WD2000: How to Create a Long Document in Word

This article describes the three methods for combining files in Microsoft Word 2000:

• Outline view (master document view)
• INCLUDETEXT field
• RD (Referenced Document) field

In this article, a long document (also referred to as a master document or main document) is defined as two or more documents that are combined (or referenced) in a specific order. For example, you can combine several chapters of a book that are saved as individual files in order to generate a table of contents and to print the files.

Definitions of terms used in this article:

Master document: A container document in which individual files are combined or joined together.

Subdocument: An individual file (document or chapter) that is inserted into the main document.

Outline View (Also Called Master Document View)

This feature, which was introduced in Microsoft Word for Windows version 6.0, is a special type of outline view that is used to create, add, and arrange subdocuments. The Outlining toolbar appears in outline view so that you can create, promote, and demote headings, expand and collapse body text, and work with subdocuments.

For additional information about master documents in Word 2000, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

IncludeText Field

The INCLUDETEXT field allows you to "chain" documents together into one main document. The entire contents of the subdocuments are brought into the main document in the order in which the fields are inserted. The subdocuments are usually linked in the main document, but you also can insert the subdocuments without linking them (see step 4 later in this section).

Benefits of using the INCLUDETEXT field to create a main document include the following:

• Easier page numbering, because the documents are in a continuous series.
• Accurate updates of files when the subdocuments are linked in the main document.
• Backward compatibility, because this functionality exists in all versions of Word for Windows.

A disadvantage of using the INCLUDETEXT field to create a main document is that the size of the main document can become very large. Because the contents of each subdocument are physically included, the main document's size becomes the sum of the subdocuments' sizes.

To insert a subdocument in your main document with the INCLUDETEXT field, follow these steps:

1. In the main document, position the insertion point where you want to locate the subdocument.
2. On the Insert menu, click File.
3. In the Insert File dialog box, click to select the document that you want to include in your main document.
4. To link the subdocument, click the arrow on the Insert button, and click Insert as Link. (To insert the file without linking it, click the Insert button.)
5. If the subdocument is linked, press ALT+F9 to verify that the INCLUDETEXT field displays the file name that you want.

For example, a main document that contains three linked files--Chapter1.doc, Chapter2.doc, and Chapter3.doc--looks similar to the following with field codes turned on: NOTE: To turn on field codes, either press ALT+F9 or click Options on the Tools menu. On the View tab, click to select the Field codes check box (under Show), and then click OK. When field codes are turned off, the entire contents of Chapters 1-3 are displayed.

A title page, table of contents, and index are usually inserted in the main document. You must remember to turn off hidden text and field codes before you update the table of contents and INDEX fields, so that the correct pagination and page numbers appear.

RD (Referenced Document) Field

Similar to the INCLUDETEXT field, the RD (Referenced Document) field allows you to "chain" subdocuments together. When you use the RD field, however, the entire contents of the subdocuments are not brought into the main document. Instead, Word references the documents in order to pull the required information into your main document.

IMPORTANT: The RD field has a hidden attribute, so you must view hidden text in order to edit the contents of the RD field. To view hidden text, click Options on the Tools menu. On the View tab, click to select Hidden text, and then click OK.

To use the RD field to reference a subdocument in your main document, follow these steps:

1. In the main document, position the insertion point where you want the subdocument to be referenced.
2. On the Insert menu, click Field.
3. In the Field names list, click RD.
4. Click the insertion point in the Field codes box, after the text RD.
5. Type the complete path to the subdocument within quotation marks, using double backslashes.
6. Click OK.
7. Repeat these steps for each subdocument that you want to reference.

The following example uses the same files as in the INCLUDETEXT example earlier in this article. In this example, the main document looks as follows (with hidden text displayed):
The benefits of using the RD field to create a main document include ease of creation, small file size, and backward compatibility with earlier versions of Microsoft Word.

A disadvantage of using the RD field to create a main document is that you must manually control the page number "start at" values so that subdocuments are numbered consecutively in the main document. This is because the RD field only references the existence of the subdocument on the hard disk. If the page numbering of each subdocument is set to start at 1, the page numbers are printed this way when the main document is printed.

The following example uses the same files as in the INCLUDETEXT example earlier in this article. In this example, if Chapter1.doc contains 15 pages, Chapter2.doc contains 20 pages, and Chapter3.doc contains 10 pages, the main document that is generated from RD fields is numbered as follows (instead of being numbered 1-45): Table of contents entries throughout the documents also reflect these numbers.

To number the pages of the three chapters consecutively from 1 through 45, you must set the starting page number value in Chapters 2 and 3. For example, the starting page number is 16 for Chapter2.doc and 36 for Chapter3.doc.

For more information about master documents, click Microsoft Word Help on the Help menu, type master document in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.

For more information about the INCLUDETEXT field, click Microsoft Word Help on the Help menu, type includetext in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.

For more information about the RD field, click Microsoft Word Help on the Help menu, type rd in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.

For more information about page numbers, click Microsoft Word Help on the Help menu, type page numbers in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.

For more information about tables of contents, click Microsoft Word Help on the Help menu, type tables of contents in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.