Whenever I remove a figure (select it and its caption and hit delete), every
cross-reference to any table or figure in my document reverts to an error
message (not just cross-references to the deleted figure).

Is there a more proper way to remove figures that won't mess up the
cross-references?

Thank you,
Heidi

Hi ?B?SGVpZGk=?=,

Whenever I remove a figure (select it and its caption and hit delete), every
cross-reference to any table or figure in my document reverts to an error
message (not just cross-references to the deleted figure).

Is there a more proper way to remove figures that won't mess up the
cross-references?

What error messages, *exactly*? And in which version of Word?

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply
in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-)

Cindy,

Thanks for answering.

I'm using Word 2002-sp2
The error is: Error! Reference source not found.

Heidi



"Cindy M -WordMVP-" wrote:

Hi ?B?SGVpZGk=?=,

Whenever I remove a figure (select it and its caption and hit delete), every
cross-reference to any table or figure in my document reverts to an error
message (not just cross-references to the deleted figure).

Is there a more proper way to remove figures that won't mess up the
cross-references?

What error messages, *exactly*? And in which version of Word?

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply
in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-)

Hi ?B?SGVpZGk=?=,

I'm using Word 2002-sp2
The error is: Error! Reference source not found.

Hmm. This shouldn't be happening. Is this in just the one document? Or does it
happen in all documents?

If you hold down the CTRL key while starting Word (to go into Safe Mode), then
try, does it still happen?

This sounds as if all the bookmarks are being removed from the document. Before
deleting a caption, go to Insert/Bookmark. click the "Hidden bookmarks"
checkbox a couple of times, until you see a list of bookmarks that begin with
an underscore, like _ref followed by a long number.

Now delete the one figure with its caption, so that the problem occurs. Go back
to the same dialog box and see if these bookmarks are still there (don't forget
to click the checkbox a few times)?

Whenever I remove a figure (select it and its caption and hit delete), every
cross-reference to any table or figure in my document reverts to an error
message (not just cross-references to the deleted figure).

Is there a more proper way to remove figures that won't mess up the
cross-references?


Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply
in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-)

Cindy,

When I open in "safe mode" it doesn't do this. On my computer, the
disappearing cross-references problem only happens in this one file, however
my coworker says she has had it happen in some of her files too.

What is safe mode? Should we normally work in safe mode?

When I open Word normally (not safe mode), and delete a figure (and its
caption), the bookmarks for everything disappear (there are no hidden
bookmarks anymore).

With playing around with it, I discovered that if I delete the picture and
the caption separately, the problem doesn't happen. Only if I delete them
both at the same time....???

Thanks for your help - sorry Id idn't answer sooner, but was gone for the
holidays.

Cheers,
Heidi


"Cindy M -WordMVP-" wrote:

Hi ?B?SGVpZGk=?=,

I'm using Word 2002-sp2
The error is: Error! Reference source not found.

Hmm. This shouldn't be happening. Is this in just the one document? Or does it
happen in all documents?

If you hold down the CTRL key while starting Word (to go into Safe Mode), then
try, does it still happen?

This sounds as if all the bookmarks are being removed from the document. Before
deleting a caption, go to Insert/Bookmark. click the "Hidden bookmarks"
checkbox a couple of times, until you see a list of bookmarks that begin with
an underscore, like _ref followed by a long number.

Now delete the one figure with its caption, so that the problem occurs. Go back
to the same dialog box and see if these bookmarks are still there (don't forget
to click the checkbox a few times)?

Whenever I remove a figure (select it and its caption and hit delete), every
cross-reference to any table or figure in my document reverts to an error
message (not just cross-references to the deleted figure).

Is there a more proper way to remove figures that won't mess up the
cross-references?


Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply
in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-)

Hi ?B?SGVpZGk=?=,

When I open in "safe mode" it doesn't do this. On my computer, the
disappearing cross-references problem only happens in this one file, however
my coworker says she has had it happen in some of her files too.

What is safe mode? Should we normally work in safe mode?

Safe mode starts Word with the installation defaults; you should not have to
work in that mode (as you lose all customizations). If the problem occurs only
in the one file, then my first thought is that it's due to damage in the file
structures.

However, if it doesn't happen at all in Safe Mode, then one would suspect an
Addin (macro) might be playing a role.

Let's try something "in-between" and see what happens. Open the problem
document; create a new document. Copy everything EXCEPT the last paragraph mark
into the new document (this means you'll need to recreate margins, headers,
footers). Close the original document, then see if the new document remains
stable?

When I open Word normally (not safe mode), and delete a figure (and its
caption), the bookmarks for everything disappear (there are no hidden
bookmarks anymore).

With playing around with it, I discovered that if I delete the picture and
the caption separately, the problem doesn't happen. Only if I delete them
both at the same time....???


Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply
in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-)

Let's try something "in-between" and see what happens. Open the problem
document; create a new document. Copy everything EXCEPT the last paragraph mark
into the new document (this means you'll need to recreate margins, headers,
footers). Close the original document, then see if the new document remains
stable?

Yes, things in the new document seem to work properly. However, I am
working with subdocuments and master documents. The "fixed" subdocument
works fine, but I just tried opening hte master and expanding the
subdocuments. Then, the problem returns (and carries over to the WHOLE
document - including the other subdocs.!!!). Egads.

