Fields updating inconsistently in Word 2003

[Benjamin Chambers]

I've got cross-references throughout a 60pp. document. Though a couple are
linked to bookmarks, the majority are linked to Headings. However, when I
update the fields (and/or TOC), not all of the fields update properly --
which defeats the purpose! I'd hate to have to proof the whole document
every time I made minor changes to it.

I've tried looking at the field codes to see if I can figure out what's
going on, but the mess of numbers that follow a page reference aren't
illuminating.

Any clue about how to (a) make *all* of these fields update properly; or (b)
easily figure out which ones aren't working?

Much appreciate any advice.

 

[DeanH]

Depending on the sequence of events, such as inserting new captions,
Headings, cross-references, bookmarks, etc. Word will not necessarily update
these cross-references perfectly first time. If you are seeing some
cross-references that you know should be numbered differently, this is quiet
normal. Cross-references are not refreshed automatically.

Select the whole document (Ctrl+A) F9 (to refresh all captions,
cross-references, TOC, List of Figures, etc.), do this twice. Word refreshes
the document from front to back, so the TOC will pick up some unrefreshed
numbers from the document before they are refreshed, the second refresh will
sort this out and all should be well.

If this does not sort our you problem, repost with more information of what
exactly you are seeing and what you are doing, ie what does "mess of numbers
that follow a page reference" mean and what are you seeing?
When you do the cross-reference what "Insert reference to:" are you using
and how many? When you create the bookmark, what have you selected? When
cross-referencing the bookmarks, the Bookmark Text will return exactly what
you have included in the Bookmark.

Hope this helps
DeanH

 

[Benjamin Chambers]

Hi Dean - thanks for getting back to me. I tried doing the select-all and
hitting F9 twice, but that didn't do the trick.

I've inserted 59 cross-references, and all but about three of them are to
headings. Whether I'm xfing to headings or bookmarks, though, I've set the
option to display a page number, not text.

What I meant by "mess of numbers" is that when I toggle field codes to see
if I can figure out why a particular xref is not updating, I don't understand
the code displayed. For example, when I toggle field codes, "See p. 67 for a
job description." reads "See p. {PAGEREF_Ref191455089 \h}." I'd hoped that
the code would tell me something about why any specific reference wasn't
updating.

Is this clearer?

-Benjamin

 

[DeanH]

The "mess of numbers" is an automatically created internal location reference
by Word, usually to Heading/Style, ignore these.
Can you describe the problem you are still getting?
You want "p. 67" and you are getting?
Have you tried deleting and recreating the cross-reference to see if you get
a better result?
Exactly what do you want to see as the result and exactly how are you
creating the reference?