Table of Contents won't build

[Guest]

I have a document in Word '97. It's very similar to a document I've worked on
previously but was created by another user.

All the headings and subheadings work fine in text. IOW, the formatting is
correct and they autonumber sequentially as expected.

I try to build the TOC using Insert / Index and Tables. I get the "Do you
want to replace the selected table of contents" window. I choose 'yes' but
nothing happens.

I have checked Insert / Index and Tables / Options. The Styles checkbox is
checked. The styles selected for each level are checked. In addition, there
were originally two additional styles checked. Both Heading 1 and Title are
marked "1" and Heading 2 and Subtitle were marked "2." I tried several times
to remove the number from the Title and Subtitle boxes. I could delete them
but, like they re-appeared when I re-opened the Options window.

I have Reset the Options / Styles a couple of times without effect.

I deleted Subtitle from Styles altogether and I attempted to delete Title.
Subtitle now appears to be gone but Title remains. I assume it's a built-in
Style. And it continues to show up as "1" along with Heading 1 in the Options
/ Styles area for the Index and Tables window.

I tried to Find any text associated with Title by opening the Find window
and choosing Style from the Format dropdown with no text typed in the search
box. No joy.

Honestly, I'm not even sure that this is the reason the TOC won't build but
it's the only thing I can "see" that could be a problem.

I appreciate any suggestions about where else I might look or what else I
might try to fix this. My next thought is to try the copy-paste to new
document method.

Thanks, all!

 

[Charles Kenyon]

Manual page breaks before headings could be the cause of at least some of
your problem. I assume that the headings use the heading styles.
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide


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[Guest]

Charles,

Thanks for your reply. I'm not sure how manual page breaks before headings
could cause a problem. I assume by "manual page breaks" you're referring to
using the Insert / Break / Page option. If that's correct, I have used that
option before headings in other documents and had no problem with the TOC.

As a follow-on note -- I have turned on Formatting Marks / All on to see if
there are any hidden codes. On the page that the TOC would generate in, there
is a small gray rectangle. I've tried deleting it every way I know how. No
joy. If I delete the entire page, the gray rectangle moves to the next text
item. If I delete that item, the gray rectangle simply moves to the item
following that.

So, for example, if I delete the entire TOC page and the first text on the
following page is LIST OF FIGURES, the gray rectangle colors the entire line
LIST OF FIGURES. If I delete LIST OF FIGURES, the gray rectangle colors the
next line of text.

I -am- curious about this gray rectangle as it seems the likely culprit --
whatever it is. But my next step may be to copy-paste everything around it
into a new document.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Whenever you *replace* a TOC, you have to start from scratch. That's why you
are seeing the same settings you've already changed. In recent versions of
Word, there is an Edit Field command on the shortcut menu that allows you to
reopen the TOC dialog with your current settings. I don't believe this is
possible in Word 97, but you can edit the TOC field directly; see
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/TOCSwitches.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.

 

[Guest]

Hi, Suzanne,

Thanks for your help -- today and previously -- you, and several others in
this discussion group, are simply amazing!

I just got done copy-pasting the pages before and after the Table of
Contents and got everything working. You just beat me to the punch letting
this thread know that I'd fixed the problem with what is, admittedly, an
effective, but unenlightening, workaround for quite a few "fine messes" I've
gotten myself into.

I'm saving your response to go over later. It looks really useful.

And, yes, I'm still working on getting these Word '97 systems brought into
the 21st century.

Thanks again!

Blaise