ToC (Table of Contents) loses formatting

Using Word 2000 on Windows 2000.

My file is about 250 pages and contains a lot of tables and complex
Word diagrams, so it's probably close to being corrupt anyway. :-)

Here's the problem: I insert a Table of Contents, format it, and
then do a number of different things--only to find that the ToC
loses its formatting. Most entries lose the formatting--not all.

This isn't predictable--the formatting might go away (or not) if you
open/close/open the document. Updating the ToC doesn't make the
formatting go away--nothing does consistently. It just goes away on
a whim.

I used to just re-enter the definitions of the TOC Styles whenever
this happened, but that was easy to do when we only had three or so
levels of entries in the ToC. Now that we have 7 entries, this is
more difficult and time consuming.

I wonder if anyone here has seen anything like this before...if so,
do you have any tips?

Barbara White wrote:
Using Word 2000 on Windows 2000.

My file is about 250 pages and contains a lot of tables and complex Word
diagrams, so it's probably close to being corrupt anyway. :-)

Sounds frighteningly familiar. ;-)

Here's the problem: I insert a Table of Contents, format it, and then do
a number of different things--only to find that the ToC loses its
formatting. Most entries lose the formatting--not all.

Not sure if I can help, but to diagnose the problem better: Did you
apply direct formatting to the text of the ToC, or also modify text
within the ToC manually, or only redefine the ToC styles? Are the ToC
styles set to "update automatically" (I think they are by default, which
might not be a good idea in your case).

Good luck,

Lukas

In addition to "Update automatically" in the styles, make sure that you
don't have "Automatically update document styles" checked in Tools |
Templates and Add-ins.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"Lukas Pietsch" wrote in message
...
Barbara White wrote:
Using Word 2000 on Windows 2000.

My file is about 250 pages and contains a lot of tables and complex Word
diagrams, so it's probably close to being corrupt anyway. :-)

Sounds frighteningly familiar. ;-)

Here's the problem: I insert a Table of Contents, format it, and then do
a number of different things--only to find that the ToC loses its
formatting. Most entries lose the formatting--not all.

Not sure if I can help, but to diagnose the problem better: Did you
apply direct formatting to the text of the ToC, or also modify text
within the ToC manually, or only redefine the ToC styles? Are the ToC
styles set to "update automatically" (I think they are by default, which
might not be a good idea in your case).

Good luck,

Lukas