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ContactsLaw add-in for Microsoft Word

Document Index Builder

The ContactsLaw add-in for Microsoft Word includes a utility to build index tables suitable for use in witness statements or affidavits. The index contains all documents referenced via ContactsLaw hyperlinks within the body of the document. Additional information about each document is queried using ContactsLaw.
 

How to use

To utilise this feature, the following authoring process should be adopted:
  1. Create the document in ContactsLaw, check out and begin drafting in Microsoft Word.
  2. Insert ContactsLaw hyperlinks when referring to external documents.
  3. Place the caret at the location you wish to insert the index table and press the "Document Index" button on the "Insert" bar (on the "ContactsLaw" ribbon tab).
  4. Select your desired options, choose/order the columns to include in the index and click the "Insert" button.

To re-build the index (after changing/reordering document hyperlinks, or when page counts change), place the caret anywhere within the existing index table and click the "Document Index" button again. Your options set during insertion are retained.

 

Supported functionality

The user interface contains the following fields:

  • Attachment prefix - The text inserted at the start of each attachment number. Attachment numbers are sequential, based on the order in which each referenced document first appears.
  • Save documents to - Allows you to save local copies of the documents in the index. ContactsLaw assigns filenames based on the attachment number and document description. If you rebuild the index, existing files will be overwritten.
  • Options
    • Generate column headers - Adds headings for each column in the index table.
    • Include this document - Includes an entry for the document containing the index as the first row in the table.
    • Replace hyperlink text - Replaces the text on document hyperlinks with their attachment number (according to the index).
    • Convert to PDF - Converts each document to PDF before determining the page count. If downloading attachments, the converted version is saved. (Note: PDF conversion is not supported for all document formats. If conversion is unsupported, the original format is retained.)
    • Recalculate page counts - This option appears when rebuilding an existing index table. If unchecked, the last known page count for each document is retained and the index will build quickly. If checked, the page count will be recalculated.
  • Style - The table style to apply to the index. You can use custom styles defined in the document or template.
  • Columns in index - Allows you to select the columns and ordering for the index table.

The "Save Only" button can be used to save local copies of the documents in the index without inserting/updating the index table. This is useful in situations where the index has been finalised and the documents are being collated.

 

Page numbering

Where the index table contains page numbers or page ranges, the add-in will first query ContactsLaw for the page count of each document. If the document is in a pageless format (e.g. e-mail, image file), a warning comment will be inserted into the index. If PDF conversion is selected (and supported), the page count will be recalculated using the PDF version. For optimal results, you should ensure that the page count stored against each document in ContactsLaw is accurate and up-to-date.