Table Titles -- How to repeat with "(continued)"?

Having a table heading repeat across multiple pages is fine, but tables often
have titles as well. Is there a way to tie a title to a particular table
(especially useful when there are multiple tables with the same heading rows
that apply to different parts of a product, for example) so that the title
repeats above the continued title? Also, is there a way to make the continued
title inform the reader that the table is continued?

For example, if I want the title to read:
Table 2.1 Temperature Characteristics, RF Section

.... and I want that title to repeat across pages, with subsequent pages
showing:
Table 2.1 Temperature Characteristics, RF Section (continued)

.... is that possible in Word? Adobe FrameMaker handles this easily. I can
find no provision for this in Word. If this feature is lacking, it is a
significant problem both for a technical writer and for the end user. This
feature has been standard in technical documentation forever. If Word can do
it, why is it hidden so well? Also, if Word has this capability, why isn't
it covered in online help?

-- Typeaux

In article ,
says...
Having a table heading repeat across multiple pages is fine, but tables often
have titles as well. Is there a way to tie a title to a particular table
(especially useful when there are multiple tables with the same heading rows
that apply to different parts of a product, for example) so that the title
repeats above the continued title? Also, is there a way to make the continued
title inform the reader that the table is continued?

For example, if I want the title to read:
Table 2.1 Temperature Characteristics, RF Section

... and I want that title to repeat across pages, with subsequent pages
showing:
Table 2.1 Temperature Characteristics, RF Section (continued)

... is that possible in Word? Adobe FrameMaker handles this easily. I can
find no provision for this in Word. If this feature is lacking, it is a
significant problem both for a technical writer and for the end user. This
feature has been standard in technical documentation forever. If Word can do
it, why is it hidden so well? Also, if Word has this capability, why isn't
it covered in online help?

-- Typeaux


No, and I agree it is a major shortcoming in Word.

--
Peter Aitken
Author, MS Word for Medical and Technical Writers
www.tech-word.com

"Typeaux" wrote:

Having a table heading repeat across multiple pages is fine, but tables often
have titles as well. Is there a way to tie a title to a particular table
(especially useful when there are multiple tables with the same heading rows
that apply to different parts of a product, for example) so that the title
repeats above the continued title? Also, is there a way to make the continued
title inform the reader that the table is continued?

For example, if I want the title to read:
Table 2.1 Temperature Characteristics, RF Section

... and I want that title to repeat across pages, with subsequent pages
showing:
Table 2.1 Temperature Characteristics, RF Section (continued)

... is that possible in Word? Adobe FrameMaker handles this easily. I can
find no provision for this in Word. If this feature is lacking, it is a
significant problem both for a technical writer and for the end user. This
feature has been standard in technical documentation forever. If Word can do
it, why is it hidden so well? Also, if Word has this capability, why isn't
it covered in online help?

There is a "simple" (Depending on how familiar you are with Word...)
subfertuge you can use...

Include the title in the table as the first row. (Set the top, left and
right borders of this first row to "None" and merge all the cells.)
Add the word "Continued" at the end of the title.
Make the first two row "Repeat".
Place a borderless white rectangle over the word "Continued" in the first
row of the table. Make sure it is anchored to the paragraph immediately above
the table, and not he the title paragraph itself, or it will be part of the
repeat row (and hide "Continued" on all pages"). If you do not have a
paragraph immediately above the table, add a hidden one or a one-point one.
ALso, make this paragraph "Keep with next."
Done!

To repeat this with other tables in the same document, just copy/paste this
first row (and the preceding paragraph) or create an AutoText entry.

If this title is to be used in a TOC, then you will not want this
"Continued" in the TOC. For this, type "Continued" in a separate paragraph
uner the title and set the ¶ at the end of the title to hidden. (Or use a
style separator.)

I'd make one suggestion different from what Jean-Guy advised. Assuming the
table might ever break to a new page, you don't want your white rectangle
anchored to text outside it (and thereby left behind). Instead, anchor the
AutoShape to a paragraph in the first non-heading row of the table.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

"Jean-Guy Marcil" wrote in message
...
"Typeaux" wrote:

Having a table heading repeat across multiple pages is fine, but tables
often
have titles as well. Is there a way to tie a title to a particular table
(especially useful when there are multiple tables with the same heading
rows
that apply to different parts of a product, for example) so that the
title
repeats above the continued title? Also, is there a way to make the
continued
title inform the reader that the table is continued?

For example, if I want the title to read:
Table 2.1 Temperature Characteristics, RF Section

... and I want that title to repeat across pages, with subsequent pages
showing:
Table 2.1 Temperature Characteristics, RF Section (continued)

... is that possible in Word? Adobe FrameMaker handles this easily. I
can
find no provision for this in Word. If this feature is lacking, it is a
significant problem both for a technical writer and for the end user.
This
feature has been standard in technical documentation forever. If Word
can do
it, why is it hidden so well? Also, if Word has this capability, why
isn't
it covered in online help?

