Automation of Headers containing variable information ...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sharon R.
  • Start date Start date
S

Sharon R.

Dear MVPs,

I need some serious help concerning the automation of
headers containing variable information in multi-part
documents:

I have developed a User Guide template; the template is
set up ready for content developers to add individual
content.

The template contains a number of sections (front cover,
copyright, acknowledgements, ToC, and finally the module
content); each section has first page headers and
differing odd/even page headers.

The template works beautifully for the majority of
content developers who have one single topic. However,
there are a few developers whose module content will
require a number of chapters. Each chapter will have a
different title that should be reflected in the odd
numbered pages, some of them will also want to include
the relevant chapter number.

I have done quite a bit of research and have seen mention
of Word being able to automate changes in headers using
Autotext, Fields. One description that I found sounds
useful but doesn't go far enough to help me ...
for an changeable information, format it exactly how it
should appear in the finished document. Select the entire
header including paragraph marks and save it as an
Autotext entry". <<<

I've scoured the Word Help but cannot find the
explanation I am looking for. Would one of you Word
wizards be kind enough to add any supplementary
information to the above and - more importantly - explain
exactly how I set up the Fields to recognize variable
information in the would-be new chapters.

If it helps this is an example of my odd/even page
headers:

Odd pages:
Small logo <TAB> Chapter # + Chapter Title <TAB> Page #
Even pages:
Page # <TAB> Guide Type <TAB> Small logo

Thank you so much in advance for your valuable guidance.

Sharon R.
 
Have a look at the Styleref field which can be used to repeat title
information in a header.
Essentially the field reproduces the content of the first (or optionally
last) paragraph containing the cross referenced style.
Thus if you create a paragraph style for the Chapter heading and use
Styleref in the header, that field will show the current chapter until it
changes.

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>>< ><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

Web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>>< ><<>
 
Thanks Graham, I'll have a look at that. Just one
clarification please, does this method mean that I don't
have to create an AutoText entry?

Sharon
 
Bonjour,

Dans son message, < Graham Mayor > écrivait :
In this message, < Graham Mayor > wrote:

|| Have a look at the Styleref field which can be used to repeat title
|| information in a header.
|| Essentially the field reproduces the content of the first (or optionally
|| last) paragraph containing the cross referenced style.
|| Thus if you create a paragraph style for the Chapter heading and use
|| Styleref in the header, that field will show the current chapter until it
|| changes.
||

Just as a follow-up... Am I mistaken in believing that if you have more than
a certain number of chapter (around 15 as a minimum) than the STYLEREF field
in the header slows down Word atrociously? I had a case like that. We had
about 20 chapters and Word kept repaginating and the repaginating itself was
very slow. Was it also because each chapter was comprised of 2 sections
(Each chapter had some kind of Front End matter, or about over 30 sections)?
I had to work in Normal view, but whenever I switched back to Page Layout, I
had time to go down to the snack bar and get a coffee before Word was done
repaginating (well almost!)! I had to switch to page layout because there
were numerous graphics as well that had to be placed precisely on the page.

Anyway, to make a long story short, as soon as I removed all the STYLEREF
field, the repaginating was super fast, like it should be. So I concluded
that I had hit some kind of internal limit.... Was is just me or is there
such a limit?

TIA
--
Salut!
_______________________________________
Jean-Guy Marcil - Word MVP
(e-mail address removed)
Word MVP site: http://www.word.mvps.org
 
Dear Graham,

You are the undisputed hero of my day! After all that
toil and anguish my problem was solved in a few minutes
and a few words! My headers now work like a dream :-)

It was interesting to see what Jean-Guy said. I look
forward to seeing your response. Hopefully the problems
he experienced were due to something else (here speaks
the eternal optimist ...)

Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH.

Sharon
 
Just as a follow-up... Am I mistaken in believing that if you have more than
a certain number of chapter (around 15 as a minimum) than the STYLEREF field
in the header slows down Word atrociously? I had a case like that. We had
about 20 chapters and Word kept repaginating and the repaginating itself was
very slow. Was it also because each chapter was comprised of 2 sections
(Each chapter had some kind of Front End matter, or about over 30 sections)?
I had to work in Normal view, but whenever I switched back to Page Layout, I
had time to go down to the snack bar and get a coffee before Word was done
repaginating (well almost!)! I had to switch to page layout because there
were numerous graphics as well that had to be placed precisely on the page.

Anyway, to make a long story short, as soon as I removed all the STYLEREF
field, the repaginating was super fast, like it should be. So I concluded
that I had hit some kind of internal limit.... Was is just me or is there
such a limit?

TIA
Click to expand...

Using STYLEREF fields in headers and footers has the potential to
drastically slow down pagination, although it apparently seldom
happens in practice. The point is that the paginator cannot tell what
fits on the page until it knows how much space the header and footer
take up; it cannot know how much space the header and footer take up
until it knows the size of the STYLEREF result; it cannot know the
size of the STYLEREF result until it knows what fits on the page
because an instance of the style being referenced may get pushed off
the page. It seems possible to create a loop here…

Bob S
 
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