A field update blanked all graphics

[Tim Murray]

Systems: Mac with Panther 10.3.3, Word v.X and patches. Windows 2000 with
Word 2000 and service packs. The graphics in my book were all done with
Insert > Picture > From file with both linking *and* insert into file, and
almost all are TIFFs.

I used a lot of SEQ fields in my book. Just as the book is nearly done, one
of my last steps was to go into several of the fields and use "\R 1" to reset
to 1 at certain points. After I keyed in the codes, I selected the entire
document and did an F9 - field update. Immediately, all graphics turned
blank -- just a frame. The frames are all square (even though the originals
were usually rectangular. A double-click reveals that Word now considers them
all autoshapes instead of pictures.

I tried using Edit > Links and forcing an Edit > Links update, then tried
breaking the links. I move the file into Windows and did an links update, and
then manually changed the path style (Mac uses folder::file, Windows uses
folder\\file) and then update the link. No go.

I can "fix" it by redoing the imports sans link. I have an original
FrameMaker file to rely on, which shows me the file name. But, if possible,
I'd like to fix these en mass. (The best "fix" would have been to left this
in FrameMaker but the client is a Microsoft drone.)

Any ideas?

 

[Tim Murray]

Well, the heat's off ... it's fixed.

What I did was open the Edit > Links list and position my pointer over the
Change Source button. Then, all I had to do was press the down arrow key,
bang my thumb on the trackpad to click, then type the filename in the dialog
box. Since I never had to move my hand off the keyboard to reach for the
mouse I just did about 130 in the last half hour. A couple came in at funny
sizes, but other than that, all's well.

But I'd still like to see of there is a quick fix.

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word]]

Yeah, there's a fix Put all the graphics files in the same folder as
the Word document before you insert them.

This is "working as designed". If you link and the source becomes
unavailable, Word blanks the pictures to let you know your data is out of
date.

Before you send the document to the client, you need to open the Edit>Links
list and select all and break the links (a single step). Otherwise the same
thing will happen to the client as soon as he updates fields.

Cheers

This responds to article

Well, the heat's off ... it's fixed.

What I did was open the Edit > Links list and position my pointer over the
Change Source button. Then, all I had to do was press the down arrow key,
bang my thumb on the trackpad to click, then type the filename in the dialog
box. Since I never had to move my hand off the keyboard to reach for the
mouse I just did about 130 in the last half hour. A couple came in at funny
sizes, but other than that, all's well.

But I'd still like to see of there is a quick fix.

--

Please respond only to the newsgroup to preserve the thread.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. GMT + 10 Hrs
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Tim Murray]

If you link and the source becomes unavailable, Word blanks

the pictures to let you know your data is out of date.

I understand that when the location changes, but in this case the location
was not changed: All graphics are in a folder called Graphics, and the folder
is in the same folder as the document.

Later, when I went to do the Edit > Link > Change Source, the "new" source
was the same as the old, and I could see the file list (which shows the path)
did not change.

 

[macropod]

Hi Tim,

For future reference, the Field Link Updater at:
http://www.wopr.com/cgi-bin/w3t/showthreaded.pl?Number=261488
may help.

Cheers

 

[Alisa]

I have the opposite problem. If the graphic file name
changes, the "updated" graphic in the Word doc doesn't
change, even if manually updated or updated in the Edit,
Links window. The field no longer indicates that the link
is invalid. In previous versions of Word, the link would
change to "Filename not found." or be a blank box.

I am using Word XP with the latest Service Pack 3
installed. The field code contents are as follows:

{INCLUDEPICTURE "Graphics/filename.jpg" \* MERGEFORMAT }

If I delete and reinsert the file, it displays properly.
But if I wanted to do that, I wouldn't use the
INCLUDEPICTURE field.

Attempted fixes include: I've restarted my machine
(several times, including a full shut down); I've created
a new file and copied old file, sans last paragraph; I've
locked and unlocked the fields.

Any suggestions?

Alisa