "Insert cross-reference"
window. Is this possible?
In addition: Is there a field switch with which you can define the text (and
its formatting) that will show as the field result of the cross-reference you
inserted?

Thanks a lot in advance & have a nice weekend,
Thommy

 

[Thommy]

Hello again,

Murphy's law has been kind to me this time: I could figure out some of my
problems myself:

ad 1) The problem was that e.g. the heading number was gone (i.e. not in a
field anymore - although I was sure that it was still there...). Once I
re-introduced a section number cross-referencing was fine

ad 2) When I added the font colour using the toolbar connected to our
client's template it would turn to black/automatic at every update! I have
done the same editing using Word's "Formatting" toolbar, et voilà...
However, I still do not understand why/when Word updates fields without
being explicitely asked to do so. If there's a mean of controlling this, I
would be glad to know!

ad 3) This is where I would still need your help: how to mark whatever
items, paragraphs, places... for cross-referencing; and how to "customize"
the cross-reference field result.

Again thanks in advance for your kind help,
Thommy

 

[Thommy]

Hello again & again (This is turning into a monologue...)

Maybe I have figured out a way to resolve the first problem described in
question 3:
-insert bookmark (in fact, not necessarily at the final destination...)
-insert SET field (at the final destination; it will move the bookmark with
it anyway...) in order to define a bookmark text
-crossreference to the bookmark, using the "bookmark text"

I still don't find this very "handy" - Any better proposition?

And: @ Microsoft
- see/hide field codes with ALt+F9 (with no possibility to do this for one
selected field only, except via the right-click menu...)
- see/hide TC fields via the "Show/Hide" button in the standard toolbar
- see/hide bookmarks vie Tools > options > View menu

Do you really think this is either logic or convenient for the user???

Have a nice weekend everyone,
Thommy

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Shift+F9 will toggle a selected field.