Exploring Office 2007: Working with Sequentially Numbered Tickets in Word 2007

Creating tickets and other sequentially numbered elements in Microsoft Word 2007 documents isn't an intuitive process. However, there is a built-in tool in Word that you can use to simplify the process. Using this, you can create documents with sequentially numbered elements such as a design that gives you tickets and ticket stubs with matching numbers.

» Create the Document

To see how this might be done, create a new Word 2007 document and choose Insert > Table and create a two-column, five-row table. Size the table cells so that the entire table fits the sheet of paper. To do this, drag the bottom border of the table downwards so it sits just above the bottom margin of the page. Click inside the table and choose Table Tools > Layout and from the Cell Size group select Distribute Rows.

Configure the starting number for the tickets — here we have used 1000

Drag the middle table divider to the left so that you have a small section on the left and a larger area on the right. Select the first column by clicking in the table and from the Table Tools > Layout tab choose Select > Select Column. Again, from the Table Tools > Layout tab on the ribbon, locate the Alignment options and click the Text Direction button to select a rotated option.

Format the tickets as desired — for example, you may want to remove the table border lines and type your text into the ticket areas on the right. Ultimately, you will print the pages and cut each sheet to create the 5 tickets and stubs.

» Number the Tickets

To add the ticket numbers, click in the top left cell, which is the stub for the first ticket. Choose Insert > Quick Parts > Field to display the Field dialog. From the Categories list choose Numbering, and from the Field Names list choose SEQ.

In the Advanced Field Properties area, click after the word SEQ and type ticketno. This is the name we are using to identify the auto numbering sequence — we must use this each time we refer to this sequence.

Click the Options button, select the Field Specific Switches tab, and select the \r switch. Click the Add to Field button and after the \r in the field codes area, type the number that you will use for the first ticket — 1000, for example. Click OK twice to end. If you see field codes instead of numbers, click inside the field code and press Shift + F9 to display the results rather than the field code itself.

The cell to the right gets the same number as the ticket stub value

This starts the numbering sequence by seeding the first number at 1,000. Click in the second cell in the first row, which is where the ticket number will appear again. Repeat the process and choose Insert tab > Quick Parts > Field and reselect the SEQ field.

Again, after the word SEQ, type ticketno and click Options > Field Specific Switches tab. This time choose the \c switch and click Add to field and then OK twice. The \c switch tells Word to insert the copy of the nearest number in this position so the same number will be repeated.

» Copying the Data

The field code from the second column of the table can be copied down to the cells below. Don't worry at this stage if the numbering isn't correct — it won't be. You will, however, need to add a different field code into the second cell in the leftmost column — this field code will be the next number in the sequence.

To do this, click in the cell and choose Insert tab > Quick Parts > Field and again select the SEQ field. Type the word ticketno in the field codes area and again choose Options > Field Specific Switches tab and this time choose the \n switch, which adds the next number in the sequence. Copy the contents of the second cell in the left column down to the other cells in the left column of the table.

The numbering may not look correct yet — to fix this, update the field codes by pressing Ctrl + A and then F9 — this selects the document and updates all field codes.