Go to Equation doesn't work in Word 2007?

[Ted M H]

I've inserted several equations from the Built-in equations gallery into a
multipage document. I want to scroll through the equations sequentially. I
do this all the time with graphics and tables, using either the select browse
object feature or the Go To dialog box.

Apparently there is no equation option using select browse object, so I'm
trying to move through the equations using the Go To dialog box. The Go To
dialog box simply does nothing when I click Next with Equation selected in
the Go To What list. It's as if there were no equations in the document.

In the same document I can use Go To fine with tables and graphics.

Is it something in the way I've set up my equations, or what?

Many thanks.

 

[Bob Mathews]

You're doing everything right; there's just not an "equation browse"
feature built in to Word. MathType has this feature though, and it
works in Word 2007 to browse ALL equations -- those created with
MathType, those created with "Microsoft Equation 3.0" (which is
included in Word 2007 via Insert > Object), and those created with the
OMML equation editor (i.e., the one you used when you inserted
equations from the Gallery).

--
Bob Mathews
Director of Training
Design Science, Inc.
bobm at dessci.com
http://www.dessci.com/free.asp?free=news
FREE fully-functional 30-day evaluation of MathType
MathType, WebEQ, MathPlayer, MathFlow, Equation Editor

 

[Ted M H]

Hi Bob and thanks for the quick reply.

I know there is no equation option in select browse object, but there IS an
equation option in the Go To dialog box. What I don't get is why Word would
offer Equation as one of the options in the Go To dialog box if there is no
such functionality in Word. To show the option there without offering the
corresponding functionality would serve only to confuse and annoy Word users,
wouldn't it? Not even Microsoft would do that, would they?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I would guess that goes to the equation *caption* provided you captioned it
with Insert | Reference | Caption. In this case, Word is looking for a { SEQ
Equation } field.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Ted M H]

Hi Suzanne,

I've read and benefitted from many of your posts here over the years.
Thanks so much for your help. And thanks for replying to this question.

I thought too that Go To might be looking for a caption, but even with a
caption the equations seem not to exist for the Go To dialog box. Also, you
don't need a caption to use Go To to go to a graphic or a table--it doesn't
seem sensible that you'd need a caption on an equation in order to find it
using Go To.

After I added captions and tested the Go To Equation feature I then tried
using Go To Field. The Go To worked just fine--it went right to the next
field, which in my testing happened to be the caption numbers in the captions
I entered for the equations. So I can Go To a caption as a Field, but that
doesn't help me Go To my equations--several of which do not have captions
(and I don't want to give them captions).

I've tried the test on two separate computers running Word 2007 and I get
the same result -- no way to Go To equations. I've got to think there's a
bug or something going on here.

Any additional thoughts?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Well, it appears clear to me that, by design, Go To is looking for the
equation caption. You can argue that it ought to be able to find the
equation object itself, but that is not the way the product is currently
designed. You can certainly post this as a Suggestion for Microsoft.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Ted M H]

Hi Suzanne,

Very interesting. I think I'd agree with you but for one thing: Go To,
when used with Equation selected in the Go To what list, does not Go To the
equation, and it does not go to the equation's caption. It goes nowhere at
all. Why would it be designed to go nowhere?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Actually, it doesn't work that way for me. If I insert an equation object
(even a blank one) using the Equation Editor and then use GoTo and select
Equation, entering the number 1, Word does go to the equation. This is true
even if I put the equation in a table. If I put it in a text box, however,
Word can't find it with GoTo, which is what I would expect.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Ted M H]

How about if you insert an equation from the equation gallery built-in
equations? Maybe the problem is with the built in equations. Or maybe it's
with the content controls that Word 2007 puts equations in.
Are you using Word 2007?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I tried this in Word 2003, which does not have the new equation editor. I
assume that the GoTo command does not recognize the new equation objects,
only the ones created with Microsoft Equation 3.0. I had sort of lost track
of the fact that it was Word 2007 that was under discussion.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org