Problems with Word database

[Llantony]

Yes, I know this isn't the right place but I can't see anywhere else on the forum and maybe some of you clever people can help!

 I've been entering a list of books into a table/database in Word.  I can't find how to make automatic page breaks.  As I add books, and sort in author order, of course the pages change so manual page breaks are no help.  When I had fewer pages I copied the table and put in manual page breaks with a big margin at the bottom but it still didn't print the last line.

I can't find anything in on-screen help, nor in a large book on Word.  I just want it to automatically break at the end of each page so I can print out the whole list!  I know it's possible because there was a similar database where I once worked.

Please don't tell me to put it into Excel!  Things get lost in translation and Word is v simple.

[Anton Redman]

Starting at the top :

Table

Table Properties

Row

Options

Untick 'Allow Row to Break Over Pages' 

[tel]

Or in Office 2007 - click on 'Page layout' tab > expand 'Breaks' then you have a choice of what type of break you want - Page, Column, next page, even page, odd page.

Concuring with other posters, if you are using MS Office why not use the default programme for databases - MS Access.

 

Regards

[tenniswitch]

I won't tell you to put it into Excel, but I will tell you that anything involving columns, rows and sorting is much easier to do in a spreadsheet than in a Word table (including formatting the page for printing).

I do everything possible in Excel: finances, itineraries, inventories, catalogs, mailing lists, tennis league schedules, you name it.

If you can ever get over your horror of Excel, I think you'll find that your work is both easier and faster than when you use Word.

[Albert the InfoGipsy]

But if you really want a database then don't use Word or Excel. Neither of them is designed for efficient storage and retrieval of data, although either of them is fine for simple lists. I happily use either of them for any application too trivial for Access.

[tenniswitch]

I quite agree, AIG, but, from his description it doesn't sound as if the OP needs a database for the task.

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

Oh you need to teach me Word if you find it so simple.

I find it almost as illogical as Adobe products.

Word 2007 is even worse! Always struggle with it.

[AnOther]

Note that Access is only generally included in the Professional version of Office which I doubt the majority of home users will have.

Personally I loath Office 2007 with it's irritating and unintuative Ribbon, why they couldn't have made it an option I don't know. I have to use it at work but for private use I will never install it despite the fact that I do possess a genuine copy of 2007 Pro.

[Albert the InfoGipsy]

Access isn't the only option if you need a database, it just happens to be the one I've been using for the last 14 years. I've had a play with the database that comes with Open Office and it's got a reasonable feature set as well as being free.

[tenniswitch]

LyndaandRichard,

I'm sure you were directing that comment to the OP, not me, as I'm not a big Word fan either. I find Excel so much easier that I rarely use Word for anything except letters.

It's a funny thing about Office 2007, which I have on my US computer, while Office 2003 is on my computer in France. At first I absolutely loathed working in Word or Excel 2007, but after I added buttons for the things I commonly do (or had trouble finding commands on the ribbon tabs), I started to like it better, and I love the ease of saving files as PDFs.

Now, whichever computer I'm using, I'm always missing some feature of the other's Office programs.