Field code display not updating.

[navoff]

I inherited some documents that had some cross referencing put in using a
combination of the set and seq field codes as well as simple cross references
to heading levels. I need to separate the information into separate files
(basically, create some additional chapters). I began by opening up the first
file and saving it out as a separate file name. Then I went into each version
of the file, and deleted the parts that were no longer going to be in that
chapter. Then I tried updating the cross references.

Each file is a chapter. At the top of each chapter file is a field code. For
example:

{ SET chap_1 "Welcome" \"MERGEFORMAT } (example from old chapter 1 file)
{ SET chap_2 "Hardware" \"MERGEFORMAT } (example from new chapter 2 file)


Then there is a listing (like a TOC but not autogenerated) of the sections
in the file. For example:

This chapter contains the following topics:
o Hardware Components (page { seq chapter \c }-{ PAGEREF_Ref123456789
})
o About Pocket PCs (page { seq chapter \c }-{ PAGEREF_Ref123456783 })

The page numbers are suppose to be a combination of the chapter number and
page in that chapter. The page number itself comes out fine as it's just a
simple cross reference. However, the chapter number won't update when I try
copying the information to a new file and change the chapter number. In the
example above, the file is suppose to be for Chapter 2. It was copied from
the file for Chapter 1 and all the chapter numbering still shows the number 1
instead of 2. In other words it reads:

This chapter contains the following topics:
o Hardware Components (page 1-1)
o About Pocket PCs (page 1-2)

Instead of

This chapter contains the following topics:
o Hardware Components (page 2-1)
o About Pocket PCs (page 2-2)

I've tried hitting F9 to update the chapter references and even tried the
cntrl-shift-F11 to unlock the field and then hit F9 to see if that was the
problem, but it still won't update. I've checked the other chapter files my
predecessor did and they all use the same construct. In each case, if I copy
the original file into a new filename and attempt to update the chapter
number in the set field, it doesn't udpate the cross reference to in in the
seq fields. I can only assume there's some other hidden element that controls
the numbering that hasn't been updated but I don't know where to look. Any
ideas? Unfortunately, the person that origianlly wrote these doesn't remember
what they did to set this up in the first place.

 

[Lene Fredborg]

I hope I understand your description correctly.

As far as I can see, the SET fields are not used, at least not in the
examples you show.

The SEQ fields are the ones to generate the chapter number in your examples.
In this case, "Chapter" is used as the identifier and all SEQ fields with
that identifier are related.

If you insert a series of SEQ fields with the same identifier and no
switches, the result will be sequential numbers, e.g.:

{ SEQ Chapter }
{ SEQ Chapter }
{ SEQ Chapter }

will result in:

1
2
3

If you add the \r switch to the _first_ SEQ field with a specific
identifier, you can force it to start with another number than one:

{ SEQ Chapter \r 2 }
{ SEQ Chapter }
{ SEQ Chapter }

will result in:

2
3
4

Now, you want all of the numbers to be the same. To obtain this, add the \c
switch to all SEQ fields _except_ the first – now fields 2 and forward will
repeat the preceding number:

{ SEQ Chapter \r 2 }
{ SEQ Chapter \c}
{ SEQ Chapter \c}

will result in:

2
2
2

and as far as I understand, that is what you want.

For further details, see Word's help on the SEQ field.

If they include only code like this:


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

 

[Lene Fredborg]

....if you need only one chapter number in each document, you could skip the
SEQ fields and just type the relevant chapter number.

(Note that the last line in my previous post was included by mistake -
should have been deleted).

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

 

[navoff]

Thanks for the explanation. I also made a discovery which helped explain my
dilemma. Turns out that in addition to turning on field codes, I needed to
click the show/hide paragraph icon. Turns out there were additional field
codes that weren't displaying initially, including one that used the \r
switch to set the chapter number.