Hi All,



I may be a bit stupid and missing the point but please help stop a guy chewing the desk in frustration.

Lots of journeys setting up my report templates, documented on this site. I now have things set up in word 2016 with half a dozen .dotx files which suit my needs but.....

I would like the conclusion/ executive summary which is a half dozen paragraphs to repeat in a second place in the document without having to cut and paste.

Am I missing something simple?

I have tried:

Insert quick part, copy and paste- No problem but cannot enter more than one paragraph without selecting allow carriage returns. If I do this it justifies the text 'justified' and spreads lines across whole page, even if paragraph only one word.

Insert text content control box, cut and paste, results variable but not consistent.

Insert text content control box cut and paste special 'link' This works but gives rise to warnings every time the document is opened about copying from a different document and does not work when saved in a template.

Many other tings tried in desperation but I think that is the main ones.

Your forbearance and help would be appreciated!

Thanks, Barney.

PS, one other issue to follow but will get to the bottom of this one first (I hope)

To duplicate what you type, the simplest method is a mapped content control. If it is a plain text control, you could use one of the built-in document property content controls. Repeating Data Using Document Properties Content Controls and Other Mapped Content Controls

For Rich Text, you would need to map it yourself. You can use a utility that will do this for you.

• Insert Content Control Add-In
• Content Control Tools by Greg Maxey

As for the justification, that likely depends on the paragraph setting in which the control is found.

Hello Charles,

Many thanks for taking the time to look.

I am absolutely happy with the easiest and simplest and at the moment think plain text would be fine.

However, I am thinking (please correct me if I am wrong (I hope so)) that I cannot copy a number of paragraphs this way as when I insert carriage returns the justified pagination is all over the place??

Thanks again,

Barney.

Justified pagination has nothing to do with the process of pasting text into a CC. It has everything to do with other formatting.

• The formatting of the original text and
• The formatting of the the paragraph holding the CC.

You are welcome to share a sample of your source and destination documents.
How to attach a screenshot or file in this forum.

You can do it either by using linked Rich Text Content Controls or by bookmarking the first instance and then using a Cross-Reference field to that bookmark for the second instance.

In my opinion, the Rich Text CCs is a superior method for two reasons:
1. Either instance can be edited to change the other
2. The changes are reflected in the other instance as soon as your cursor leaves the CC.

__________________
Andrew Lockton
Chrysalis Design, Melbourne Australia

Hi Andrew,


I think the term I am familiar with is mapping rather than linking, as in mapped to an XML node.


Barnaby,
This is what I provided links about.

Yes thanks Charles.

I should have said 'mapped' CCs which are both mapped to the same custom xml element.

__________________
Andrew Lockton
Chrysalis Design, Melbourne Australia

Hi Charles,

I am understanding and making progress with this and have followed and tried the links and advice you have suggested (obviously not absolutely as I still have an issue.)

I think a built in plain text content control will be fine for my purposes. However, there is still the justification issue.

However I slice the CC formatting or paragraph formatting I cannot get it to justify correctly, ie I can justify right, left but not 'justified'.

Any ideas for my to see wood for trees?

Thanks as ever,

Barney

Apologies, phantom post, I thought I had solved but hadn't.

Barney.

You have line breaks, not paragraph breaks. That matters for justification.

Again, a sample of Word files, not screenshots, can help us help you. Needed - a file with the Content Control and a file with the source material.

Plain text Content Controls don't allow paragraph marks in them. If you set the CC property to 'allow carriage returns (multiple paragraphs)', this allows you to type a carriage return but it appears in the CC as a line break.

So all plain text CCs get their paragraph formatting from the paragraph in which they are placed. That paragraph formatting is independent of the text inside the CCs themselves.

__________________
Andrew Lockton
Chrysalis Design, Melbourne Australia

Hi All,

Many thanks for your help, sweeping up your thoughts and links and some web research I have managed to reach my destination.

For those that come after and hoping I manage to use the right words (right order would I suppose be good too) I summarise:

1. To repeat a number of paragraphs of text requires the use of a mapped rich text content control.
2. Because of this there is no point in looking at quick part document properties which is where you will be taken as soon as you google content controls.
3. Once you start looking at content controls and inserting them via the developer menu none of the options offered except rich text content control are useful and they are what nearly all the tutorials teach you about.
4. The various add ins are (I assume) fine but I didn't want to weigh the system down when there was one simple task I was after so...
5. Via another source (Repeat Text in MS Word by Mapping Content Controls with the XML Pane - YouTube), which lead to a small amount of code (Below) on Mr Maxey's site (Content Control Enhancements In Word 2013) I created a text file and imported it via the XML mapping pane and added a rich text content control to my document which then can be copied and pasted.

That code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<DemoXMLNode xmlns="XXX">
<Conclusion></Conclusion>
</DemoXMLNode>

I am now happy.

I guess I am at a difficult stage, specific requirements in the use of Word which are not easy and intuitive and being a yacht surveyor rather than a programmer I run out of vocabulary quickly.

In the end I wiggled there slowly but (simply in my humble opinion) duplicating a few paragraphs of text in a (template) document shouldn't be that difficult and I did have to cut through acres of irrelevant chaff to get there.

Thanks all for your help!

Barney