Table of Contents says "this file could not be found"

[Anne]

Have set up TOC doc to gather headings from several other documents. It's
been working very well but suddenly when updating it, it says "this file
could not be found" and also "Error! cannot open file referenced on page 1".
All documents and TOC doc are in the same folder. This happened the other
day and the following day the TOC updated beautifully! Today it's refusing
to update again. I've been having trouble with headers in the other
documents (now apparently solved) and maybe have inadvertently done something
incorrectly. Would be over the moon if someone could help me!

 

[Stefan Blom]

Which version of Word are you using? Assuming that you are making use of RD
fields, did you specify full or relative paths to the files?

 

[Anne]

Hi Stefan,

I'm using Word 2007 and saving as compatible with Word 97-2003 (as the
organisation I'm working for only has Word 2003). Yes, am using RD fields.
Don't know the difference between full & relative paths, but after "RD" I
leave a space then type the name of the document then .doc, i.e. I don't put
C:\ etc in. This has worked well in the past, but not now for some
inexplicable reason!! Trust this is enough info to get to the bottom of the
problem!!

 

[Anne]

Hi Stefan,

I've just re-checked it, and though I don't literally type the path in the
RD field, when trying to update, in the window which comes up, I see it
automatically puts C:\ in front of my document name whilst telling me it
couldn't be found. Should it also automatically contain the foldername? If
it should, I don't know how to do this!!

 

[Peter Jamieson]

If you only have the file name in the rd field, e.g.

{ rd "some headings for a toc.doc" }

then Word will look in the "Active directory" for the file specified in
the field.

However, the active directory is not necessarily the directory where the
document containing the rd is located (this problem has historically
blighted the use of "relative" file names in Word). For example, if you
use Insert->Object->Text from file, and navigate to a different folder
to insert a chunk of text, the active directory will no longer be the
one that contains your document, and if for example you then try to
update a TOC, it will fail in much the way you describe.

So if for example you do Insert->Object->Text from file and insert an
empty file from the folder containing your document, you /may/ find that
it works again. Othwerwise, something else is wrong as well.

Alternatively, if you can live with absolute references, you need the
full pathname with backslashes doubled up, e.g.

You probably need to provide double up your backslashes, e.g.

{ rd "c:\\a\\some headings for a toc.doc" }

(This type of problem has historically afflicted many types of reference
within Word)

Peter Jamieson

http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

 

[Anne]

Hi Peter,

Interesting - I inserted the full path and did double dashes and then tried
to update and it then came up with "no table of contents entries found",
which is somewhat different from the original message. And yes, I have
indeed copied text from other files, but (I think!) from the same folder. I
will try your suggestion in the morning (it's a tad late here in Australia
and I've had enough of the computer today!!!) and will ensure I copy
something from the same folder and see if it all works. Many, many thanks
for your suggestion. I'll let you know how it goes!

Cheers
Anne

 

[Peter Jamieson]

Alternatively you may be able to use a nested field such as

{ RD "{ FILENAME \p }\\..\\some headings for a toc.doc" }

to get the right path. All the {} need to be the special field code
braces that you can enter using ctrl-F9

Peter Jamieson

http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

 

[Anne]

Hi Peter,

Your first suggestion WORKED!!! Absolutely delighted with the result.
Many, many thanks for all your help - it's much appreciated.