Update Fields

[Amy G]

I'm not sure if anyone has ever run into this before, but I know I haven't.
I'm using Word 2007. I select all (Ctrl+A) and press F9 to update all the
fields in the document. I'm prompted to updated the TOC and I click OK. (I
also have a List of Figures and List of Tables, so I click OK to the prompt
to update those as well.) After the update, a continuous section break is
inserted before my TOC where one did not appear prior to the update fields. I
did have a next page section break, but after the update, it changed to
continuous. Also, my headers disappear.

Any idea what's happening here and how I fix it? I suppose I could just
insert a next page break before and after the continuous break, then delete
the continuous break, but my header is still gone. I would just like to
update all the fields in my document without this hassle.

Thanks for your help,
Amy

 

[Amy G]

I forgot to mention - if I update each field individually, the problem
doesn't occur. For example, if I select my TOC and press F9, I'm prompted to
update the TOC and it updates just fine with no issues and no extra section
breaks. It only seems to occur when I select the entire document.

 

[Peter T. Daniels]

Switch to Draft view (so your section breaks are more easily seen),
and turn on Show Non-Printing Characters (Ctrl-Shift-8), and see if
there's any "stuff" left over from earlier stages of editing that's
making trouble? Make sure no stray characters have gotten inside any
of the Field braces? Show all bookmarks?

 

[Amy G]

I have all non-printing characters turned on. I can see the next page section
break, and then when the fields are updated, I can see that it changed to a
continuous break. There isn't anything else there.

 

[Amy G]

I tried something else and it might have worked, I don't know why. I put a
continuous section break after my TOC, although it's not showing up even with
non-printing characters turned on. After I inserted the break, the fields
seem to update fine without the next page break above the TOC changing, and
my headers are fine. I'm not sure I understand the logic, but it seemed to
work.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Peter T. Daniels]

Did you have a look at Draft view? That makes it easier to see _all_
the section breaks. Plus there's an option (somewhere) that causes the
section break and paragraph mark to show on different lines.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

My experience with TOCs has taught me one important thing: the paragraph
break (empty paragraph) that appears to be below the TOC is actually inside
the TOC field. For this reason, you need to press Enter several times
between TOC fields to make sure they are well and truly separated,
especially if you intend to insert section breaks. Make sure to press Alt+F9
to examine the actual placement of paragraph marks before deleting anything
that looks like an empty paragraph.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Stefan Blom]

Indeed, we usually don't like blank paragraphs, but with TOCs we do.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Right! I should have mentioned that this is one of the few acceptable uses
for them. <g>

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Amy G]

Thanks for all the feedback. I did go into Draft view and I didn't see
anything out of the normal there, no extra paragraph marks, no breaks,
nothing.

For some reason, all is well if I insert a continuous section break right
after the TOC. I'm not really sure why it works but I'll take it if I'm then
able to update the fields with no problems. I think there might be some sort
of bug or crazy code in this document because this wasn't the only weirdo
thing that is happening.

In case you're curious and can help, another issue I'm having is with my
index. The index that appears uses words not marked in this document (it's
just a sample). So, I want the index locked so it can't be updated and not
find the words, resulting in a blank index. I pressed Ctrl+F11 to lock the
fields and I right-click and Update Fields is grayed out. Perfect, right?
Nope. When I select all (Ctrl+A) and press F9, the index is updated and
disappears because the entries are not marked here. But if the index was
locked, it shouldn't matter because it shouldn't have updated. Any thoughts
on this strange behavior?

Thanks,
Amy

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

That's your problem. If you don't see extra paragraphs, then you're going to
run into trouble. Most likely your section break is inside the TOC field and
is being deleted when you update the field.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org