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More document linking and embedding

More tips and details about putting one Word document inside another.

Following our article on Word linking and embedding in Office for Mere Mortals, here’s some additional tips and help to do things not allowing in the Word dialog boxes.


Making it permanent

For future reference you’ll want the main document you send out to be ‘fixed’ so that it shows exactly what was sent out. For example, you may need to know the exact Terms and Conditions sent to a client without any later changes.

Linking from a source document is great but there’s the risk that, at a later time, the main document will be opened and show the latest version of the source document – not the one at the time of publication/sending. This is the sort of thing that can make legal disputes get very messy indeed.

Any archive copy of a document should reflect the details published at that time.

An embedded document doesn’t change unless it’s edited. The import process from the source file is a one-time operation.

You can disconnect a linked document, leaving only the version used at the time of linking in several ways:



  • Unlink the field using Ctrl+Shift+F9 . That’s what Microsoft calls converting a field code into the result permanently. Select the linked text/field code then use the shortcut. The field code will be removed and replaced with the linked document content only. There is usually no visible change.
  • Lock a field. Ctrl + F11 will lock a field code so it’s value isn’t updated.
  • Manual update only – remove the A switch from the LINK field. This will only stop automatic updates.

We generally suggest the Unlink field option. It’s the safest and easiest to understand.


Location, Location, Location

The location of the dynamically linked source file is very important. If the source file is moved then the link is broken and the main document isn’t updated.

The simplest solution is to have the main and source documents in the same folder. If that’s the case you can change the LINK field inserted by Microsoft. By default, Word inserts the full path to the linked document, even it’s in the same folder as the main document.

You can fix that by revealing the field code (Alt + F9) and removing the path. For example

“C:UsersFredDaggDocumentsSheepDip.docx” becomes just

“SheepDip.docx”

Now the main and linked document can be moved around, as long as they are in the same folder, the linkage will work.

The document location needs to have double-slashes where you would normally have one.

“C:UsersFredDaggDocumentsSheepDip.docx” becomes

“C:UsersFredDaggDocumentsSheepDip.docx”

a network path looks like this:

“FARMFredDaggDocumentsSheepDip.docx” – yes, that’s four slashes at the start!

It’s a good idea to put double quotes around the path/document name even if it’s not strictly needed.

The LINK field does NOT support relative paths like “.SubFolderDoc.docx” – it should because that would let users move an entire folder/subfolder tree to another location with all the links still in place.


Linking part of a document

It’s possible to link from a part of a source document, not the whole document. For a Word source document this is done via bookmarks setup in the source document.

Create a bookmark in the source document that covers the entire part of the document you want to link from. Create the link in the main document as usual, then expose the field code by pressing Alt + F9

{ LINK Word.Document.12 “SERVERRefsDoc linking source.docx” “” a f 0 p }

The default field code supplied by Word includes a mysterious set of empty double quotes – the bookmark name goes into those quotes. This option is very finicky; it doesn’t tolerate even a leading space in the bookmark name.

{ LINK Word.Document.12 “SERVERRefsDoc linking source.docx” “TermsandConditions” a f 0 p }

Using bookmarks lets you put all your linkable text into a single reference document or have other text (notes, headings) in the source document.


Formatting

By default, the formatting of the source document is retained in the main document. However you can change that with the f switch.

When you’re linking from a Word document, the relevant options are:

f 0 – source document formatting is retained.

f 2 – the main/destination document’s formatting is applied to the linked text.

For this to work effectively, make sure the main and source documents use the same style names.

There is a single space between the f and the digit.


It’s a picture

By default, a linked document is displayed as a quasi-picture in the main document.

It’s not a full picture in Word terms, for example you don’t get the full image formatting options or tab that you’d usually see.

However you can click on the linked text then resize it with the box ‘handles’ just like any other image. Right-click on the linked text and choose ‘Format Object’ for more formatting options like wrapping around other text.


LINK field options

There are other options for the LINK field code which are not in any Word dialog box, but can be useful.

They are detailed by Microsoft here.

Advanced Word mavens may want to link using a specific format in the main document:

B – Bitmap

H – HTML Text

P – Picture (the default)

R – Rich Text Format

T – Text only

U – Unicode text


Alternatives

You don’t need to use document linking or embedding to store boilerplate text and put it into documents.

Another choice, especially for smaller blocks of text is AutoText. This lets you store chunks of content in a document or template and paste it into a document. Word 2007/2010 has AutoText on the Insert tab under Quick Parts where it’s now part of the Building Blocks feature. Word 2003: Insert menu, AutoText.

AutoCorrect can also be used to store commonly used phrases and insert them via a shorter code word.

There is also Master Documents – which is a more complicated version of the linking documents concept. It’s more commonly used to bring together large chapters or sections (in separate documents) into a single ‘master’ document for pagination, Table of Contents, Index etc.

At risk of stating the obvious, instead of Embedding you can open the source document, copy the parts you want and paste them into the main document.

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