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#1
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Cross reference not updating
Hi
I'm having a little trouble with cross references. I have put a 'heading text' cross reference to a heading (set up with the Heading 1 style) in my document. However, if I change the heading (for example, from 'Communication' to 'Communication Styles'), the cross reference does not update (even with selecting F9). The only time it will update is if I change the spelling within the word (eg. from 'Communication' to 'Communicat**n')...not that I'd ever actually want to do this! Is this because Cross References are limited or am I doing something wrong?? Thanks for your help Sally |
#2
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Cross reference not updating
from your description, you probably need a styleref field to reproduce the
content of Heading 1 rather than a Ref field (ALT+F9 will toggle the display to the field construction). REF fields do not update automatically. It is easy to overwrite bookmarks if you don't display them in your document (Tools Options view) It seems likely that you are adding your extra information *outside* the bookmark and therefore the REF field doesn't see it. -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org Sally Poyzer wrote: Hi I'm having a little trouble with cross references. I have put a 'heading text' cross reference to a heading (set up with the Heading 1 style) in my document. However, if I change the heading (for example, from 'Communication' to 'Communication Styles'), the cross reference does not update (even with selecting F9). The only time it will update is if I change the spelling within the word (eg. from 'Communication' to 'Communicat**n')...not that I'd ever actually want to do this! Is this because Cross References are limited or am I doing something wrong?? Thanks for your help Sally |
#3
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Cross reference not updating
It's an inherent problem with the way Word handles cross-references. When
you create the cross-reference, Word bookmarks the destination (in this case, your 'Communication' heading). You can see the bookmark if you use Insert Bookmarks and check the 'Hidden bookmarks' checkbox. It will be an underscore and a random number. If you press Alt-F9 to display field codes, you'll see the name used within the cross-reference field. The bookmark refers to a range of document defined by a start and end point. The end-point doesn't include the paragraph mark at the end of the heading, because you don't want a pragraph break as part of the reference. If you make changes *within* that range, they are picked up correctly in the reference. But if you add text to the end of the heading, it falls outside. Word has no way to know that the bookmark should be extended (in some cases you wouldn't want that). For simple purposes, the quickest workaround is to type within the existing heading, then delete any spurious characters -- eg, insert 'n Styles' before the final 'n', then delete the 'n'. A more dramatic consequence of this issue is if you press Enter at the start of the heading (to insert a new heading and text) - add the heading and several pages of content: now your cross-reference includes everything from the start of the first heading to the end of the second. "Sally Poyzer" wrote in message ... Hi I'm having a little trouble with cross references. I have put a 'heading text' cross reference to a heading (set up with the Heading 1 style) in my document. However, if I change the heading (for example, from 'Communication' to 'Communication Styles'), the cross reference does not update (even with selecting F9). The only time it will update is if I change the spelling within the word (eg. from 'Communication' to 'Communicat**n')...not that I'd ever actually want to do this! Is this because Cross References are limited or am I doing something wrong?? Thanks for your help Sally |
#4
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Cross reference not updating
Thanks for such a quick response, Graham.
Thank you for clarifying that REF fields do not update automatically - at least I know I wasn't doing anything wrong. Unfortunately, I don't think a StyleRef field will work in my situation, but I learnt a lot reading the Help menu about them!! However, Jezebel's work around will suit my situation, so I now have what I need. Thank you again for your help. Sally "Graham Mayor" wrote: from your description, you probably need a styleref field to reproduce the content of Heading 1 rather than a Ref field (ALT+F9 will toggle the display to the field construction). REF fields do not update automatically. It is easy to overwrite bookmarks if you don't display them in your document (Tools Options view) It seems likely that you are adding your extra information *outside* the bookmark and therefore the REF field doesn't see it. -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org Sally Poyzer wrote: Hi I'm having a little trouble with cross references. I have put a 'heading text' cross reference to a heading (set up with the Heading 1 style) in my document. However, if I change the heading (for example, from 'Communication' to 'Communication Styles'), the cross reference does not update (even with selecting F9). The only time it will update is if I change the spelling within the word (eg. from 'Communication' to 'Communicat**n')...not that I'd ever actually want to do this! Is this because Cross References are limited or am I doing something wrong?? Thanks for your help Sally |
#5
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Cross reference not updating
Hi Jezebel
Thanks so much for your speedy response. Your instructions were very clear and now I understand much better how cross references work. I think your suggestion to type within the heading is the best, but it's a bit annoying to have to remember to do this each time ... the alternative is to always check the cross references, which kinda defeats the purpose of them being automated. I suppose the page number is still good, though! I needed to know because in my training session next week I'm talking about cross references and last time someone asked me as to whether the CR would automatically update and I assumed it would. When I went to demonstrate, it didn't work, so I didn't want to look silly again! Really good point about pressing enter and typing more text - I've had that happen to me before and never had a chance to figure out why. Thank you again for a great answer. Sally "Jezebel" wrote: It's an inherent problem with the way Word handles cross-references. When you create the cross-reference, Word bookmarks the destination (in this case, your 'Communication' heading). You can see the bookmark if you use Insert Bookmarks and check the 'Hidden bookmarks' checkbox. It will be an underscore and a random number. If you press Alt-F9 to display field codes, you'll see the name used within the cross-reference field. The bookmark refers to a range of document defined by a start and end point. The end-point doesn't include the paragraph mark at the end of the heading, because you don't want a pragraph break as part of the reference. If you make changes *within* that range, they are picked up correctly in the reference. But if you add text to the end of the heading, it falls outside. Word has no way to know that the bookmark should be extended (in some cases you wouldn't want that). For simple purposes, the quickest workaround is to type within the existing heading, then delete any spurious characters -- eg, insert 'n Styles' before the final 'n', then delete the 'n'. A more dramatic consequence of this issue is if you press Enter at the start of the heading (to insert a new heading and text) - add the heading and several pages of content: now your cross-reference includes everything from the start of the first heading to the end of the second. "Sally Poyzer" wrote in message ... Hi I'm having a little trouble with cross references. I have put a 'heading text' cross reference to a heading (set up with the Heading 1 style) in my document. However, if I change the heading (for example, from 'Communication' to 'Communication Styles'), the cross reference does not update (even with selecting F9). The only time it will update is if I change the spelling within the word (eg. from 'Communication' to 'Communicat**n')...not that I'd ever actually want to do this! Is this because Cross References are limited or am I doing something wrong?? Thanks for your help Sally |
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