Automatic updating of cross references when printing
paulo...@officeformac.com
I want to print my word document without updating the cross references fields. I did not mark the option "Update fields" in the Preferences Menu --> Print. However, every time I want to print the document, all of the fields are updated automatically. If I mark or do not mark the option of update fields when printing, they are always updated, however, I don't want this.
Why is this happening? Is this a bug of word?
The problem is that the caption of the figures are size 9. When I create the cross reference, its size is also 9. However, my text body is size 10. So I change the size of the cross reference to 10. But, when I print the document, the cross reference field updates automatically and changes to 9.
Thanks in advance and sorry for my poor English!
John McGhie
cross-reference has nothing to do with the formatting of the text inside it.
Your captions are formatted with a style named "Caption". You can set that
to any size you like.
When you insert a cross reference to that caption, the formatting of the
text of the cross-reference is determined by the style in use where you
inserted the cross reference. Let's assume you have used the style designed
for the purpose: Body Text. If you insert a cross-reference in a Body Text
paragraph, the text of the cross reference will get the formatting of the
Body Text style.
So if your cross-references are getting the wrong format, you simply need to
correct the style you are using to format them.
Please do not allow Word's Help to lead you astray by pretending that you
should apply direct formatting to text. In modern versions of Word, ALL
formatting is a style, whether you know the name of it or not. Get your
styles correctly set up, and your formatting will always work...
Cheers
On 3/03/10 3:37 AM, in article 59bb3...@webcrossing.JaKIaxP2ac0,
"paulo...@officeformac.com" <paulo...@officeformac.com> wrote:
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paulo...@officeformac.com
Thank you for the answer! Despite it is complete, it did not solve my problem. Maybe my microsoft word works different from yours.
My caption is Times, size 9, bold. My body text is Times, size 10, no bold. When I create the cross reference, it is inserted with Times, size 9, no bold. Thus, it takes some attributes of the style of the caption and some of the style of the text body!
I made what you said and created a style called "normal ref" and defined it as Times, size 10, no bold and changed the style of the cross reference to this new style. But guess what happened when I updated the field... it changed to Times, size 9, no bold!
I don't know what to do. I already tried to do everything. If at least the word didn't update the fields when I try to print the document...
So, I see two problems in microsoft word 2008:
1) It always updates the fields when I print the document, even when this option is not marked in the "Preferences" menu.
2) Even if I change the style of the cross reference in the text body, when I update this field, it changes its configuration to the original one (when it was created).
John, thank you very much for your answer. This is taking my time. I'm trying to write a paper and I'm also writing a PhD thesis and I used to use all this kind of feature of the word, but now, it is not working as expected.
Regards.
John McGhie
I am using Word 2008, same as you, and it doesn't do that :-)
Can you please right-click the field and tell me what field codes you have
in there?
I am wondering if you have inadvertently applied formatting to the field.
You can remove the formatting from a field by selecting the text and hitting
Control + SpaceBar.
If you are using a REF field, or simply a Bookmark name, it should not bring
any formatting in with it: the formatting that is occurring is local to the
position where the result appears.
Hope this helps
On 3/03/10 10:54 AM, in article 59bb3...@webcrossing.JaKIaxP2ac0,
"paulo...@officeformac.com" <paulo...@officeformac.com> wrote:
This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
macropod
Probably the surest way of retaining the desired formatting is to add a Charformat switch to the cross-reference field. To do this:
1. Select the cross-reference and press Shift-F9. You should see something like {REF _Ref255389134 \h} or {REF _Ref255389134 \h \*
Mergeformat}
2. Format the 'REF' (or at least the 'R') with the attributes you want
3. Change the fieldcode to {REF _Ref255389134 \h \* Charformat}
4. Press F9 to update the field.
Note: the '\h' may or may not be present, depending on whether you chose to insert the cross0reference as a hyperlink. You don't
need to add it if it isn't there and you don't want the hyperlinking abilities.
--
Cheers
macropod
[Microsoft MVP - Word]
<paulo...@officeformac.com> wrote in message news:59bb3...@webcrossing.JaKIaxP2ac0...
paulo...@officeformac.com
The field code of my cross-reference is "{REF _Ref129164778 \h }".
John, I did what you said, however when I update the field, it still changes its size to 9!
I did what "macropod" said and finally, it worked. But, do I need to do this in every cross-reference I insert in the document?? Maybe the work that I'd have to do this does not be worth.
Anyway, thank you very much both of you!
Regards,
Paulo
macropod
To modify all the fields, press Option-F9 to expose the field code, then simply:
. copy '\* Charformat' and paste it into each of them; and
. format the 'REF' (or at least the 'R') with the attributes you want
If all the REF fields require the same format, a wildcard Find/Replace operation can do this for you:
Find = REF _Ref[0-9]{9} \\h
Replace = ^& ^92^42 Charformat
and, for the replacement text, choose the required format. Although the Find/Replace operation will format the whole field, which
really isn't necessary, you'll get the results you're after.
