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Navigation Aids for Long Word Documents (3)

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If your document is heavily illustrated with figures that have captions, Word can create a"Table of Figures" (TOF) from them. It will collect the text from all of the captions in the document that were created with the 'Caption' command on the 'Insert' menu, or from any other text that is formatted with the 'Caption' style.

Here are the detailed steps for creating a TOF - they are very similar to those used to create a 'Table of Contents' (TOC):

1. Add a caption to every figure you want to include in the TOF by using the 'Caption' command on the 'Insert' menu, or select existing figure captions and apply the 'Caption' style to them.

2. Move the insertion point to the place where you want the TOF to appear.

3. Choose 'Index and Tables' from the 'Insert' menu to display the 'Index and Tables' dialog box.

4. Click the TOF (Table of Figures) tab to display the options shown in the box.

5. Select a table format from the 'Formats' list at the bottom and you can see how different formats will look in the 'Preview' boxes near the top.

6. Set other options, such as to change the label used for figures in the 'Caption label' list, to hide page numbers or change their alignment by un-checking the 'Show page numbers' and 'Right align page numbers' boxes, or to hide the figure label and figure number and display only the text in each caption by un-checking the 'Include label and number' box.

7. Click 'OK' and Word will create the TOF for you.

As with a TOC, you can also modify the contents of a TOF by just selecting and changing text in it manually, or you can use a dialog box to set certain options. Below are the steps to change a TOF using the 'Table of Figures Options' dialog box:

1. Choose 'Index and Tables' from the 'Insert' menu and click the 'Table of Figures' tab.

2. Click the 'Options' button and Word will display the 'Table of Figures Options' dialog box.

3. Check the 'Style' check box to choose the style that identifies text you want to include in the TOF.

4. Check the 'Table Entry Fields' to choose the letter that identifies the TOF. Typically, this letter is 'F' for a TOF entry field, but you can still change it to collect text from other table entry fields instead if you like.

5. Click 'OK' to return to the 'Index and Tables' dialog box and click 'OK' to recreate the TOF.

6. Word will then ask if you want to replace the TOF. Click 'Yes' to replace the old TOF or 'No' to add a new TOF.

Notice very carefully that you can choose only one style for inclusion in a TOF. If you pick a different style and recreate the TOF, it will contain only the figure captions formatted with that style. Any previously listed captions formatted with a different style will be deleted from the TOF.

Furthermore, you can easily update an existing TOF to reflect changes in your document by just right-clicking in it and choose 'Update Field' from the shortcut menu.

Next time I will tell you how to create a Table of Authorities (TOA).

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(Email address: 'Daniel_KC_To@police.gov.hk')