Problems updating fields in cross-references when printing (Wd 200

[Guest]

Hello,

I’m hoping someone might have some advice here, because I’m bemused.

I’m working on Word 2000, delivered as part of the Office 2000 suite, on
WinXP SP2.

I’ve inserted two cross-references within a footnote using the standard
procedure, via the Insert menu, etc. I can get the cross-references to show
up correctly on the screen by updating the fields. When they are correct,
they look like this: “See p. 50, n. 141†(where “50†& “141†are the inserted
cross-references).

So, on the screen the cross-references appear correctly. I’m looking at them
on the screen, and I’m happy. Here’s the problem. As soon as I hit Print, the
correct cross-referenced page number -- i.e., “p. 50†-- suddenly gets
changed automatically and becomes, quite bizarrely, “p. 2â€, and the page
prints as such. That is to say, the page prints with the wrong
cross-referenced page number, although it appeared correctly on the screen a
fraction of a second beforehand. I’m now looking at the printed page, and I’m
unhappy.

To make things even more bemusing, the number in the footnote
cross-reference sitting beside it doesn’t change, and prints correctly (i.e.,
“n. 141â€).

I’ve tried a number of things, but none of them work. For example, in the
Tools/Options/Print tab, I have the option “Update fields before printingâ€
turned on. I tried turning it off, and updated the fields manually before
printing. But this didn’t work.

Am I having a bad day, is Microsoft playing some kind of a joke on us, or
has this been encountered before!?

Also, does it have to be this bad? Oh, help, please!

Thanks in advance.

Stephen

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

You can try clearing the "Update fields" check box on the Print tab of Tools
| Options (if you do this, make sure you've updated your TOC, index, etc.,
before printing). This may or may not help. If not, you could lock the field
(Ctrl+F11). You might also have better luck if you reverse the print order,
forcing Word to paginate the entire document before printing.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

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all may benefit.

 

[Guest]

Hello Ms. Barnhill,

Thank you for your quick response.

It seems very counter-intuitive, and it also seems as if there is a serious
bug here, but fiddling with the suggestions you made gave me some
interesting, and also some odd, results.

Just for the record, I’ll mention what ‘worked’, and what didn’t.

If I tell Word to update fields before printing, as I usually do (by
checking the option ‘Update fields before printing’ in the Tools/Options
menu), and tell Word to print in reverse order, I still have the same
problem. In this case, very bizarrely, Word will actually CHANGE the CORRECT
field value (the page number) to the WRONG one!

If I tell word NOT to update before printing (by unchecking the ‘Update
fields before printing’ box), and, at the same time, tell Word to print in
the reverse order, the page prints correctly. If the field value is wrong
before hitting print, Word WILL update it, even though I asked it NOT to! And
if the field/page number is correct, Word will leave it so.

It’s all very counter-intuitive, and it’s also inconvenient to print a very
long document in reverse order. Hence, I suspect there must be some kind of a
‘bug’(?)

Nevertheless, I do thank you for your helpful suggestions.

If only the people at Microsoft read these columns, they might end up with a
better product, which is easier, and more intuitive to use.

Thanks again,

Stephen

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

FWIW, even when you have "Update fields" disabled, Word updates { PAGE }
fields throughout the document, as well as any other fields in the header
and footer, I believe (see “WD97: Fields Updated When Document Repaginatedâ€
at http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=89953). This might or might not affect
PAGEREF fields and similar fields in TOCs and indexes. It sounds like a very
bizarre problem, and I would be inclined to treat the document as corrupt
(see http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/CorruptDoc.htm).

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.