How to preserve format on cross-references when update

bsharp

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Aug 7, 2008, 4:00:03 PM8/7/08

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I am using Word 2007.

I have cross-references back to bookmarks through a 10 page document. All
the sources are on the first page.

When I put a cross-reference on the first page, formatting comes out fine,
even when data is updated.

On SOME of the other pages, the formatting changes. And it's even within the
field, for example, on a date field the month will be a smaller font size
than the day, and the day and year may be bold.

Doesn't seem to matter what I format the source as. When I format the
references, it will take, but then change when updated.

macropod

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Aug 7, 2008, 6:30:21 PM8/7/08

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Hi bsharp,

Press Alt-F9 to expose the field codes. Your cross-references will look like {REF _123456789 \* MERGEFORMAT} or {REF _123456789 \*
MERGEFORMAT \h}. Delete the '\* MERGEFORMAT' string and press F9. When you're finished, press Alt-F9 again.

For future reference, uncheck the 'preserve formatting' option when inserting cross-references.

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Cheers
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]

"bsharp" <bsh...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:E7DC771E-66AE-47F4...@microsoft.com...

bsharp

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Aug 7, 2008, 7:45:01 PM8/7/08

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Thanks, first part of your tip worked great.

I don't see an option to uncheck the 'preserve formatting' option.

I was entering "ref Date" and then selecting both words, then hitting ctl-F9.

Then I tried inserting a cross reference, choosing bookmark, then choosing
the appropriate bookmark, but I don't see an option about preserving
formatting.

I did just find another way to do it, if I right-click on the
cross-reference, then choose edit field, there is a box checked to preserve
formatting that I can uncheck. So that is a little quicker way to handle the
first part of your tip.

macropod

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Aug 7, 2008, 7:52:23 PM8/7/08

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Hi bsharp,

Sorry, the 'preserve formatting' option is only displayed via the right-click or when you use Insert|Field.

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macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]

"bsharp" <bsh...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:9BD7D7CA-2D65-4F39...@microsoft.com...

Graham Mayor

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Aug 8, 2008, 12:21:23 AM8/8/08

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The following macro

Sub InsertField()
SendKeys "{Tab}{Tab} +{Tab}+{Tab}"
Dialogs(wdDialogInsertField).Show
End Sub

will open the InsertField dialog with the 'preserve formatting' option
unchecked. It works in Word 2003 also.
Given that I can think of few circumstances where the mergeformat switch is
actually helpful, I use this on all my Word installations. Now why couldn't
we have had a charformat switch option instead?

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Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

macropod wrote:
> Hi bsharp,
>
> Sorry, the 'preserve formatting' option is only displayed via the
> right-click or when you use Insert|Field.
>

macropod

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Aug 8, 2008, 8:31:42 AM8/8/08

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Your task, should you choose to accept it, is to create a Charformat option ... that runs from the Field|Insert dialogue.

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Cheers
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]

"Graham Mayor" <gma...@REMOVETHISmvps.org> wrote in message news:esSp04Q%23IHA...@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

Graham Mayor

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Aug 8, 2008, 10:01:18 AM8/8/08

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How about

Sub InsertField()
Dim oRng As Range
Dim i As Variant
Dim sSwitch As String
Dim strChoice As String

SendKeys "{Tab}{Tab} +{Tab}+{Tab}"
Dialogs(wdDialogInsertField).Show

ActiveDocument.ActiveWindow.View.ShowFieldCodes = True
Selection.MoveLeft Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1, Extend:=wdExtend
Set oRng = Selection.Range
For i = 1 To oRng.Fields.Count
With oRng.Fields(i)
If InStr(1, .Code, "MERGEFORMAT") <> 0 Then
sSwitch = MsgBox("Use charformat in place of mergeformat
switch?", _
vbYesNo, _
"Insert Field")
If sSwitch = vbYes Then
.Code.Text = Replace(.Code.Text, _
"MERGEFORMAT", _
"CHARFORMAT")
End If
End If
.Update
End With
Next i
ActiveDocument.ActiveWindow.View.ShowFieldCodes = False
Selection.MoveRight Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
End Sub

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

macropod wrote:
> Your task, should you choose to accept it, is to create a Charformat
> option ... that runs from the Field|Insert dialogue.
>

macropod

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Aug 8, 2008, 10:16:32 AM8/8/08

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Hi Graham,

That's a good start, but for the Charformat switch to be useful, you also need to give the user all the normal font controls over
the first field description character, which is usually the 2nd character in the field.
;)

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Cheers
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]

"Graham Mayor" <gma...@REMOVETHISmvps.org> wrote in message news:Od5J48V%23IHA...@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

Graham Mayor

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Aug 8, 2008, 10:30:57 AM8/8/08

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If a user makes proper use of styles, ALL of the field will be formatted
with the required format and the field content will match the rest of the
line.

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Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

macropod wrote:
> Hi Graham,
>
> That's a good start, but for the Charformat switch to be useful, you
> also need to give the user all the normal font controls over the
> first field description character, which is usually the 2nd character
> in the field. ;)
>

macropod

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Aug 8, 2008, 5:29:42 PM8/8/08

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Ah, but what if the user wants something different to emphasise the link (eg a character style, or hard formatting)?

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Cheers
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]

"Graham Mayor" <gma...@REMOVETHISmvps.org> wrote in message news:%236JjcNW%23IHA...@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

Graham Mayor

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Aug 9, 2008, 1:03:20 AM8/9/08

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He can add it to the inserted field - just like any other formatting. The
charformat switch would ensure it stays thus when the field is updated. ;)

While the code was merely an exercise to a see if it could be done, I quite
like the result so I am now using it. I feel another addition to my web site
coming on :)

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Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

macropod wrote:
> Ah, but what if the user wants something different to emphasise the
> link (eg a character style, or hard formatting)?
>

macropod

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Aug 9, 2008, 4:27:55 AM8/9/08

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Hi Graham,

OK, but except for the fact that you've added the Charformat switch (which presumably will prevent the sometimes-reported occurrence
of Word inserting an unwanted Mergeformat switch), I don't see that you've actually accomplished much more than what you'd get by
simply deleting the Mergeformat switch, for which see Jay Freedman's post at:
http://www.officekb.com/Uwe/Forum.aspx/word-vba-custom/209/changing-Field-defaults
which I've reporduced below.

Sub InsertFieldNoMergeFmt()
With Dialogs(wdDialogInsertField)
SendKeys "%v": .Show
End With
End Sub

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Cheers
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]

"Graham Mayor" <gma...@REMOVETHISmvps.org> wrote in message news:%23Usz60d%23IHA...@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

Graham Mayor

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Aug 9, 2008, 4:55:13 AM8/9/08

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My original post in this thread did that - I merely rose to your bait.
The macro sets the switch initially to off, but when it is set to on it
gives the user the choice of mergeformat or charformat. Nothing more :)
Personally I find that a useful addition, though in practice I tend to
insert fields from the keyboard.

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Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

macropod wrote:
> Hi Graham,
>

> OK, but except for the fact that you've added the Charformat switch
> (which presumably will prevent the sometimes-reported occurrence of
> Word inserting an unwanted Mergeformat switch), I don't see that
> you've actually accomplished much more than what you'd get by simply
> deleting the Mergeformat switch, for which see Jay Freedman's post
> at:
> http://www.officekb.com/Uwe/Forum.aspx/word-vba-custom/209/changing-Field-defaults
> which I've reporduced below.
>
> Sub InsertFieldNoMergeFmt()
> With Dialogs(wdDialogInsertField)
> SendKeys "%v": .Show
> End With
> End Sub
>
>

macropod

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Aug 9, 2008, 6:02:05 AM8/9/08

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> .. in practice I tend to insert fields from the keyboard.
Likewise. It's much quicker once you know what you're doing.

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Cheers
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]

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macropod

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Aug 9, 2008, 7:54:40 AM8/9/08

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Hi Graham,

A serious fly in the ointment: SendKeys doesn't work under Vista - it returns error code 70: "Permission denied".

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Cheers
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]

"Graham Mayor" <gma...@REMOVETHISmvps.org> wrote in message news:%231SKf2f%23IHA...@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

Graham Mayor

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Aug 9, 2008, 8:44:08 AM8/9/08

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Why am I not surprised? ;)

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Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

macropod wrote:
> Hi Graham,
>
> A serious fly in the ointment: SendKeys doesn't work under Vista - it
> returns error code 70: "Permission denied".
>

macropod

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Aug 9, 2008, 8:48:38 AM8/9/08

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How many guesses do I get?

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Cheers
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]

"Graham Mayor" <gma...@REMOVETHISmvps.org> wrote in message news:%23KBDa2h%23IH...@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...