--
Cheers
macropod
[Microsoft MVP - Word]
<paulo...@officeformac.com> wrote in message news:59bb3...@webcrossing.JaKIaxP2ac0...
John McGhie
Macropod is a very clever (if occasionally irascible...) person of my
vintage (prehistoric!) who has provided you with a way to set a local
override. It's a clever technique we use for extreme emergencies. Because
"Yes", you do have to do it to every field.
My suggestion was to fix the styles so the problem doesn't happen :-)
BTW: This all assumes that you are working in .docx format. If you are in
.doc format, the down-conversion in Word 2008 is not perfect, and there's
not a lot we can do about that.
What follows is a little complex. Given that you are writing a PhD thesis,
I am sure we can assume that complexity will not defeat you :-)
Now that you have told me that you have the "\h" switch in the field, I can
tell you that there are potentially THREE styles involved in formatting the
content of that reference:
1) The paragraph style applied to the paragraph that the cross-reference
appears in.
2) The Character style that may be applied over the top of the paragraph
style to some part of the paragraph.
3) The HYPERLINK style automatically applied only to the result of the
field by Word. There are two of these: "Hyperlink" and "Followed
Hyperlink".
In Word 2008, the Hyperlink style will be there only if you have inserted
the reference as a "Hyperlink" by using "Command + k". Otherwise, Word
creates a very strange object that it interprets as a hidden hyperlink and
does not add the style.
4) It is also possible (in your case, "likely" � this is probably the cause
of your problem!) that you have applied direct formatting over the top of
the styles (unless you are alert to the problems caused by direct formatting
and know how to avoid it, it's actually rather difficult to avoid this).
The most likely source of your problem is that your paragraph style (I don't
know which one you're using, probably "Normal"...) is set to 9 points, but
you have applied a Direct Formatting override over the top set to 10 pts.
When you insert the field, the direct formatting is ignored (because the
field is generated text) so your text will revert to the size of the
underlying style. You need to correct the style so the generated text is
the size you want.
The size of the text in the Caption or the Caption style has nothing to do
with this. Word does not copy the formatting when it creates a cross
reference, it transfers ONLY the text characters.
However, when I suggested that you select the paragraph and hit Control +
Space Bar, (and if you did that...) that would remove the direct formatting
from the puzzle. It's nearly impossible to solve this problem unless you
remove the direct formatting, because when you insert the field, the text of
the field gets the formatting of the style. Any direct formatting is
ignored, unless you use Macropod's work-around on every field. (There's a
quick way: I will tell you about it in a minute.)
So now, you need to closely examine your document to discover which styles
are involved, and what their "Font Size" is set to. Open the Tool Box
Formatting Palette, drop down the "Styles" segment, and choose "All Styles"
from the "List" window at the bottom, then observe the "Current style of
selected text" window.
Click in the document so you have just an insertion point, then use the
cursor keys to move the insertion point character-by-character into the
field result. As you do this, the "Current style of selected text" window
will change to show you the style in use.
You then need to hover in the "Current style of selected text" window and
watch to the right of the style name. The icon changes to a downwards
disclosure triangle. Drop down the list that reveals and choose "Modify
style".
In the dialog that appears, under the Formatting line, you see two windows:
one gives you the name of the font in use, the other shows the size. If you
are looking at the Hyperlink style, both should be blank. If you are
looking at the Normal, or Body Text styles, both should have values. Blank
means "This value is specified in the underlying paragraph style".
To correct the behaviour in your document, you MUST ensure that the styles
applied to the text containing the cross reference field are correct.
This can be a very difficult task if you have Tracked Changes, Keep Track of
Formatting, or Citations, appearing in the paragraph (things get so complex
that at some point, you may have to simply accept the tracked changes so you
can see what is really happening).
Quick Way
Make a copy of the document before you do this: if you have been using lots
of direct formatting, this method may not be practical for you...
1) Select all of the text, by clicking in the document then hitting Command
+ a
2) Hit Control + Space Bar to remove the direct Character formatting.
3) Hit Command + Option + q to remove the direct Paragraph formatting.
Your document is now formatted entirely by the styles that you have applied
to the text, and you are now back in control! Of course, if you have been
using lots of direct formatting, this will remove that formatting from the
entire document, which may not be what you wanted :-)
In which case, go back to the original document, and simply adjust your
Normal style or whatever it is that you have been using for the body text to
match the direct formatting you have applied. When you do this, Word will
still ignore the direct formatting when you insert the cross-reference, but
the human being will not see the change because the result will be he same.
In future, format your document only with styles, so you only ever have to
set each kind of formatting once. You can re-use style formatting anywhere
you like in the document, it will always be correct. And if you need to
change it, you only have to change it in one place and you know the whole
document will instantly updated and always remain exactly what you set. If
you can learn style formatting now, by the time you get out into the
workforce you will save about two hours every working day: it's like getting
an extra lifetime to do useful work that will enhance your promotion
prospects.
