Subdocument Footer Page Numbering

[Wendy]

When inserting subdocuments into a master document, I want the page numbering
(which was inserted into a footer in the master document), to be continued on
from one document to the next, with no break in the page numbering.

There are several sections within the master document (8 subdocs).

On the master doc, the page numbering is reset to '1' on Page 4 because
there are a couple of 'index' and general rubbish pages at the start, and the
real stuff starts on Page 4 (the new Page 1).

Therefore, there is a header/footer for the original pages 1-3, and a second
header/footer for Pages 4 - onwards (new page 1 onwards).

Each time I add a new document however, I have it set to (hopefully) use the
previous header/footer settings, but that keeps resetting the page number
back to '1'. In some cases, where the document changes between portrait and
landscaping in the subdoc, I somehow manage to retain the header, but not the
footer information (I have no idea why, nothing I did specifically).

Anyone got a good idea how to get around this quandry on the page numbering,
and why the footers only manage to disappear?

TIA,

 

[macropod]

Hi Wendy,

By all accounts, Word's master document feature is very unreliable and is
prone to terminal, unrecoverable corruption (ie if it hasn't already, it
will). Sounds like your documents may be approaching that point. There are
other methods of getting the same or similar results, without the corruption
issues, using INCLUDETEXT, RD and other fields.

Cheers

 

[Charles Kenyon]

"Master Document" is a term of art in Word referring to a "feature" that not
only doesn't work but also destroys documents. The consensus (with the
limited exception of Steve Hudson) among those offering advice on these
newsgroups is that using the Master Document feature is a sure way to
destroy your document. It can destroy parts of your document that you are
not even working on! I think John McGhie said it succinctly when he said
that there are two kinds of Master Documents: Those that are corrupt and
those that will be corrupt soon. See <URL:
http://www.addbalance.com/word/masterdocuments.htm> for information on the
Master Document feature and workarounds. (This page also has a link to Steve
Hudson's chapter on how he gets Master Documents to work.) See <URL:
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/WhyMasterDocsCorrupt.htm> for more
information on what goes wrong, and <URL:
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/RecoverMasterDocs.htm> for ideas on
how to salvage what you can.

 

[Wendy]

Thank you so much for the information, it was very useful.

After a bit of investigation into the situation, I found that there was an
extra auto-inserted and generated section between the subdocuments which had
been added to the master doc. It was these 'auto-added sections' which were,
for all intents and purposes, part of the master doc page numbering and
headers/footers, and were causing the dramas.

Once I deleted these naughty sections in the Outline view, the headers and
footers fixed themselves up, and the page numbering as well, also.

In fact, I know now that if the header/footer has disappeared at the start
of a 'chapter' subdoc, then the answer is most likely that one of the
auto-added sections have appeared (for whatever reason), and to just delete
it!

In some respects, it is a bit disconcerting to hear that the masterdocs
feature is unstable, but unfortunately, that is the method I will need to use
for this site. I will also investigate the use of the IndexField and RD as
well for a few additional features I need.

Thanks again,