There is a "simple" (Depending on how familiar you are with Word...)
subfertuge you can use...

Include the title in the table as the first row. (Set the top, left and
right borders of this first row to "None" and merge all the cells.)
Add the word "Continued" at the end of the title.
Make the first two row "Repeat".
Place a borderless white rectangle over the word "Continued" in the first
row of the table. Make sure it is anchored to the paragraph immediately
above
the table, and not he the title paragraph itself, or it will be part of
the
repeat row (and hide "Continued" on all pages"). If you do not have a
paragraph immediately above the table, add a hidden one or a one-point
one.
ALso, make this paragraph "Keep with next."
Done!

To repeat this with other tables in the same document, just copy/paste
this
first row (and the preceding paragraph) or create an AutoText entry.

If this title is to be used in a TOC, then you will not want this
"Continued" in the TOC. For this, type "Continued" in a separate paragraph
uner the title and set the ¶ at the end of the title to hidden. (Or use a
style separator.)

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

I'd make one suggestion different from what Jean-Guy advised. Assuming the
table might ever break to a new page, you don't want your white rectangle
anchored to text outside it (and thereby left behind). Instead, anchor the
AutoShape to a paragraph in the first non-heading row of the table.

Yes, I guess it would be easier like this... I just thought that by using
"Keep With Next" it would be OK. However, it is true that "Keep with Next"
does not always behave as we think it should...

"Jean-Guy Marcil" wrote:

There is a "simple" (Depending on how familiar you are with Word...)
subfertuge you can use...

You will beg my pardon, but this has to rank among the Top Ten "Most
Inelegant Solutions" of all time. Apparently someone at Microsoft (all kneel)
has overlooked the fact that a gigantic number of documents undergo a
succession of revisions, often long after the original author has moved, left
the company or (alas) has died.

Therefore, this kind of klugey (read: Mickey Mouse) fix, however ingenious
(and sincerely, thank you for the post and the obvious effort to propose a
solution) and well intended, has all the earmarks of being purely diabolical
in nature in the event that a subsequent (and hapless) editor must go in and
change the tables at some future date. I can well imagine this individual
being me, and were I not by experience and training steeled against the
clever machinations of previous authors on many documents, might resort to
brief flashes of considering suicide.

I have used Word for many years, but generally for simpler documents. Some
companies still use it for creating entire books -- an endeavor generally
thought to be beyond its breeding by those who actually care about such
things.

While FrameMaker may have its own evil quirks, I find myself missing it
daily at this company. Ah well. It is an imperfect world, so best "to set
one's features into the expression of quiet optimism which it was advisable
to wear when facing the telescreen." [George Orwell, "1984"]

Thank you again for your efforts, nonetheless. I may well have need to make
use of your solution in another time and place. It is, I fear, unsuitable for
my current project do to its progressively-authored nature.

-- Typeaux

None of the people who have responded to this thread work for Microsoft. It
is however one of the things that we have been asking for since at least
1997.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

"Typeaux" wrote in message
...


"Jean-Guy Marcil" wrote:

There is a "simple" (Depending on how familiar you are with Word...)
subfertuge you can use...

You will beg my pardon, but this has to rank among the Top Ten "Most
Inelegant Solutions" of all time. Apparently someone at Microsoft (all
kneel)
has overlooked the fact that a gigantic number of documents undergo a
succession of revisions, often long after the original author has moved,
left
the company or (alas) has died.

Therefore, this kind of klugey (read: Mickey Mouse) fix, however ingenious
(and sincerely, thank you for the post and the obvious effort to propose a
solution) and well intended, has all the earmarks of being purely
diabolical
in nature in the event that a subsequent (and hapless) editor must go in
and
change the tables at some future date. I can well imagine this individual
being me, and were I not by experience and training steeled against the
clever machinations of previous authors on many documents, might resort to
brief flashes of considering suicide.

I have used Word for many years, but generally for simpler documents. Some
companies still use it for creating entire books -- an endeavor generally
thought to be beyond its breeding by those who actually care about such
things.

While FrameMaker may have its own evil quirks, I find myself missing it
daily at this company. Ah well. It is an imperfect world, so best "to set
one's features into the expression of quiet optimism which it was
advisable
to wear when facing the telescreen." [George Orwell, "1984"]

Thank you again for your efforts, nonetheless. I may well have need to
make
use of your solution in another time and place. It is, I fear, unsuitable
for
my current project do to its progressively-authored nature.

-- Typeaux

"Typeaux" wrote:



"Jean-Guy Marcil" wrote:

There is a "simple" (Depending on how familiar you are with Word...)
subfertuge you can use...

You will beg my pardon, but this has to rank among the Top Ten "Most
Inelegant Solutions" of all time. Apparently someone at Microsoft (all kneel)
has overlooked the fact that a gigantic number of documents undergo a
succession of revisions, often long after the original author has moved, left
the company or (alas) has died.

