Renumbering issue.

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jkitzy - 24 Jan 2005 23:51 GMT

Help!

Here's what I have going. I am writing procedure manuals and use numbered
Headings as well as master/sub documents.

My Heading 1 is the book level. It is unnumbered.

Heading 2 is the Chapter level. It is numbered, restarting with each
subdocument. Appears only at beginning of subdocuments and is used in the
page numbereing scheme (i.e., 1-1, 1-2, and 2-1, 2-2)

Heading 3 is the Procedure level, which is unnumbered.

Heading 4 is the Step level, numbered and must restart at each Heading 3.

I can't seem to keep the "restart numbering" switch to work, and on some of
my Heading 4 levels, it's grayed out in the dialog box.

This is mucho frustrating. I don't really want to go the expense of getting
Framemaker, but I'm at a loss here. Is this a glitch or is there a legitimate
work around that I can use. Any help is appreciated.

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Robert M. Franz - 25 Jan 2005 07:42 GMT

Good morning jkitzy

> Here's what I have going. I am writing procedure manuals and use numbered
> Headings as well as master/sub documents.
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
> Framemaker, but I'm at a loss here. Is this a glitch or is there a legitimate
> work around that I can use. Any help is appreciated.

You need to very carefully setup your template. Define the numbering
according to [1]. Make sure the numbering is right before you even
attempt to write productively.

Then, use this template for all subdocuments and the master, too. That
is, if you really must use the masterdocument feature (it seems that you
could either get away with one single file or with individual files and
RD fields). See [2] for pitfalls ...

Good luck!
Robert

[1] Numbering
See the section on "Numbering, bullets, Headings, Outlines" (by Shauna
Kelly)
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/
Word's numbering explained (by John McGhie)
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Numbering/WordsNumberingExplained.htm
How to do it in VBA (by Dave Rado)
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Numbering/CureListNumbering.htm

[2] Why Master Documents corrupt (by John McGhie)
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/WhyMasterDocsCorrupt.htm

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jkitzy - 25 Jan 2005 15:49 GMT

Robert,

Thanks so much for your response. It's unfortunate that the numbering issues
are so wonky in Word. The point is to have the numbering automated in such a
way as to prevent having to review entire documents for accurate numbering
when steps are added, sections or deleted, you get the idea.

For those of us trying to make things less complicated in long document
creation, there simply isn't a good alternative in Word to help us.

For now, I'll just have to manually go in and check everything, every time,
or go back to the old one chapter, one document and piece them together in
something like Acrobat to create my long document.

Thanks again for your help.

--jkitzy

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LarryranTX - 25 Jan 2005 21:11 GMT

Just a couple of observations:

1. NEVER use Word Master documents - they are guaranteed to corrupt!

2. WordPerfect can do what you want, and is much less expensive than
FrameMaker. (And their Master documents / sub-documents actually work with
no problems!)

Larry Randall
Word Expert

> Robert,
>
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>
> --jkitzy

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jkitzy - 25 Jan 2005 21:53 GMT

I haven't used WP in ages! And I used to be so addicted to the reveal codes
function!

WP never even occurred to me. I'll look into it. Thanks.

> Just a couple of observations:
>
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
> >
> > --jkitzy

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Charles Kenyon - 25 Jan 2005 23:46 GMT

Sorry, I don't have an answer because I don't use Master Documents. However,
you may need the reason I don't more than you need an answer. "Master
Document" is a term of art in Word referring to a "feature" that not only
doesn't work but also destroys documents. The consensus (with the limited
exception of Steve Hudson) among those offering advice on these newsgroups
is that using the Master Document feature is a good way to destroy your
document. It can destroy parts of your document that you are not even
working on! I think John McGhie said it succinctly when he said that there
are two kinds of Master Documents: Those that are corrupt and those that
will be corrupt soon. See
http://www.addbalance.com/word/masterdocuments.htm for information on the
Master Document feature and workarounds. See
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/WhyMasterDocsCorrupt.htm for more
information on what goes wrong, and
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/RecoverMasterDocs.htm for ideas on how
to salvage what you can. See
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/magazine/technical/masterdocs.doc for
Steve Hudson's instructions if you are willing to follow them very
carefully.

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Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word which is awesome!
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> Help!
>
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
> legitimate
> work around that I can use. Any help is appreciated.

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