WD: Accented Words Aren't Sorted Correctly in Index

ID: Q141006

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, versions 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.1a
Microsoft Word for Windows NT, version 6.0

SYMPTOMS

If your document contains index entries that begin with accented characters (for example, "a" with accent grave), Word incorrectly sorts your index if you include index headings.

For example, if the following words are each marked with an index entry field (XE)

   Actor
   A'rbor
   August

the resulting index will look similar to this:

   -A-
   Actor

   -A-
   A'rbor

   -A-
   August

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, choose an index style that does not contain a heading. Unlink the index (press CTRL+SHIFT+F9 in Windows or press COMMAND+SHIFT+F9 on the Macintosh) and manually insert the headings. The drawback to this is that you cannot relink the field. If you need to update the index, you will need to reinsert the index field and repeat this procedure.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was corrected in Word for Windows 95, version 7.0, and Word 98 Macintosh Edition.

Additional query words: index xe accent grave acute umlaut dieresis diaeresis caret cedilla circumflex tilde caret diacritical symbol accented breve caron hacek digraph edh eth ligature macron ogonek volle ring

Keywords          : wordnt kbfield winword ntword macword word6 
Version           : WINDOWS:6.0,6.0a,6.0c;MACINTOSH:6.0,6.0.1,6.0.1a
Platform          : MACINTOSH WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbbug kbhowto

Last Reviewed: January 22, 1999