Therefore, this kind of klugey (read: Mickey Mouse) fix, however ingenious
(and sincerely, thank you for the post and the obvious effort to propose a
solution) and well intended, has all the earmarks of being purely diabolical
in nature in the event that a subsequent (and hapless) editor must go in and
change the tables at some future date. I can well imagine this individual
being me, and were I not by experience and training steeled against the
clever machinations of previous authors on many documents, might resort to
brief flashes of considering suicide.

I have used Word for many years, but generally for simpler documents. Some
companies still use it for creating entire books -- an endeavor generally
thought to be beyond its breeding by those who actually care about such
things.

While FrameMaker may have its own evil quirks, I find myself missing it
daily at this company. Ah well. It is an imperfect world, so best "to set
one's features into the expression of quiet optimism which it was advisable
to wear when facing the telescreen." [George Orwell, "1984"]

Thank you again for your efforts, nonetheless. I may well have need to make
use of your solution in another time and place. It is, I fear, unsuitable for
my current project do to its progressively-authored nature.

I understand that this is not personal, and I am not taking this personally.

However, while I will admit that FrameMaker is better in this regad and that
the solution I suggested (not knowing any other way of doing this) requires
manual handling, I still think you are over-reacting a tad... It is just a
white rectangle hiding a word...

I do not think it is diabolical, Mickey Mousy, part of the top ten most
inelegant solutions of all time or that it could lead to suicide!

If you are worry that subsequent editors will have problem with this, then I
will suggest another approach.

Bookmark the title that is above the table.
Split your table at the bottom of the first page where it occurs.
Copy/Paste the header row from the top of the table to the second page.
Then, at the top of the second page, add a merged row above the header row
you just pasted.
In that merged row, add a REF field to pick up the text from the preceding
page and add the word "Continued".

You should do this only once you have all the text and that the document has
been formatted to a near final state. This way you know that your table is
split at the right palce and that it will not move much. If it does, it is
just amatter of copying/pasting the rows that need to be moved from one page
to the other.

I have used this approach a few times with manuals that had over 1,000 pages
(not all of them laid out as tables..) and it was fairly painless and fast
once I got the hang of it. You can decide not to use the REF field/bookmark
step (above) and copy paste the text instead. You just need to remember to
change it in two locations if it gets edited later on.

Cheers.

Still inelegant, but maybe less diabolical!

"Doug Robbins - Word MVP" wrote:

None of the people who have responded to this thread work for Microsoft. It
is however one of the things that we have been asking for since at least
1997.

Thank you, Doug. I was just blowing off steam due to some pent up
frustration with the problem at hand, and my post was in no way intended to
be personal. Abject apologies if anyone took any offense whatsoever.

-- Typeaux

"Jean-Guy Marcil" wrote:

I understand that this is not personal, and I am not taking this personally.

Thank you, Jean-Guy. It was in no way intended to be a personal attack.

However, while I will admit that FrameMaker is better in this regard and that
the solution I suggested (not knowing any other way of doing this) requires
manual handling, I still think you are over-reacting a tad... It is just a
white rectangle hiding a word...

Therein lies the problem, I think, since it is not an *obvious* white
rectangle covering a word. Someone having to add another table to the string
in the future would likely be stymied by this solution. Some documents have
long lives.

I do not think it is diabolical, Mickey Mousy, part of the top ten most
inelegant solutions of all time or that it could lead to suicide!

My overstatement was intended to be humorous, though I confess it is
undeniably *dark* humor...

Let me say again that I appreciate your taking the time to describe in
impressive detail your fix for this problem. This shows cleverness and
fortitude on your part, and while it may well violate the current style guide
under which I'm laboring, I can see its usefulness for many other situations
where the document, as you put it, "is more or less stable."

I have used this approach a few times with manuals that had over 1,000 pages
(not all of them laid out as tables..) and it was fairly painless and fast
once I got the hang of it. You can decide not to use the REF field/bookmark
step (above) and copy paste the text instead. You just need to remember to
change it in two locations if it gets edited later on.

Still inelegant, but maybe less diabolical!

And I'm sure it works, given your obvious expertise and experience with it.
Again, thank you for thinking this through and sharing your solution. I must
remember that MS Word is a word processing program, not a full-fledged
desktop publishing solution, and as such certain... inadequacies, if you
will... are to be tolerated.

This company did try FrameMaker awhile back, but went about it wrong. They
purchased the program, gave it to a single writer who had never seen it, then
told the writer to "learn it quickly" without any training or support.
Naturally, this writer was overwhelmed (as was I the first time I tried to
use FrameMaker in much the same scenario back in 1996), and reported that she
could not learn it well enough in the short time alotted, so they sent it
back and maintained the attitude that it was just too difficult.

There is also the compatibility issues, since the Engineering staff all use
Word. It is never a simple solution.

My thanks again for your help and input, Jean-Guy.

-- Typeaux