[Gordon Bentley-Mix[_4_]]

I've not used INCLUDETEXT fields before and am trying to figure out how they
work as they appear to be a possible solution to a challenge I'm facing. I
have a source document called "source.doc" and a target document called
"target.doc". I've put in all the content I want into source.doc and
inserted a field into target.doc that looks like this:

{ INCLUDETEXT "C:\\Gordon\\Documents\\source.doc" \* MERGEFORMAT }

Works as expected; all of the content from source.doc appears in target.doc
formatted exactly as it is in source.doc - which is to say, not formatted at
all as it all uses Normal Style.

I then added some content to source.doc, saved the changes, closed the
document and updated the field in target.doc. No problems; the new content
appears in target.doc as expected.

Next I applied a bit of direct formatting (not Styles) to some of the
content in source.doc; e.g. changed the colour, made some bits bold or
italic, used a different font. Saved the changes, closed source.doc and
updated the field in target.doc. I can't be sure, but I think the first time
I updated the field, the formatting didn't come through, but after another
update or two it did. Still all good.

Finally, I applied various types of paragraph formatting. Specifically, I
applied different Styles to several paragraphs, including a numbered Style
(List Number); I changed the before and after spacing on a couple of
paragraphs; and I applied bullets to a couple of paragraphs. Saved, closed,
updated field...

Oops! The paragraph formatting doesn't come through. Actually, that's not
quite true. The numbering from the List Number Style is there but nothing
else.

Hmm... A few more little modifications to source.doc, update the field a few
more times, edit the field... Presto! Editing the field appears to have done
the trick. But why didn't just updating field work? It happily brought
through the new content and the direct font-related formatting, but not any
of the paragraph formatting and especially not the Styles. Curiouser and
curiouser...

So does anybody have any suggestions on how to make sure that the latest
content from the source document used with an INCLUDETEXT field comes
through every time? The solution I'm working on must be as reliable as
possible. The "source document" is the standard terms and conditions used in
a variety of legal documents, and it's imperative that any changes made to
the source are reflected in the target documents. Paragraph formatting -
including Styles and especially numbered Styles (used for numbering the
clauses, which are referenced elsewhere) - is critical to the integrity of
the document. INCLUDETEXT fields appear to offer a viable solution, but if
there's no easy way to ensure that paragraph formatting changes come through
I'll have to look at something else. (And I suspect that "something else"
will involve AutoText from a common "repository", and unfortunately,
infrastructure issues make this approach somewhat more difficult. ~sigh~)

BTW: This is Word 2003 running under Vista, but the actual solution will be
running under WinXP if that makes any difference.
--
Cheers!

Gordon Bentley-Mix