Is there a way, short of copying/pasting out each individual subdocument (we
have over 50) to fix this in all of them?

Thanks again for all your help.

Heidi

Hi ?B?SGVpZGk=?=,

Let's try something "in-between" and see what happens. Open the problem
document; create a new document. Copy everything EXCEPT the last paragraph mark
into the new document (this means you'll need to recreate margins, headers,
footers). Close the original document, then see if the new document remains
stable?

Yes, things in the new document seem to work properly. However, I am
working with subdocuments and master documents. The "fixed" subdocument
works fine, but I just tried opening hte master and expanding the
subdocuments. Then, the problem returns (and carries over to the WHOLE
document - including the other subdocs.!!!). Egads.

Egads, indeed. This is one of the reasons experienced Word people warn against using
the Master Document feature - it has a nasty tendency to corrupt the documents.

Is there a way, short of copying/pasting out each individual subdocument (we
have over 50) to fix this in all of them?

Probably not. You could try using Insert/File or saving to a different file format
(such as RTF), closing, then re-opening. But none of these are likely to be any
faster. Make sure you recover the MASTER document first, given that it seems to be
propogating a problem back to the sub-documents.

You should in any case, follow some standard rules when working with the Master
Document feature

1. Always make back-up copies of all the documents. Regularly.

2. NEVER edit sub-documents from within the Master

3. NEVER re-order the sub-documents by dragging within the master; always delete and
reinsert them

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply in
the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-)

Cindy,

Thank you for all your help. We'll work on uncorrupting our documents.

Since you recommend against using master/subdocs, what would be your
recommendation for producing large reports (300 pgs), written by multiple
people in multiple places, with consistent styles, page numbering, figure,
table and chapter numbers?

Thanks!

Heidi

"Cindy M -WordMVP-" wrote:

Hi ?B?SGVpZGk=?=,

Let's try something "in-between" and see what happens. Open the problem
document; create a new document. Copy everything EXCEPT the last paragraph mark
into the new document (this means you'll need to recreate margins, headers,
footers). Close the original document, then see if the new document remains
stable?

Yes, things in the new document seem to work properly. However, I am
working with subdocuments and master documents. The "fixed" subdocument
works fine, but I just tried opening hte master and expanding the
subdocuments. Then, the problem returns (and carries over to the WHOLE
document - including the other subdocs.!!!). Egads.

Egads, indeed. This is one of the reasons experienced Word people warn against using
the Master Document feature - it has a nasty tendency to corrupt the documents.

Is there a way, short of copying/pasting out each individual subdocument (we
have over 50) to fix this in all of them?

Probably not. You could try using Insert/File or saving to a different file format
(such as RTF), closing, then re-opening. But none of these are likely to be any
faster. Make sure you recover the MASTER document first, given that it seems to be
propogating a problem back to the sub-documents.

You should in any case, follow some standard rules when working with the Master
Document feature

1. Always make back-up copies of all the documents. Regularly.

2. NEVER edit sub-documents from within the Master

3. NEVER re-order the sub-documents by dragging within the master; always delete and
reinsert them

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply in
the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-)

Hi ?B?SGVpZGk=?=,

Thank you for all your help. We'll work on uncorrupting our documents.

Since you recommend against using master/subdocs, what would be your
recommendation for producing large reports (300 pgs), written by multiple
people in multiple places, with consistent styles, page numbering, figure,
table and chapter numbers?

Others may have approaches that differ somewhat, but

1. Start with a template and use it to generate all the individual documents.
(Or send it to the individual authors and instruct them to use it to create
their document.) Be sure to distribute it with the document, with
instructions on where to install it (Templates folder is usually best).

2. Make sure it contains the styles, headers/footers, numbering.

3. You might need to include a couple of macros (for caption labels, for
example, since these are stored in Normal.dot)

4. When the documents come back, if they don't need to round-trip again for
corrections or anything, just use Insert/File to bring them into another
document (created from the same template).

5. If they need to round-trip, use Insert/File with a link.

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or
reply in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-)

Thank you! I'll work on that for our next report. Not sure my authors are
computer-literate enough to install something in the templates folder, but
we'll try.

Thank you again for all your help.

Heidi

"Cindy M -WordMVP-" wrote:

Hi ?B?SGVpZGk=?=,

Thank you for all your help. We'll work on uncorrupting our documents.

Since you recommend against using master/subdocs, what would be your
recommendation for producing large reports (300 pgs), written by multiple
people in multiple places, with consistent styles, page numbering, figure,
table and chapter numbers?

Others may have approaches that differ somewhat, but

1. Start with a template and use it to generate all the individual documents.
(Or send it to the individual authors and instruct them to use it to create
their document.) Be sure to distribute it with the document, with
instructions on where to install it (Templates folder is usually best).

2. Make sure it contains the styles, headers/footers, numbering.

3. You might need to include a couple of macros (for caption labels, for
example, since these are stored in Normal.dot)

4. When the documents come back, if they don't need to round-trip again for
corrections or anything, just use Insert/File to bring them into another
document (created from the same template).

5. If they need to round-trip, use Insert/File with a link.

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or
reply in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-)