How to Work with Word Index and Tables in .NET

Step 1: Insert a Table of Contents

Call DocumentBuilder.InsertTableOfContents(switches) at the position where the TOC should appear, passing a Word-style field-switch string — for example "\o \"1-3\" \h \z \u" — to control which heading levels are included and how the result is formatted, the same switches Word writes when a TOC is inserted through its UI. This inserts a FieldToc, which also exposes the same structure directly as properties: HeadingLevelRange/EntryLevelRange for included outline levels, InsertHyperlinks, PreserveTabs/PreserveLineBreaks, and BookmarkName. For a table of figures instead of a table of contents, set TableOfFiguresLabel or CaptionlessTableOfFiguresLabel on the same FieldToc.

Step 2: Mark Custom Table of Contents Entries

Not every entry a TOC should include comes from a heading style. Insert a FieldTC at a specific location to mark it as a TOC entry independent of paragraph style: FieldTC.Text is the entry text, EntryLevel is the outline level it should appear at, and OmitPageNumber suppresses the page number for that entry. When a document needs more than one TOC — for example a main TOC and a separate table of figures — set FieldTC.TypeIdentifier to match the EntryIdentifier of the FieldToc that should collect it.

Step 3: Build an Index from Marked Entries

Mark each location that belongs in the index with a FieldXE, setting Text to the entry text; EntryType groups entries into sub-levels using colon-separated syntax, and PageRangeBookmarkName marks a bookmark whose extent becomes a page range in the index rather than a single page number. FieldIndex compiles every FieldXE marker in the document into the alphabetical result — set Heading to insert letter-heading separators (A, B, C…), LetterRange to restrict the index to part of the alphabet, and RunSubentriesOnSameLine to control sub-entry layout. PageNumberSeparator, PageRangeSeparator, SequenceSeparator, and CrossReferenceSeparator control the punctuation between an entry and its page reference. Word’s built-in index visual styles are available as the FieldIndexFormat enum (Template, Classic, Fancy, Modern, Bulleted, Formal, Simple).

Step 4: Build a Table of Authorities from Citations

Mark each citation in the text with a FieldTA: LongCitation and ShortCitation hold the citation text, EntryCategory groups it under a heading such as “Cases” or “Statutes”, and IsBold/IsItalic control its formatting. FieldToa compiles those citations into a table — EntryCategory selects which category to compile, UseHeading controls whether category headings appear, UsePassim applies the “passim” convention for sources cited many times, and PageRangeSeparator/PageNumberListSeparator/SequenceSeparator/EntrySeparator/RemoveEntryFormatting control layout.

Step 5: Refresh Fields After the Document Changes

A TOC, index, or table of authorities does not update itself when surrounding content changes. Call Update() on the specific field — for example FieldToc.Update() — to recompute its result, or FieldToc.UpdatePageNumbers() when only the page-number portion needs refreshing. To refresh every field in a document at once rather than one at a time, call Document.UpdateFields(). Remember that page numbers in results from these fields evaluate to placeholder values in this edition, since page layout and pagination are not part of it.

Step 6: Include Entries From Other Documents

Insert a FieldRD to have a TOC, index, or table of authorities pull in entries from another file when it compiles. FieldRD.FileName names the referenced document, and IsPathRelative controls whether that path resolves relative to the current document. Add one FieldRD per additional document and update the compiling field afterward so the combined result includes the referenced content.