Table of Authorities Puzzlements (2000/SR-1)

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I’m using the Table of Authorities feature to track section assignments in a large document.

I’ve successfully modified the citation category list so that it is now a list of folks who have assignments. I’ve successfully tagged entries with a name from my list of assignees. I’ve successfully generated a table of all assignees and their sections. For reference, here is the format of my citation marks, as auto generated by the Mark Citation dialog box (note that the 2.2.2 is an auto number) :

2.2.2 RFP Section 8.2.2 Company Information {TA I “RFP8.2.2.2 Company Information” s”RFP 8.2.2. Company Information” c7}

Here is the TOA generating field code from one of my sub-headings:

{ TOA lrc”2″ }Engineering – Mechanical

In doing these things I’ve noticed some behaviors of the Table of Authorities feature that strike me as odd.

1. If one tags a header that carries numbering generated by the Bullets and Numbering feature, that numbering is not picked up and repeated in the generated TOA list. This behavior is unlike that of Tables of Contents, where that number IS picked up and reflected in the final TOC.

2. Unlike indices (which I am using in the same document to compile glossary entries) and TOCs, TOAs do not appear to be auto generated when the document is re-opened or printed.

3. Each subheading in a TOA seems to be its own little field list, so that unless you highlight the entire multi-part TOA and delete it, you cannot update all of the sub-units at the same time.

4. TOA category lists do not appear to be saved internal to the document, so that if someone else receives the document and updates the TOA, the newly generated table shows the categories resident in his/her copy of Word rather than the list customized for the document at hand.

5. TOA page references do not appear to carry hyperlinks, so they cannot be clicked upon to flip the user back to their point of origination.

Are these points of oddness things other people regularly experience? Is there a better way to auto generate assignment lists without using the Index feature, which is already dedicated to another purpose? Is there a way to get Word to store the categories in the document, then force an auto update when the document is opened?

Any guidance will be gratefully accepted,

Kim Salazar, Bewildered Proposal Drone

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Kim,

I haven’t used the TOA feature. But would using the TOC and TC fields with the f switch do what you want? (If you use this method and want to apply the f switch to a Heading, you would have to mark the heading with a TC field.)

Perhaps someone in the lounge could advise you on using Find and Replace to convert the TA c fields to TC f fields.

Dennis

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Dennis,

Thank you. I’m afraid I’m already using TOC for its original purpose. I’m also using it to track open/finished pieces (highlights are swept up when TOCs are generated, so any section that’s still open is marked with a highlight).

I had marked the same headings with the TOA tags. TOA also sweeps up highlights, so I was (in theory) able to track open assignments in the document not only in numerical order by section number, but also by assignee.

To round out this nonsense, I’m the table of figures feature to track both tables and exhibits, along with the index feature to generate a glossary.

Still bewildered, but thankful none the less,

Kim Salazar, Proposal Drone

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Kim,

You can have more than one Table of Contents in a document. You can have both your normal document TOC (listing items made with headings, levels, or TC codes) as well as a separate TOC that will list only those items tagged with the TC “f assignment” switch. You would add a second TOC code with the “f assignment” switch to generate the TOC only for Assignments, and you could add the h for hyperlinks, etc. Look at the example in the Word Help topic “Field codes: TOC (Table of Contents) field”.

Dennis

Dennis

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Dennis,

Thank you again!

I know about the possibility for more than one TOC, but I didn’t see how to link custom category names to the provided 26 slots. It was pretty easy to remember which category is which in the TOA system, where I was able to modify the scrolling pick list; but it’s tougher to remember that A is Engineering – Mechanical and so on when you’ve got a list of around 30 different contributors to herd.

I suppose I could always write routines to create the TC marks, then insert 30 additional TOCs (one for each contributor) at the end of my document, but that’s cumbersome, and not an easy solution I could share with less Word-savvy users.

Also, one last annoyance – using alternate TOCs to collect the assignments still produces lists that lack the auto generated heading numbers associated with the entries.

So I do thank you! I’ll probably convert my TOA tags to TOC ones, but the solution isn’t perfect.

Wishing for a sphere in a clearly cubic world,

Kim Salazar, Proposal Drone

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Hi Kim:
Another thing you could do with TOCs, similar to Dennis’ suggestion, is to use a different style for each assignment. The you wouldn’t have to remember that A=Engineering, etc. You could create different styles (they could have identical formats, of course) & then create TOCs that pick up that style (as opposed to using TC entries. Unlike TC entries, the TOC based on styles will pick up the associated numbering.

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Hi Kim:
Another thing you could do with TOCs, similar to Dennis’ suggestion, is to use a different style for each assignment. The you wouldn’t have to remember that A=Engineering, etc. You could create different styles (they could have identical formats, of course) & then create TOCs that pick up that style (as opposed to using TC entries. Unlike TC entries, the TOC based on styles will pick up the associated numbering.

Reply | Quote

Dennis,

Thank you again!

I know about the possibility for more than one TOC, but I didn’t see how to link custom category names to the provided 26 slots. It was pretty easy to remember which category is which in the TOA system, where I was able to modify the scrolling pick list; but it’s tougher to remember that A is Engineering – Mechanical and so on when you’ve got a list of around 30 different contributors to herd.

I suppose I could always write routines to create the TC marks, then insert 30 additional TOCs (one for each contributor) at the end of my document, but that’s cumbersome, and not an easy solution I could share with less Word-savvy users.

Also, one last annoyance – using alternate TOCs to collect the assignments still produces lists that lack the auto generated heading numbers associated with the entries.

So I do thank you! I’ll probably convert my TOA tags to TOC ones, but the solution isn’t perfect.

Wishing for a sphere in a clearly cubic world,

Kim Salazar, Proposal Drone

Reply | Quote

Kim,

You can have more than one Table of Contents in a document. You can have both your normal document TOC (listing items made with headings, levels, or TC codes) as well as a separate TOC that will list only those items tagged with the TC “f assignment” switch. You would add a second TOC code with the “f assignment” switch to generate the TOC only for Assignments, and you could add the h for hyperlinks, etc. Look at the example in the Word Help topic “Field codes: TOC (Table of Contents) field”.

Dennis

Dennis

Reply | Quote

Dennis,

Thank you. I’m afraid I’m already using TOC for its original purpose. I’m also using it to track open/finished pieces (highlights are swept up when TOCs are generated, so any section that’s still open is marked with a highlight).

I had marked the same headings with the TOA tags. TOA also sweeps up highlights, so I was (in theory) able to track open assignments in the document not only in numerical order by section number, but also by assignee.

To round out this nonsense, I’m the table of figures feature to track both tables and exhibits, along with the index feature to generate a glossary.

Still bewildered, but thankful none the less,

Kim Salazar, Proposal Drone

Reply | Quote

Kim,

I haven’t used the TOA feature. But would using the TOC and TC fields with the f switch do what you want? (If you use this method and want to apply the f switch to a Heading, you would have to mark the heading with a TC field.)

Perhaps someone in the lounge could advise you on using Find and Replace to convert the TA c fields to TC f fields.

Dennis

Reply | Quote