If you're like me, you love Microsoft Word's note feature--in particular, being able to insert or delete a footnote or endnote and have all of the subsequent notes renumber automatically. Have you ever wondered, though, how to create a note reference number that refers to a note that already exists?

For example, let's say the following text is a Word document with notes (I've indicated note reference numbers with carets, like this^1):

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,^1 consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy^2 nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.^3

1 Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam.

2 Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate.

3 Delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.

We have a reference number for note 1 after "amet," but let's say we want to refer to note 1 again, this time after "elit," like this:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,^1 consectetuer adipiscing elit,^1 sed diam nonummy^2 nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.^3

1 Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam.

2 Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate.

3 Delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.

Is that even possible in Word? Yes, it is, and it's called cross-referencing a note. The procedure is basically the same for footnotes or endnotes, although here I'll use footnotes for the example. Here's how to do it:

1. Open a document that has footnotes.

2. Put your cursor in your text where you want to cross-reference an existing note.

3. Click the "Insert" menu.

4. Click "Cross-reference."

5. Click the "Reference type" drop-down list.

6. Click "Footnote" in the list.

7. Click the "Insert reference to:" list.

8. Click "Footnote number (formatted)"--probably the last item in the list.

9. In the "For which footnote:" list, click the number of the footnote you want to cross-reference.

10. Click the "Insert" button.

These instructions sound more complicated than the procedure actually is--it's fairly easy. Be careful, though. If you insert a new note before your original note, the cross-referenced note won't change automatically. For example, here's our document with the cross-referenced note 1:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,^1 consectetuer adipiscing elit,^1 sed diam nonummy^2 nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.^3

1 Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam.

2 Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate.

3 Delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.

Now, if we insert a new note after "ipsum," our original note 1 reference number will change to "2," but our cross-referenced note number after "elit" will remain as "1":

Lorem ipsum^1 dolor sit amet,^2 consectetuer adipiscing elit,^1 sed diam nonummy^3 nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.^4

1 Accumsan et iusto odio dignissim.

2 Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam.

3 Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate.

4 Delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.

Why? Because the cross-referenced note number is what Microsoft calls a "field," and fields don't update automatically. To update the field (the cross-referenced note number), select it and press the F9 key. The document will then look like this, with the number after "elit" updated to a "2":

Lorem ipsum^1 dolor sit amet,^2 consectetuer adipiscing elit,^2 sed diam nonummy^3 nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.^4

1 Accumsan et iusto odio dignissim.

2 Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam.

3 Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate.

4 Delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.

If you want to update all of the fields in your document (if you've got lots of cross-referenced note numbers, for example), select all (Edit > Select All) and then press F9. You can also set fields to update when you print by clicking Tools > Options > Print and putting a checkmark in the box labeled "Update fields."

Incidentally, these cross-referenced notes work beautifully with the "Notes to Text" feature of our NoteStripper program and, after being stripped, with our QuarkConverter program. You can learn more about these programs here:

http://www.editorium.com

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READERS WRITE

If you're creating custom VBA projects, you'll appreciate the following information from Wordmeister Steve Hudson, who wrote:

The "Disk Full on template save" error and "Network Lag on Document Open" error AND "Setting Digital Certificate" error.

Hah. Three problems in one. To cut to the chase, it's caused by a missing reference which can be located via the VBE (ALT+F11) > Tools > References dialog. Get rid of that reference by clearing the checkmark. If you had anything using that reference you need to relink it to its new destination.

A simple way to cause this is to not provide the original document template. This causes a missing reference to that template to appear in this list. It will try and hunt it down across your paths in the Tools > Options > File Locations dialog, thus causing shocking lag when some of these locations are network addresses.

It also causes problems when the VBA project is forced to recompile. The compile process fails as it cannot resolve the reference. VBA projects are forced to recompile when given a new digital signature or a new object is added.

Thanks to Steve for this important tip.

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RESOURCES

The Word-PC list and archives are, in my opinion, some of the finest Microsoft Word resources available anywhere. You can join the list or search the archives here:

http://listserv.liv.ac.uk/archives/word-pc.html

You're typing along, and suddenly the short line you entered a couple of paragraphs earlier has turned big and bold. Who does it think it is, anyway? When you investigate, you discover that the line has somehow been formatted with Word's Heading 1 style.

You've just discovered one of the wonders of Word's AutoFormat feature, which should be firmly beaten into submission before it takes over your whole document. If you want to see how it works, try this:

1. Click the "Format" menu.

2. Click "AutoFormat."

3. Click the "Options" button.

4. Click the tab labeled "AutoFormat As You Type."

5. Under "Apply as you type," put a check in the box labeled "Headings." If there's already a check there, you've found the source of your anguish.

