CompuServe Thread

I have been away for a while, and have not been able to get back to you on my suggestion for a leading/trailing head word feature in PM 4.0. Here is what I have. (I started a new thread, sorry) I am not a programmer, so I don't know how a programmer would approach the question. However, I think of the idea in the following way. Basically, the text which is going to be formatted in PM 4.0 consists of database records. Each record in turn consists of fields. The publication designer views one field in each record as being the key field – it will usually come first in the published version. In a telephone book, this might be the person's last name; in a dictionary it would be the main word for each entry; in a parts catalogue it might be the name of the part (or maybe the inventory number, if the parts are listed by number rather than name.). So, in order to place a leading head word in a header at the top of each page, it's necessary to be able to identify (1) the key field in a record; and (2) the first entry on a page (I don't think that "top of page" would be equivalent). Similalry, in order to place a trailing head word at the top of each page it is necessary to identify (1) the key field in a record; and (2) the last entry on a page. This is somewhat similar to (but definitely more complex than) a page number function – in order for the page number function to print the correct value (page number) it has to be able to know when it is on a new page and count the pages. I don't know how difficult it would be to implement my idea or even if it is possible. But I do think that this is a feature which would be very useful for people who are preparing publications which import database records – this could be anybody who is preparing a parts catalogue, inventory list, directories, etc. The alternative is to do it [continued in the reply]