Enter AutoTextList field

Question

I'm totally stumped on creating an AutoTextList field. I'm using Word 2010 on XP for a large law firm with many auto text entries. Here's my problem:

• I choose Insert > Quick Parts > Field > AutoTextList.
• I enter Name under Field Properties > New value. The goal is to be able to choose from a series of initials, and then the user's full name fills in (which is why I call the field "Name").
• If this is all I do, then right clicking on the Name field displays a list of ALL the AutoText entries for the firm. I want this list to only display certain AutoText entries that start with x. For instance, xLCP.
• I understand that this is supposed to somehow be related to Styles. I read that you will only see AutoText entries that correspond with the style of the document that you put the field in, which is what I've done. In documents where this field works correctly, it's Normal style and I have it in Normal style in my new document.
• The AutoText entries are located in a Menu.dot file which I have located. The entries in that template are also in Normal style.

I have an example of a document that has this field showing up correctly. The field is called "Name", and when I right click I only see a specific list of options (all in the same format, xLCP, xRCC, xTJU, etc). So I know this is possible. Essentially I have two questions:

How do I narrow down the list of AutoText options I choose from when I right click the field?

How do I see how an existing field entry is coded? Like I said, I have a document with this field entered correctly, so if I could just see how that field was set up then I would know how to recreate it.

Any  help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Leah Peabbles

Answer 1

The lists certainly were created using a style. The way you'll know it is this: If styles aren't used, then right-clicking the AutoTextList field will display all the AutoText entries defined in both the document's base template and the current user's Normal.dotm template. If the list you see is limited to just the ones appropriate for the location, then a style was used to create the list.

The other way to see what was done -- and the only way to know the name of the style that was used for a particular list -- is to examine the field code of its AutoTextList field. In the template or in a document based on the template, press Alt+F9. (This is a shortcut for going to the Advanced page of the Options dialog and checking/unchecking the "Show field codes instead of their values" option.) You'll see something like this:

{ AUTOTEXTLIST "Name" \s "Names" \t "Right-click to select name" }

The text in quotes that comes after the \s -- in this case, Names -- is the style that was applied to each item when it was made into an AutoText entry. (Press Alt+F9 again to change the display back to the field value.)

If the AutoText entries are stored in the Normal.dotm template, they would be available in all documents on your computer, regardless of which template a particular document was based on. However, they wouldn't work on anyone else's computer unless you copied the entries to their Normal.dotm. While that's possible, it's a bit fiddly and almost impossible to maintain if the list changes.

If the AutoText entries are stored in the individual templates used to create documents, instead of the Normal.dotm template, then the templates are all independent of each other. You cannot "break" a working template by putting other entries into a different template, and updating a template for all users is as simple as copying it to each computer.

To control which template stores an AutoText entry at the time you create the entry by pressing Alt+F3, open the "Save in" dropdown in the dialog box and select the proper template before clicking OK.  If you need to copy it later to a different template, go to Insert > Quick Parts > Building Block Organizer, select the entry, click the Edit Properties button, and change the Save In dropdown.

Answer 2

See the article "How to add pop-up lists to any Word document, so you can click your way through changes in seconds” at:

http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/AutoTextList.htm

While that was written for an earlier version of Word, the procedure is still the same with the exception of Step 6.

After selecting the list, click on CTRL+SHIFT+s to display the Apply Styles dialog and into the Style Name: control, type ProductStyle and then click on the New button

You will find it easier to select the items, without the highlighting the Paragraph Mark ¶, if you go to File>Options>Advanced>Editing options and uncheck the box for "Use smart paragraph selection"

Answer 3

THANK YOU! That's exactly what I needed! I see now that the Style was called "Name", so I can copy that process and recreate it. That is also good to know because there are many more of these fields in the existing templates. 

Thank you!

Leah

Answer 4

Hi Doug, 

Thanks for your reply. The problem I'm having is that these are already set up and working in other templates. I don't want to try to recreate them for fear of breaking this process in the existing templates. 

Is there a way for me to reverse engineer this and see how the working fields were set up? I can't see anything that indicates that the lists were created using Styles, but that doesn't mean that isn't the case. 

I have working templates with a Name field that displays the correct options. Is there a way for me to see how they are set up?

Thank you for your help. If I was starting from scratch, your answer would have been very helpful. 

Leah