Does Word 2010 have a repeating content control like Word 2013?

Question

Hi,

Is there any 3rd party application or plug in that I can use for Microsoft Word 2010 to replicate the repeating section content control in Microsoft Word 2013?  I'm currently using a 2013 Word template and OpenXml but when I open the document in Word 2010, the repeating section content controls (I'm using it in a table) only displays the first row.  Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Sorry, don't have access to my 2013 right now. What occurs to me is that you should look at Repeating Data (Populating Multiple Like Fields) and Mapped Content Controls.

They may provide what you are looking for.

Answer 2

Thanks for the links Charles.  But I need the repeating section content control in Word 2010, similar to the new feature in Word 2013.  Do you have any ideas on this? 

Thanks.

Answer 3

Thanks for the links Charles.  But I need the repeating section content control in Word 2010, similar to the new feature in Word 2013.  Do you have any ideas on this? 

Thanks.

The links show how to do much what that control does, I believe, in Word 2007 and 2010.

New, means, ... new. That content control is not a feature in Word 2010. Word 2010 does not have a repeating content control, as such.

What's new with content controls in Word 2013?

What, specifically, are you trying to do that is not addressed by the two articles? The first shows how to repeat information typed in one place throughout a document. The second shows how to make it so that changes in one place change the content in all similarly mapped controls.

Answer 4

What I'm trying to do is this:

I have this table in a Word template:

Now the data will come from the XML file that I programmatically load to the Word template.  Each row is a repeating section content control and the number of rows is dynamic.  When I open the generated file in Word 2013, it displays fine, but when I open it in Word 2010, the table only shows one row.

Answer 5

What I'm trying to do is this:

I have this table in a Word template:

Now the data will come from the XML file that I programmatically load to the Word template.  Each row is a repeating section content control and the number of rows is dynamic.  When I open the generated file in Word 2013, it displays fine, but when I open it in Word 2010, the table only shows one row.

The answer to your title question: "Does Word 2010 have a repeating content control like Word 2013" is "NO, this is new to Word 2013." It does not work in earlier versions of Word; they do not know what to do with it.

If you want to do this in Word 2010 you have to use something different. The Word 2013 control will not work in earlier versions of Word. If you want your document/template to be used in those versions you have to do something else. Generally when MS adds a feature to the program it is so that a user can do something that would be difficult to do without the feature (or because it looks pretty to corporate buyers).

Please expand on what you mean by "the data will come from the XML file that I programmatically load to the Word template." In what way is this different from a mail merge? Could a label or directory mail merge serve the same purpose?

I realize that this may mean that you will have to restructure how you get your data into your document and mean extra work.