Duplicate Bookmarks in Subdocuments Not Renamed

ID: Q117306

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
Microsoft Word for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, versions 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.1a

SYMPTOMS

When you insert two or more subdocuments into a master document and the subdocuments contain identical bookmarks, you will receive the following error message for each duplicate bookmark found:

   Bookmark '<bookmarkname>' exists in both the subdocument being
   added (<subdocumentname.doc>) and the master document. Would you
   like to rename the bookmark in the subdocument?

If you click Yes or Yes To All, Word will not rename the bookmarks inside the fields of your subdocuments. Word will rename each subsequent bookmark internally, by appending a number to the name. For example, if you have three subdocuments each containing the bookmark "Name," Word will rename them as "Name," "Name1," and "Name2." (To locate these bookmarks click Bookmark on the Edit menu.)

If you respond No or No To All to these error message, the bookmarks will not be renamed internally nor inside the fields of the subdocuments. This will cause incorrect results when you update any fields that contain prompts, such as ASK fields.

If you select the Help button (Word version 6.x only) in the above error message dialog box, you will get the message:

   Help topic does not exist.

WORKAROUNDS

Method 1

Open each subdocument, turn on field codes and replace the bookmarks before adding the subdocuments to the master document.

Method 2

Lock the duplicate ASK, REF, or SET fields to prevent them from being updated. To lock a field, place your insertion point inside the field code or field result and press CTRL+F11. If you need to update the fields at a later time, open the subdocument outside of the master document, unlock the fields by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+F11, update the fields, lock the fields, and save the subdocument.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Word versions listed above. This problem was corrected in Microsoft Word 97 for Windows and Word 98 Macintosh Edition.

Additional query words: master documents docs doc bookmark word95 word6 update ask ref set field update duplicate rename winword macword

Keywords          : kbfield 
Version           : WINDOWS:6.0,6.0a,6.0c,7.0,7.0a;MACINTOSH6.0,6.0.1,6.0.1a
Platform          : MACINTOSH WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbbug kbhowto

Last Reviewed: February 6, 1998