Numbers of Tables & Figures

[Robin Clay]

Greetings !

If I should want the number of words in the document, then

Tools > Word count will give it

OR I can get it by File > Properties > Statistics

OR I can use Insert > Field > NumWords

OR Insert > Fields > DocProperty > Words

HOWEVER.... How can I insert into the document
the answers to

(a) Number of Tables, and

(b) Number of Figures


If I click on Insert > Reference > Caption,
then WORD offers me the appropriate Number
for Figure, Table or Equation, so somewhere
WORD is keeping a running tally of each.

So how can I access these?



RClay AT haswell DOT com

 

[Shauna Kelly]

Hi Robin

It's true that Word keeps track of a word count, and it knows what the
next Figure number ought be. But the processes involved are quite
different.

Figure and Table numbers are created from fields. It's often useful to
be able to see that they're fields (and not just ordinary text). You can
do this by doing Tools > Options. On the View tab, set Field Shading to
"Always". Word will show fields in grey shading. The shading won't
print, and you can come back and turn off the view if you don't like it.

The field code to create a Figure number is something like { SEQ Figure
\* Arabic }. The SEQ field takes a switch, \c, which repeats the last
number. So if you wanted to put a count of the number of figures at the
bottom of your document you could do { SEQ Figure \c \* Arabic },
because that would repeat the number of the closest preceding SEQ Figure
number. So you could type "There are { SEQ Figure \c \* Arabic } Figures
in this document."

However, if you want this to appear anywhere else in the document (ie
not after the last Figure), you'll have to do a three-step process.
First, put a field like { SEQ Figure \c \* Arabic } at the very bottom
of your document. Select it and use Format > Font > Hidden to hide it.
Second, select the field, choose Insert > Bookmark to create a bookmark
and give it a name (eg NumberOfFigures). Finally, in your document, use
Insert > Reference and create a cross-reference to the bookmark.

To toggle the display (or printing) of hidden text, choose Tools >
Options > View (or Print) and tick or un-tick Hidden Text.

Note that you can't type the {} braces by hand. You must use ctrl-F9 and
type between the braces that Word inserts for you. Once you've typed the
field, use F9 to update it, or ctrl-a F9 to update all fields in the
document. Alt-F9 toggles between display of the field results and
display of the field codes.

Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word