Caption Label Disapeared - Table of Figures - Unable to find entries - Unable to 'Continue" with new labels.

Product: MS Word 2013 (via MS Office 365 Subscription Small Business Premium - not an option in the list of products)

Using Table of Figures and Insert Caption:  I created a new caption "Label" (value "Fig."), and created a set of captions for figures.  I confirmed use, format, and ability to create a Table of Figures, by inserting Table of Figures at end of document.  I saved the document, but did not save changes to Normal.dot, and closed the document.  When I returned to the document, it appears that the label "Fig." is gone. I can continue to update the table, but the label ("Fig.") is missing.  Insert Table of Figures results in the inserted value "No table of figures entries found". (Despite the fact that I can SEE the captions.)


I can insert NEW captions using a NEW label.  The NEW label starts at sequence value 1.   There are instructions for setting the Sequence number (using the "/r" switch in the code macro.  This seems to work about 50% of the time - it works inconsistently.  I can even create a NEW label with the same string value as the previous one ("Fig.") but Insert Table of Figures only inserts any newly created captions - and does not pick up the old ones.  (I note that when I look at the macro code for the old "Table of Figures" table it shows the code as "{TOC \h \z \c "Fig. "} (with space after the "Fig."), and the value "Fig." is italicized.  When I create a NEW label with same apparent value, the string "Fig." is not italicized.  I do not see any way to italicize or set style on the actual label in label creation. My guess - and its only that - is that MS Word keeps the Labels in the Normal template (why?  I don't know, and thus not saving 'normal' resulted in the label being lost - and the list of Captions being orphaned.)  If I delete the old table of figures, I cannot recreate it - but I can keep it and it will update correctly.  Not a good solution as this is a living document. 


So, the questions are::  Is there a way to tell MS Word to (a) continue to use the existing figure captions and to continue the sequence?  Or create a new sequence, and caption set, but include the existing.  Advice?  Help?



(As an aside,  I attempted to get phone support on this question as Small Business Premium Subscription is a 'supported' product.  2 hours, 7 phone calls, 2 chats, 1 dropped remote session (with no call back - after getting my # and promising to) and 2 dropped 'transfers' later (after also getting my phone number),  I gave up.  Some of the most abysmal technical support interaction I've ever experienced and at this point we've all experienced some pretty bad interactions.  I couldn't even get to someone that knew enough to look at this, much less solve it or contribute to a solution - or even just acknowledge that its a bug.  Microsoft ?  I knew you when you were at least smart if not cool.  You got to try harder!)

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Your assumption is quite correct: Word stores caption labels in the Normal template (this has been the case going back to Word 97, at least). Labels can't be saved to documents; obviously it would make more sense if that was possible.

