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From: Fred Ridder [mailto:docudoc -at- hotmail -dot- com]
Sent: Friday, August 20, 2010 6:38 PM
To: ltc -dot- writer -at- comcast -dot- net; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: TOC in Word 2007 for Multiple Files
Tim Lewis wrote:
> I have been working on some older manuals for some clients that were
written
> in Word. These manuals are 200 to 400+ pages long when put together as
PDFs.
> Combining all the files for a manual into one file in Word just causes too
> many problems and I know that in the earlier versions of Word, Master
> Documents did not work. I need to generate a Table of Contents at the
front
> of a manual for every file in the manual. How do you do that?
It's actually pretty easy to do using RD fields, which for some inexplicable
reason are no longer documented in Word's help system as of Word 2007. The
RD (referenced document) field tells Word to build any comiled content (TOC,
LOT, LOF, index) that is in the same file using the headings (or captions or
index entry codes) found in the file designated in the field code. If you
include a series of RD fields for all the chapter files in the proper order,
Word will build the TOC from those files just as if all those chapter files
were actually contained in the same file as the TOC.
Here are the steps:
1) Create a file that will contain the TOC (and LOF and LOT, assuming you
want those, too). It can also contain your title page and any other front
matter you need to include in the composite document. I'll refer to this as
the front matter file in the rest of these instructions.
2) At the bottom of the front matter document, include a series of RD fields
that reference each of the chapter files in order.
To do this from the keyboard:
* Press Ctrl+F9 to insert an empty field code object
* Type RD followed by a space inside the field code brackets
* Type (or paste) the path and filename of the appropriate chapter
file enclosed in quote marks
* If the chapter file is in the same directory as the frontmatter file
or if you only provide a partial path (i.e. a path relative to the location
of the frontmatter file) type a space then a backslash and the letter "f"
following the quoted fielname. If you have provided an absolute path to the
file, omit the \f switch.
* Repeat for each chapter file
Alternatively, you can use the Quick Parts>Field command on the Insert
ribbon instead of Ctrl+F9. Note that you *cannot* directly type the curly
braces to enclose the filed code; the command for inserting field codes
imbues the brackets with voodoo that you cannot apply manually.
When you're done, you'll wind up with something that resembles the
following:
{ RD "Introduction+References.docx" \f }
{ RD "Requirements.docx" \f }
{ RD "Architecture.docx" \f }
{ RD "System_Boot.docx" \f }
{ RD "System_Initialization.docx" \f }
Note that these will display with a dotted line under the text because they
are automatically formatted as hidden.
3) Click the Office bubble and then the Word Options button (at the bottom
of the window). Choose the Display properties and deselect the options for
"Hidden text" and "Show all formatting marks", and make sure that "Print
hidden text" is also deselected. This hides the RD field codes so that they
won't affect the pagination.
4) Place the insertion point where you want the TOC to appear. Click Table
of Contents on the References ribbon to insert the field code for the TOC.
Word automatically scans each of the referenced files and builds the TOC.
5) Place the insertion point where you want the LOF and/or LOT to appear and
then click the Insert Table of Figures button on the References ribbon and
use the dialog to set up and build the LOF or LOT, as appropriate.
6) Pat yourself on the back.
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