6. Click the "OK" button.

7. Click the "Close" button.

Now, in a new document, do this:

1. Type "My Heading" (without the quotation marks), and be sure not to type any punctuation after it.

2. Hit the Enter key twice.

Wow, the text is now formatted with the Heading 1 style. You might think that's kind of neat, but what if you didn't *want* the text to be a heading? What if you were just typing a list of items without ending punctuation (which, by the way, seems to be the defining factor here)? Then you need to turn the feature off.

See, the whole issue is one of control. How much "help" do you want Microsoft Word to give you? If you're editing, your answer may be "none," because editors need to have complete control over what's happening, and they can't have Word introducing changes that they may not even be aware of. When I'm editing, I allow one AutoFormat option--replace "straight quotes" with "smart quotes" as I type--and I watch it like a hawk.

If you turn off the AutoFormat option to apply headings as you type, and you *still* get automatic formatting, you may still have the last "AutoFormat As You Type" option turned on. It's labeled "Define styles based on your formatting," and the Tooltip Help explains its function:

"Create new paragraph styles based on the manual formatting you apply in your documents. You can apply these styles in your document to save time and to give your documents a consistent 'look.'"

The idea that Word is creating new styles as I work just gives me the heebie-jeebies. This is one option I'm definitely going to keep turned off.

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READERS WRITE

On April 10, Editorium Update featured a macro to convert typed-in fractions (like 1/2) into typographically acceptable ones (like 1/2). You can read the article here:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1710035169

In the article, I wrote, "I owe my thanks to Wordmeister Steve Hudson for the idea. Steve would probably take a more elegant approach, but this macro will definitely work." Well, by golly, Steve did create a beauty of a macro (the Fractionator) that even watches out for dates (4/10/2001, for example) and URLs and leaves them alone, while still creating beautiful fractions. Many thanks to Steve for this useful tool, and for his comments throughout the macro to explain what is going on.

If you don't know how to use macros like this one, you can learn more here.

You might also want to create a toolbar button for the macro, which you can learn about here:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1707286867

And now, the macro:

'THE MACRO STARTS HERE
Private Const msgNoFraction As String = "No fractions found."
Private Const hitInfo As String = "Information"
Public Sub TextFormatAllFractions()
System.Cursor = wdCursorWait
If FractionFormatting = 0 Then MsgBox msgNoFraction, , hitInfo
System.Cursor = wdCursorNormal
End Sub
Public Function FractionFormatting(Optional Scope As Range) As Long
'returns the number of entries formatted
'formats 123/456 with super and subscript
'The Word Heretic
Const Search As String = "[0-9]@^47[0-9]@"
Dim Fractionator As String
Dim Divisor As Range
Dim Dividend As Range
Dim Slash As Range
Dim Finder As Range
Dim TestStart As Range
Dim TestEnd As Range
Dim IsFraction As Boolean
Dim StartChar As String
Dim EndChar As String
Const UrlText As String = "?%#_|$/"
If Scope Is Nothing Then Set Scope =
ActiveDocument.StoryRanges(wdMainTextStory)
Fractionator = ChrW$(8260) 'unicode
Set Finder = ActiveDocument.StoryRanges(wdMainTextStory)
Finder.Collapse
With Finder.Find
.Text = Search
'only search forwards
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindStop
.MatchWildcards = True
While .Execute(replace:=wdReplaceNone)
FractionFormatting = True
Set Divisor = Finder.Duplicate
Set Dividend = Finder.Duplicate
'divisor is the bit at the end
'so move start until we find a slash
Divisor.MoveStartUntil cset:="/"
'then move just past it
Divisor.MoveStart unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
' now make sure we get the rest of the number
' (Word's Find wildcards feature sux)
Divisor.MoveEndWhile cset:="0123456789"
'dividend is the bit at the start
'so start from the beginning
Dividend.Collapse
'include everything up to the slash
Dividend.MoveEndUntil cset:="/"
'The slash is right after our dividend
Set Slash = Dividend.Duplicate
'so start at the end
Slash.Collapse wdCollapseEnd
'and move forward 1!
Slash.MoveEnd unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
'Now, test if it is a fraction or part of a bigger formula.
'First, get the chars immediately before and after
Set TestStart = Dividend.Duplicate
TestStart.Collapse
TestStart.MoveStart unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=-1
Set TestEnd = Divisor.Duplicate
TestEnd.Collapse Direction:=wdCollapseEnd
TestEnd.MoveEnd unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
StartChar = TestStart.Text
EndChar = TestEnd.Text
IsFraction = True 'innocent until proven guilty
'Check if this is a field. Its probably a hyperlink or similar
'So don't process it
If Slash.Fields.Count > 0 Then IsFraction = False
'Test for some obvious false positives
If (LCase$(EndChar) >= "a" And LCase$(EndChar) <= "z") Or _
(LCase$(StartChar) >= "a" And LCase$(StartChar) <= "z") Or _
InStr(1, UrlText & ".", StartChar) > 0 Or _
InStr(1, UrlText, EndChar) > 0 Then IsFraction = False
If IsFraction Then
'set the styles at LAST!
Dividend.Font.Superscript = True
Divisor.Font.Subscript = True
Slash.Text = Fractionator
FractionFormatting = FractionFormatting + 1
End If
'Now, set the find range so we find
'the next fraction
Finder.Collapse wdCollapseEnd
Wend
End With
End Function
'THE MACRO ENDS HERE