Trust me, while a badly-formatted document is "career negative", taking a
week to produce a well-formatted one is "career terminal" :-)
Cheers
On 4/03/10 1:02 AM, in article 59bb3...@webcrossing.JaKIaxP2ac0,
"paulo...@officeformac.com" <paulo...@officeformac.com> wrote:
This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
paulo...@officeformac.com
It helped me a lot!
Cheers,
Paulo
PrometheusTitan
different. I am writing my Ph.D. thesis in Word 2008 and I use
cross-reference extensively, for things like sections (based off hierarchical
header numbers) or images and tables etc. (based off numbered captions).
These are all linked withing the text via cross-referencing. The problem I
have is that the captions are all capitalised (i.e. "Figure 1.2"), so when I
insert them into the text I'll get something like "As can be seen in Figure
1.2...". Similarly, I have Word put a colon into section numbering, i.e.
"Section 1.2: Blah blah blah", so that when I insert it into the text, I get
"As discussed in section 1.2: the effect...."
Neither of these is immediately a problem, because I can manually change the
F in figure to lower-case. However, when I go to print, it auto-updates and I
get colons and upper cases where I don't want them. As with the original
poster "Update fields when printing" is unchecked, so I'm not sure why this
is happening, but any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance
macropod
You can force the captions to output the 'figure' part in lower case by:
. select the cross-reference and press Shift-F9. you should see something like {REF _Ref258047071} or {REF _Ref258047071 \h}.
. insert '\* lower' after the reference number so that you end up with {REF _Ref258047071 \* lower} or {REF _Ref258047071 \* lower
\h} - note that the '\* lower' switch must go before the \h (hyperlink) switch.
. press F9 to update.
--
Cheers
macropod
[Microsoft MVP - Word]
"PrometheusTitan" <Prometh...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:21036795-DEFB-492D...@microsoft.com...
PrometheusTitan
Thank you very much, that does the trick for me (had to amend the style of
the headings so they don't automatically include colons, but it works). I was
just wondering if you knew why this occurred, though? I know that previously
I had been able to export to PDF without having the fields automatically
update.
Cheers
Dan
"macropod" wrote:
> Hi PrometheusTitan,
>
> You can force the captions to output the 'figure' part in lower case by:
> .. select the cross-reference and press Shift-F9. you should see something like {REF _Ref258047071} or {REF _Ref258047071 \h}.
> .. insert '\* lower' after the reference number so that you end up with {REF _Ref258047071 \* lower} or {REF _Ref258047071 \* lower
> \h} - note that the '\* lower' switch must go before the \h (hyperlink) switch.
> .. press F9 to update.
macropod
AFAIK, cross-references update automatically regardless of whether the 'update fields' option is checked, but fields such as ASK and
FILLIN only update if it is checked.
--
Cheers
macropod
[Microsoft MVP - Word]
"PrometheusTitan" <Prometh...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:C62D9A4C-F1DB-4564...@microsoft.com...
physROCKS
end/foot notes insert this way whenever you want to insert one? In other
words I would like to set up the endotes to always have the same format as
the text in the body where they are cross referenced.
John McGhie
(it's an automatically-generated unique ID).
Word 2011, due at the end of this year, will have VBA back, and you could
write a macro to do that.
Or you could decide that "Figure" is correct in this context, because you
are referring to a proper name (the name of the figure) :-)
Cheers
On 28/04/10 2:18 PM, in article
79BEF344-7344-44BF...@microsoft.com, "physROCKS"
<phys...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
--
The email below is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless I ask you to; or unless you intend to pay!
John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
physROCKS
no more Entourage, hooray! I decided a long time ago to use "Figure",
however it looks a little silly having a random 10pt bold word in the middle
of a 12pt document ;)
"John McGhie" wrote:
> .
>
John McGhie
The cross-reference mechanism copies the text of text in the Caption style
into the text, but it does not copy the style formatting.
However, if you apply any direct formatting to the Caption, the
cross-reference WILL copy the direct formatting into the reference.
If you select your caption and hit Control + SpaceBar (to reset the direct
formatting) then update your cross reference, you will not get strange
formatting.
Sorry: you will keep the capitalisation :-)
Cheers
On 30/04/10 2:12 PM, in article
0DAEFB96-3AF7-49AD...@microsoft.com, "physROCKS"
paulo...@officeformac.com
Is there some place where I can find all the options of formatting of cross references?
For example: "\* charformat", "\* lower" and so on...
I'd like to do another thing... My caption is "Figure 1". However, in the text using a cross reference, I'd like to use it as "Fig. 1". Is it possible to do that?
Thanks in advance.
macropod
Except for some exotic cases where field switches can be used in ways MS probably didn't intend, they're all documented in PC Word's
Help files. For the Mac, though, you'll probably need to look on the MS website (eg:
http://search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?form=MSHOME&mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&q=word+field+switch)
As for the Figure > Fig. mod, there's no way to do that via field switches.
--
Cheers
macropod
[Microsoft MVP - Word]
<paulo...@officeformac.com> wrote in message news:59bb3...@webcrossing.JaKIaxP2ac0...