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khai6061's avatar
khai6061
Copper Contributor
Jan 21, 2022

Use continuously repeated text as footnote/endnote separator?

Hi everybody. Is there any function in Word to help me change the footnote/endnote separator into a repeated piece of text spanning from left margin to the right margin (as shown in the photo)? The text has to change automatically when the margin is changed. 

(In the photos, I manually typed the footnote separator and changed it accordingly to the margin, but I believe there must be a way to do that automatically)

Original marginModified margin

  • khai6061 

     

    It is possible to insert text or graphics as the footnote (and/or endnote) separator, but this will be static content that can't be updated. 

     

    Consider using headers or footers instead. You can add a STYLEREF field there and have it reference current content in a particular style from the body of the text, if that helps.

    • khai6061's avatar
      khai6061
      Copper Contributor
      Thank you. The problem is from an exam, they provide only the final sample file, without further instructions. They require to modify the footnote separator to a repeated piece of text, and I doubt whether there is a function in Word to do that automatically instead of manually, because the text is trimmed exactly corresponding to the margin.
      So if you said that this wouldn't update when the page margin changes, what about a button/field that let me type in a word/phrase (as the footnote line separator) and automatically repeats it until exactly the end of the margin (without necessarily updates when the margin changes)?
    • khai6061's avatar
      khai6061
      Copper Contributor
      Stefan_Blom
      Also I read about STYREF field before when I tried to find a solution for this problem, but I don't understand how this field helps me repeat a piece of text like that. Wouldn't copy and paste the text multiple times be easier?
      • khai6061 

         

        Since the footnote separator is the same throughout the document, I don't think there is a way to accomplish exactly what you initially asked for. (Similarly, the endnote separator will be the same throughout a document.)

         

        The question is, would you consider implementing something similar, in a different way?

         

        The idea of the STYLEREF field is that you can repeat content in a header or footer (or in the main body of the document) and you don't need to update the repeated content manually if the text in the source style changes. (The principle is used with the headers in dictionaries, for example, where you will usually see the first and last word on the page listed in the header area.)

         

        The STYLEREF field won't work inside the footnote or endnote separator, of course.

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