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RESOURCES

Speaking of Steve Hudson, Steve sent a bunch of his favorite resources, one of which is the Qwik and Dirty Task Guide for Microsoft Word:

http://www.oootraining.com/QwikAndDirty/QwikAndDirtyWordWeb/qwikword.htm

The Web site notes, "We'll show you how to do multi-step tasks in Microsoft Word by guiding you through the screen sequences. Scroll down, as needed. We use very few words, but realistic examples."

The site features clear, illustrated, step-by-step instructions for using various features of Microsoft Word, and a handy table of contents for easy navigation. Especially if you're just starting out with Word, you'll find this site invaluable.

Here's the scenario: You've just opened a new document from a client, and you italicize the first paragraph, which is a short quotation introducing the chapter. But suddenly *all* of the chapter text is italicized. What in the world is going on?

You've just bumped into Word's "Automatically update" feature for styles. (This is different from the "Automatically update document styles" feature discussed in last week's newsletter.) If you don't know about the "Automatically update" feature, you can spend hours trying to adjust formatting, only to have everything in sight messed up beyond belief.

To turn the feature off, do this:

1. Click the "Format" menu.

2. Click "Style" (in Word 2002, that's "Styles and Formatting").

3. Click the style that's giving you fits (such as Heading 1). (In Word 2002, click the drop-down arrow to the right of the style in the Task Pane.)

4. Click "Modify."

5. Remove the checkmark from the box labeled "Automatically update."

6. Click the "OK" button.

7. If necessary, click the "Close" button.

Now, when you modify some formatting in your document, you'll change only the local selection and not everything that's formatted in the same style. But really, you should avoid using directly applied formatting anyway. Using paragraph and character styles is much more efficient--the True Way--and avoids a multitude of problems.

So what's the point of the "Automatically update" feature? It allows you to modify styles without drilling down, down, down through the Styles dialog. Well hey, that's good! It means you can change formatting directly, see the result immediately, and have the styles updated automatically to reflect that formatting. Pretty neat!

So here's my recommendation:

1. If you're *designing* a document, use the "Automatically update" feature with a bunch of junk text to set your styles exactly the way you want them (be sure to select the whole paragraph before changing the format). Once you've got them set, turn off "Automatically update." Then copy the styles to your real document, or save the junk document as a template that you attach to your real document. You can learn more about this here:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1704544112

2. If you're *writing* or *editing* a document, make sure the "Automatically update" feature is turned off. You'll have a happier day.

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READERS WRITE

Rhana Pike (Rhana@ctc.usyd.edu.au) wrote:

"I was interested to read the tip on automatic updating of styles. A related issue is the box that appears sometimes when I try to apply a style to a paragraph: it says something like 'Update the style to match selection?' (I can't get it to appear now). Is there a way of getting rid of this or applying a default, because I set styles through the menu and never want to update the style to match the selection."

Here's how this works: When you apply direct formatting to a paragraph (such as formatting it in bold with CTRL + B), and then immediately click the paragraph style (such as Heading 1) in the Styles list on the Formatting toolbar, Word asks if you want to:

1. Update the style to reflect recent changes, or

2. Reapply the formatting of the style to the selection.

If you click option 1, Word will modify the style to match the manual formatting you've applied to the paragraph. This is a quick way to modify styles--similar to the technique explained in the main article in today's newsletter.

If you click option 2, Word will override all of that lovely manual formatting you've just done and reapply the existing formatting of the style.

Is there a way to get rid of these options and just apply the style? The only way I know of is not to click the Styles list after applying formatting directly--or, better yet, to avoid using directly applied formatting altogether.

Thanks to Rhana for her question.

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RESOURCES

Mark Pool (mark913@earthlink.net) wrote:

I really like the Google toolbar. It's a free download at

http://toolbar.google.com/

It occupies no more space than the address bar. Whenever I'm online and want to do a search it's always handy. Some of the advanced features are pretty cool, too, such as "Highlight".

Thanks to Mark for this helpful hint.