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I've seen too many files squeeze in right under a filing or courier deadline. Everything is in order, the document content, footnotes, citations and your tables. Just prior to, or after clicking the final save, send or print command, the table of authorities and table of contents are updated and they fall apart: page numbering is incorrect, text mysteriously appears or disappears from within the table, and formatting takes on a whole new look (and not for the better). I don't see this scenario changing much. Last-minute edits are the nature of the beast. I won't even go into the frayed nerves! What can change is understanding why tables fall apart in the first place, and how to get that file out the door in an acceptable format. You can worry about fixing the file at a later time.

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES TEXT

When using Microsoft Word's built-in feature for creating a TOA, the following field tags will be inserted directly after the citations:

The Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania v. Davis, No. 84-0262 (M.D. Pa. 1984):

{•TA•\I•"The•Libertarian•Party•of•Pennsylvania•v.•Davis,•No.•84-0262•

(M.D.,•Pa.•1984)"•\s•"The•Libertarian•Party•of•Pennsylvania•v.

•Davis"•\c•1•}¶

As you mark, Word asks you to categorize the citation and mark it accordingly: Is the cite being marked as a Case, Statute, Rule, etc.? Each category will result in its own field when generated on your table page. For example, in the two TOA fields below, "1" refers to all cites marked as a Case and "2" refers to all cites marked as a Statute:

{ TOA \H \C "1" \P }{ TOA \H \C "2" \P }

Why is this important to know? Because the text within the original citation field tag is what Word looks for when updating the table field. And not what may have been typed directly into or deleted from the table itself, or how you may have edited the citation text within the document. The field tag is the source text for your table content.

When clicking the "Show/Hide" button in the Word toolbar or Word 2007's Home Ribbon, the field tag will either be displayed or hidden. If you are changing any of the citation text in the document, be sure to show the TOA tags and edit those as well. You may even consider copying and pasting the text from the document directly into the tag. This way you can be sure the document text and table text are in harmony.

TOA TABLE FORMATTING

This comes into play when actually inserting the TOA. A common mistake is to choose "Formats: From template." This choice leads Word to try and mimic the document formatting. The best bet is to use one of the other predefined formats. It may or may not have the flair you're looking for, but when updating, it will remain true to the format and not change with the document formatting. Besides, most legal documents don't really require formatting flair.

What if you've done that and the formatting still changes after updating the field? If that's the case, someone more than likely applied "direct formatting" within the TOA. Again, when updating, Word is going to look to the specific format chosen when inserting the table and revert back to that.

PAGE NUMBERING IS OFF

The cause is probably the result of someone typing/deleting the additional citation information directly into the table, to reflect the new or deleted citation information in the document. Here again, Word is looking for those TOA field tags, the text within those tags and the page the citation is residing on. When the table is updated, those tags are analyzed, and the table is generated based on the information provided by those tags.

TEST YOUR TABLE FIRST

"Testing" is something that really should be done on a copy or separate version of the file. Never test a new feature on your original file, particularly if you are looking at a deadline. Select the entire TOA (keep in mind the table fields as shown below) and press F9. This is the manual method of updating fields. Word or a metadata cleaner may do this automatically. After a careful review, is everything in order? If so, congratulations. If not, undo and read on.

CIRCUMVENTING THE UPDATE

Word automatically updates fields at certain points in the history of the file as do many metadata removal tools in the event pagination has changed due to cleaning file content. You have several options if you choose to avoid the update and related changes. You can either "LOCK" the Table field so it doesn't get updated, or you can "UNLINK" (convert) the entire table field to text. The latter strips out the underlying table field and replaces it with raw text. Either of the methods below will keep the table from being updated:

• Lock the field by selecting your entire Table of Authorities and press CTRL + F11;

• Unlock the field by selecting the entire table and press CTRL + SHIFT + F11; or

• Unlink the field by selecting your entire Table of Authorities and press CTRL + SHIFT + F9.

After using one of these methods, select the entire table and press F9 to be sure nothing is updated/changed.

GENERATING THE TABLE OF CONTENTS

The table of contents can be generated with marked field tags or with Styles (more common than field tags). When marking TOC text, the same rules will apply when Word updates the table. It's the text within the TOC field tag that will be used in the table. If you are using Styles, then it is the paragraph text that will be used in the table.

As for formatting the TOC, again, the best choice may be something other than "Formats: From template." Applying direct formatting to the TOC will result in that formatting being stripped out when the field is updated. The format will revert back to what was chosen when the table was first generated.

Test your table first, just as you did with the TOA. The TOC field can be locked, unlocked or unlinked just as with TOA fields.

Utilizing Word's built-in, or "native" features for marking text and generating the tables is the best way to go. Your ongoing challenge is to limit the number of people who are determined to get their hands on the file. Unfortunately, this scenario as well as last-minute edits is probably going to remain the norm rather than the exception.

The table below, shows the most commonly used keyboard shortcuts when working with fields.

Be prepared. It makes sense to get familiar with the document setup well before your deadline arrives. When the time comes, you can determine how to move forward before the TOA or TOC fields are updated.

Sue Hughes is the Lead Integration Specialist for PayneGroup's Metadata Assistant. In this capacity, she serves as subject matter expert on all things metadata and Microsoft Office. Hughes is a Microsoft Certified Trainer, Microsoft Certified Application Specialist Instructor and Microsoft Certified Professional for Office 2007. Prior to joining PayneGroup in February 2007, she spent 19 years providing software training and support to a cross-section of professionals including 13 years with Foster Pepper in Seattle.