Thanks, Daiya, for your great suggestion for inserting
IncludeText fields. This method is much faster than my stumbled-upon method,
and it doesn't require me to update a field immediately after creating it;
IncludeText fields inserted this way work properly from the get-go.

I still have two issues, though, and maybe you can help me out once more.

Issue 1: What's the best way to maintain the link between the included text
in a destination document and the source document? I've noticed that if I
move the source document to a different folder after I insert an IncludeText
field, the field can't find the source document; links aren't dynamically
maintained. Must the source document remain in its original location? If I
move it, must I also manually change the path in each affected field? In
short, how must I manage source and destination files to maintain links?

Issue 2: The paragraphs in each included text must have specific formats.
For example, if the source text consists of an introductory paragraph and
five paragraphs of numbered steps, then the included text in each destination
file must also consist of an introductory paragraph and five numbered
paragraphs, with each paragraph being indented and numbered correctly. I
assume this means that the source text needs to be fully formatted (with all
paragraph marks as well as text selected at the time I create a bookmark for
the source text), and that the same template that's applied to the
destination file needs to be applied to the source file as well. Is this
true? Or is there a simpler, cleaner way of doing this?

Thanks again,
Rob


"Daiya Mitchell" wrote:

Glad you fixed it.

You can also use Insert | File and check the box to "link", just by the way.
If you have bookmarks set up, they should appear at the bottom of the
dialog, to be selected for an IncludeText field that doesn't include the
whole file. (at least in MacWord 2004). That puts the path in
automatically.

I think I'm saving your messages as reminder notes for a possible how-to on
includetext fields, if you don't mind.

DM

On 4/19/05 4:05 PM, "robfer" wrote:

I fixed my own problem. The solution is to update a field immediately after
inserting it, by clicking in the field and then pressing F9. After I did this
to each of the fields that wasn't working before, they all worked. That is,
clicking in a field and pressing SHIFT+F9 toggled between the field codes and
the inserted text.

Of course, each time you change the source text or the path to it, you'll
need to update the destination fields again.

What's more, I discovered that the way you create an IncludeText field is
irrelevant, as long as the result is a proper field (with the correct syntax
and path). Whether I started a field by pressing CTRL+F9 (to create a blank
field with brackets) and then typing in the rest, or inserted an IncludeText
field from the Insert menu, or typed or copied the path between the field
brackets { }, the resulting field always worked, as long as I updated it
right after creating it.

Again, thanks. Now I really think this will work.

Rob