Preconfigured Fields On Word Don'T Show Up On Word Update The Available

Inside the braces, type if and press Ctrl F9 to insert a second set of field braces.

They perform simple tasks, such as returning the current date or current page number, but theyre much more than that.

You can use them to ask questions, make decisions based on specific conditions, and perform calculations.

In this article, Ill show you the basics you need to know to start utilizing this powerful and flexible feature in your Word documents.

Interface insertion Using Words interface to insert fields is great while youre learning or if you dont remember all of a fields options.

You can access fields as follows: Position the cursor where you want to insert the field.

In Word 2003, choose Field from the Insert menu and skip to step 5.

Narrow your search by choosing an item from the Categories drop-down.

Preconfigured Fields On Word Don'T Show Up On Word Update The Available

Doing so will update the available fields in the Field Names list below.

Figure B shows the different options available for the Page field.

Doing so takes a bit of practice, so dont be discouraged if you find this process a bit awkward at first: Position the cursor where you want to insert the field.

Press Ctrl F9 to display an empty set of field braces, as shown in Figure C.

You can also enter the field code (the text) first, select it, and press Ctrl F9 to enclose the text in field braces.

Note: Dont try to enter a field by typing brace characters from the keyboard; it wont work.

Toggling When entering a field manually, you press F9 to generate and display its results.

To toggle between the field code and its resulting value, select the entire field and press Shift F9.

So if you open a document and see field codes instead of results, simply press Alt F9 to toggle them all.

Youll use this toggling feature when youre inserting complex fields, and its great for debugging.

You can also print the fields for documentation purposes.

Editing Edit a field by right-clicking it and choosing Edit Field to open the Field dialog box you learned about in 1.

Or toggle the field as you learned in 3 and you can edit the fields directly.

Right-clicking a field also offers two other options: Update Field and Toggle Field Codes, which are self-explanatory.

Calculating Pressing Alt F9 toggles between fields and their results, and it doesnt matter where the cursor is.

If a field doesnt update as you expect, make sure the cursor is inside the field and try again.

If you cant find the field, toggle the display (3).

Expressions Field expressions combine fields and other values to return unique results.

Lets enter a field expression that displays the filename for the current document, but only on the last page: Position the cursor in the document where you want to display the filename --most likely youll use the header or footer.

Preconfigured Fields On Word Don'T Show Up On Word For Mac