Re: When good x-refs go bad
So the thing is, I've got a document full of cross references to other
sections, with a reference fields for the heading for the section, and a
"on page XX" field. I've found that when I move a section being referred
to and update the xrefs, the xref to the heading suddenly picks up a bunch
of text from the document, rather than the heading, giving me a whole
bunch of nonsense instead of my useful reference.
Perhaps the most common way of getting into trouble with cross-references is using the built-in heading levels (Heading 1 through Heading 9) as the targets. Instead, insert a bookmark around the text of a heading to which you want to refer, and point the text and page-number cross-references to that bookmark.
That said, though, you also have to be careful with bookmarks. It's easy to move one end of a bookmark without realizing it, leaving the other end behind. That can make it look like huge chunks of the document are being repeated.
If you use bookmarks in your document, always leave the end-markers visible to help avoid problems. If problems come up anyway, show field codes to make debugging easier.
By the way, it's *especially* easy to mess up bookmarks in Outline view. The more features they've packed into Word over the years, the less convenient Outline view has become as a means of *moving* text. (I still use it for getting a picture of organization, but usually switch back to one of the other views for any kind of manipulation.)
...am I being naive in hoping that Word will do what I expect it to?...
Nope; but, as usual with Word, you have to understand what's going on...and occasionally you have to be a bit forgiving. <:(
Another way to stay happy with cross-references is *not* to use the
-David
=========================================================================
A V A I L A B L E N O W ! http://www.html-indexer.com/
HTML Indexer is still the easiest way to create and maintain real indexes
for web sites, intranets, HTML Help, JavaHelp, and other HTML documents.
Follow-Ups:
- Re: When good x-refs go bad, dmbrown
Previous by Author:
Re: Compiling Manual in MS Word
Next by Author:
Re: Cross-document links in Word?
Previous by Thread:
When good x-refs go bad
Next by Thread:
Re: When good x-refs go bad
Search our Technical Writing Archives & Magazine
Visit TechWhirl's Other Sites
Sponsored Ads