Hello everybody!

I am about to lose my mind trying to create this [insert bad language] header field.



So in my current document I want the current chapter name displayed in the header. Nothing easier than that using the Styleref Header 1 field. But this field returns an error
on pages with no header 1. Now I want to create an If field that does not return an error, but this is where I struggle.

My code: IF STYLEREF 1 = "Error!*", "", STYLEREF 1

While I am very good at VBA and creating functions in Excel, I have no clue how the syntax here works...

The IF field in Word is case-sensitive. You need the field braces inserted by Word (not typed).

See Paul Edstein (macropod)'s answer here for the exact construction you need: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...6-0f75eb57279e


This is also shown in the portion of my page on fields at: StyleRef fields.

It should only return an error when there is no text using Heading 1 anywhere in the document, not just on that page.

Note, there is a big difference between header and heading styles.
What is the difference between headings and headers?

Thanks for the quick reply, Charles!

I have seen that post, but it does not work for me.

I have attached a picture of my code. As you can see this outputs "Heading 1" even though there is currently no header in that document,

Attached Images

test.png.jpg (30.3 KB, 16 views)

As Paul said, you cannot set this up using any of Word's dialogs. It has to be typed into the document and you need to use Ctrl+F9 to insert the field braces.

Your field does not look like his. It does not have the same structure.

His: {IF{STYLEREF "StyleName"}<> "Error!*" {STYLEREF "StyleName"}}
Yours originally: {IF STYLEREF 1 = "Error!*", "", STYLEREF 1}
Yours from the dialog: {IF STYLEREF "Heading 1" <> "Error!*" "" STYLEREF "Heading 1"}

If you edit the field you have from the dialog and select: STYLEREF "Heading 1"
then press Ctrl+F9 to make that a StyleRef field, it should work. Right now, it is being read as text rather than as the field.


If you used Alt+F9 to toggle field code display, after you are done editing the field, remember to toggle display of field results back on. If you used Shift+F1 to toggle an individual field, press F9 to update the field.


Note the missing braces, and the added commas. Your original field does not follow the required field syntax although it would be good as an Excel function or in vba. Your second does not have the nested StyleRef fields. Remember, too, that the spaces are important.

Thanks for clearing this up. I read Paul's post at least twice but apparently I was blind or stupid or both. It works now!

This stuff is complex and finicky. It makes most of vba look easy! Paul is the master of fields. He has a number of tutorials pinned to the beginning of this forum. They are worth downloading and perusing.