Caption Figures in Word renumbers (Word 2003)

[Guest]

I'm working on a 95 page document. I have Figures and Cross references
inserted in the document. The figures work fine until I go to Insert Figure
58. When I go to insert what should be Figure 58, it renumbers the Figures
and it starts again at Figure 1. Is 57 the limit of Figures you can have?
I'm not sure what to look at in the document since I have not made major
changes.

Thanks,

 

[Guest]

I assume that you inserted the figure captions via Insert > Reference >
Caption.

The figure caption numbers are fields and a document can contain up to
32,000 fields according to the article "Operating parameter limitations and
specifications in Word" found at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/211489/en-us.

If there is a limit of the numbers, it must be high (I just made a test with
5000 figure captions, all numbered correctly).

Things you could check:

Are all fields updated (Ctrl+A, then F9) - if you copy a figure caption
field and paste it elsewhere, the old field number will remain until you
update the field.

Try to toggle field codes (Alt+F9). The code of every field should be
something like this:
{ SEQ Figure \* ARABIC }

Have a look at the field with the wrong number. Does it contain _exactly_
the same text string between the field braces as the preceding field (which
was correct)?

Note that all SEQ fields with the same identifier (in this case "Figure")
will show sequential numbers. If you change the identifier, you will start
another numbered list - the first item in the list will be numbered "1". If,
for example, the identifier in your caption 57 is “Figure†and the identifier
in caption 58 has been changed to “Figurâ€, the number in caption 58 will be
"1" (not a member of the same list anymore).

SEQ fields with the same identifier can also be reset to a specific number
by adding a switch, "\r", followed by the desired number. For example:
{ SEQ Figure \* ARABIC \r 3 } will reset the sequence number to 3.
If more fields of the type { SEQ Figure \* ARABIC } follow, they will be
numbered 4, 5, 6, etc.

For more details about the SEQ field, see the Word help on "Field codes: Seq
(Sequence) field".

Hope this helps.

--
Regards
Lene Fredborg
DocTools - Denmark
www.thedoctools.com
Document automation - add-ins, macros and templates for Microsoft Word

 

[Guest]

Lene,

Thanks for the feedback. I will check all the settings and let you know if
they worked.

Thanks,

 

[Guest]

Lene,

I looked over the document and this is the code behind the Field Code
starting from the first one: {SEQ Figure \*ARABIC \s 2} they all seemed to
follow that format even the one that starts re-numbering at 1 instead of
giving me a 58. The one difference I noticed was in the formatting of the
text. Some have a Caption Style and others have Caption + style. Each
Figure is inserted in a table with two rows. The top row has the Inline
Picture and the second row has the Figures.

I'll keep looking around to see what other differences I can find. Let me
know if you think of something else.


Thanks,

 

[Guest]

The \s 2 (in the field code) indicates that numbering is set to restart after
Heading 2 paragraphs. See if there is such a paragraph prior to the problem
caption. If you find one, delete it or apply a different style to it.

 

[Guest]

I think that the switch "\s 2" is the key to your problem.

Here is what Word help says about that switch:
Resets the sequence number at the heading level following the "s". For
example, { SEQ figure \s 2 } starts numbering at the Heading 2 style.

If you want all numbers in the document to be sequential without restarting
no matter what, then I suggest that you delete "\s 2" from all your SEQ
field. You can do that using Find and Replace while field codes are shown.
Search for e.g "\*ARABIC \s 2" and replace by "\*ARABIC".

Hope this solves the problem.

--
Regards
Lene Fredborg
DocTools - Denmark
www.thedoctools.com
Document automation - add-ins, macros and templates for Microsoft Word

 

[Guest]

I reset the Switch to just read {SEQ Figure \* ARABIC} but they keep going
back to the old switch {SEQ Figure \*ARABIC \s 2}. I even try saving the
file immediately after I update the fields but it does not work. I also
searched all 95 pages for anything with Heading 2 and there's only one title
at the begining of the document with Heading 2. Everything else has from
Heading 3 down.

It is so frustrating when things dont work the way they should.

 

[Guest]

When you delete the switch, it should remain deleted - something special is
going on.

I think the next thing to check is this:
Could it be that you have a macro - in your Normal.dot or in an add-in -
that is named "UpdateFields" - in that case that macro could be the culprit
(that macro will run each time you update fields).

--
Regards
Lene Fredborg
DocTools - Denmark
www.thedoctools.com
Document automation - add-ins, macros and templates for Microsoft Word

 

[Guest]

Lene,

I have no macros in the file and I'm wondering if this problem in this area
has to do with the hidden bookmarks. I deleted the field codes from 58-75. I
then started inserting the figures but I skip the table that gives me the
problem which should be marked 58. All the Figures excluding the Table that
gives me the problem were marked accordingly to the next number. This is
actually the full field code in the table that should be marked 58.
{STYLEREF 2 \s} - {SEQ Figure \* ARABIC}. I went to Insert Bookmark and I
noticed a lot of hidden bookmarks all of the them are a string of numbers:
Ex: _157840244, I don’t really understand how they were created in the
document and at what point they were inserted.

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I think I'll just keep working this
out in order to figure out what's wrong.

 

[Guest]

Hope you will be able to solve the problems.

A comment about the hidden bookmarks:
Word automatically creates hidden bookmarks in some situations, for example:

When you insert a cross-reference, Word creates a bookmark named “_Refâ€
followed by a unique number. The bookmark surrounds the referenced content.

When you insert a TOC, Word creates bookmarks named “_Toc†followed by a
unique number. A bookmark is added around each item to which the TOC refers.

When you click a hyperlink, Word creates a bookmark named “_Hlt†followed by
a unique number. The bookmark surrounds the text you clicked.

--
Regards
Lene Fredborg
DocTools - Denmark
www.thedoctools.com
Document automation - add-ins, macros and templates for Microsoft Word

 

[Stefan Blom]

If you are inserting captions via Insert | Reference | Caption, Word
reverts to the settings in the Caption Numbering dialog box. Clear the
"Include chapter numbering" option, and then you should get rid of the
\s switch.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


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