You should be able to recreate a "lost" caption label, though. If you look at the SEQ field codes, which label is being used there?
Stefan Blom
Microsoft 365 Word MVP since 2005
Volunteer Moderator (Office)
MS 365, Win 11 Pro
~~~~
Please note that I do not work for Microsoft
MVP program info: https://mvp.microsoft.com/
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I created a new label with the same apparent string value as the old.

The label being used is "Fig. ".

"Old"  and new captions look identical unexpanded: "Fig.  25 - blah blah bla" and expanded:
"Fig. { SEQ Fig.  \* ARABIC } - blah blah blah".

Here is what the expanded Table of Figures code looks like for both Old and New also look identical:
 { TOC \h \z \c "Fig. " }

Old Table of Figures (works with  Update Table but not with "Insert Table" produces a list of 37 Figures.

New Table of Figures  "Insert Table" produces a single line "Fig. 1 kjhlokhdf" but  "Update Field" (Update entire table),  results in "no table of figures entries found".

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Although off and on, even the MS instructions have said that the TOC is looking for the caption label, that is not correct.  It is looking for the SEQ identifier, which  may be different from the caption label.  First, expand all of your figure number caption fields and make all of your figure SEQ identifiers the same.  You can do this quickly by replacing "F*" with "Fig"or some such (I would approve each replacement, though).   Then change the argument after the \c switch to "Fig" in the TOC field.  

That should fix the problem. Pls let us know.


Pamelia Caswell

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Thank you, Stefan for this information.  I have helped many people fix SEQ fields and caption numbering but I never understood why  caption labels  disappeared until your post today. 
Pamelia Caswell

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Hello Pam and Stefan,  Thanks for your help.

These instructions PARTIALLY worked.  I can substitute a different string for the Label in the Sequence number (SEQ and following the \c switch. In this case I substituted "XX_YY" for "Fig." in both the SEQ field code and the TOC field code, and then did an Update TOC.  It picked up all the XX_YY labeled Captions.  I did learn that the preceding space  in the quoted string is important
{ TOC \h \z \c " XX_YY" } ).  While the label does not include a space (it is unquoted) it seems that the TOC field code assumes this.  This is really nearly the same result that I had before - namely that its possible to re-update an existing table, only now see the rules for creating a new TOC for Figures.

It is even possible to create new captions now by copying and pasting while in Field Code viewing mode.

What does not seem to work is creating (or recreating) a Label in the Insert function (ie "XX_YY"), then using Insert Caption to insert it somewhere. I've even tried various combinations of adding the spaces in the quoted string, or playing with them in various ways, there seems to be a label mismatch.   There is still some secret pattern matching rule (spaces / no spaces / label preceding the SEQ field code must match, or some other pattern that eludes me.

I appreciate the help, but at this point its academic.  I needed to move on and recreated the label set.

Does MS Word use of Normal.dot for storing labels mean that sharing this document also requires sharing my Normal.dot template and requiring the recipient to override their Normal.dot?

THanks,
Joel. 

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Usually, Word creates an identifier for the SEQ field which is identical to the caption label you created, but not always (as you have seen). For example, in Word 2013, if I create a label called "Fig. " (with a period and a space, but no quotation marks of course), I get { SEQ Fig _ \ * ARABIC } with field codes displayed. Recreating the label may the easiest fix for your document...

Note that you don't need the caption label for (existing) captions to work correctly.

Stefan Blom
Microsoft 365 Word MVP since 2005
Volunteer Moderator (Office)
MS 365, Win 11 Pro
~~~~
Please note that I do not work for Microsoft
MVP program info: https://mvp.microsoft.com/
~~~~

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Hi All;

This bug also has been appeared with me. I tried to solve it, but it didn't solve until now.

This is a work around to overcome this bug, as:

Copy any old caption of any image, hence pest it for your desired location (under Image you want), then right click on this caption and update it. its number will be updated to the next number in yours caption label order.

Hope this is helpful.  

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I have no idea which "bug" you are referring to. How captions and caption labels behave in Word are described in the previous posts in this (now rather old) thread.
Stefan Blom
Microsoft 365 Word MVP since 2005
Volunteer Moderator (Office)
MS 365, Win 11 Pro
~~~~
Please note that I do not work for Microsoft
MVP program info: https://mvp.microsoft.com/
~~~~

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I have no idea which "bug" you are referring to. How captions and caption labels behave in Word are described in the previous posts in this (now rather old) thread.

I refer to jrigler question about; 

" Caption Label Disapeared - Table of Figures - Unable to find entries - Unable to 'Continue" with new labels." 

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 I refer to jrigler question about; 

" Caption Label Disapeared - Table of Figures - Unable to find entries - Unable to 'Continue" with new labels." 

jrigler's post is exactly what is discussed here. I'm not sure what point you are trying to make.

If you want to share an idea with the forum, start a new Discussion thread instead. If you have a new question, start a new Question thread. Use the Ask the Community link at the top right of a forums page. 

Stefan Blom
Microsoft 365 Word MVP since 2005
Volunteer Moderator (Office)
MS 365, Win 11 Pro
~~~~
Please note that I do not work for Microsoft
MVP program info: https://mvp.microsoft.com/
~~~~

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Last updated May 15, 2024 Views 11,584 Applies to: