Microsoft KB Archive/27814

Word: Undesired Page Break at End of Multiple Column Selection PSS ID Number: Q27814 Article last modified on 03-04-1993 PSS database name: M_WorD

3.00

MACINTOSH

Summary:

When using the Section command to set up consecutive sections with varying numbers of multiple snaking columns on the same page, page breaks may occur at the end of some sections. The following text then will be displayed on the next page in Page Preview and on the printed page.

This is proper behavior of Word when you have more than one section on a page and there is a section break positioned in the middle of a multiple column section formatted as “New Column” (in the Section Start group within the Section dialog box) to indicate where a column should break.

Under some circumstances, this behavior can be worked around by removing the section breaks(s) that are formatted as “New Column” and inserting carriage returns in the multiple column section (usually at the beginning and/or end of the columns) to force the column to break in the proper position.

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Word version 3.00. This problem was corrected in version 3.01.

More Information:

When inserting a section break formatted as “New Column” into a multiple column section (that is, specifying a “manual” column break), Word inserts a page break at the end of the section to ensure that one or more columns from this section do not overprint text from the following section.

This is necessary because Word retains column length information for the last column only after formatting the multiple column section. Word does not recall the length of the other columns. When any of these columns are longer than the last, then the text from these longer columns is superimposed on text from the following section if a page break was not inserted by the program. When “manual” column breaks are not indicated to the program, and are thus calculated automatically by Word, each column is the same length – that of the last column – and there is no danger of text overprinting. Thus, a page break does not need to be inserted by the program. For example, you are attempting to set up two columns, followed by a single column, on one page. The desired printout should look as follows:

xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A section break (with the following section formatted as “New Column”) was positioned at the end of the first column to indicate the position where the second column should start (this is done typically if the program does not break the column automatically at the desired location). A section break is also positioned at the start of the one column section with No Break selected as the Section Start for the following section. When viewing this in page preview, or printing the document, the resulting output is such that the two-column section appears on one page, and the one column section appears on a second page, as illustrated in the following:

First Page Second Page ———- ———–

xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx

Workaround
The section break between the two columns should be removed, and additional returns should be positioned within the two-column section (usually at the beginning and/or end of either column) to force the column to break where desired.

Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1993.