130 Create a Master Document

Before You Begin

129 About Master Documents

As 129 About Master Documents explains, the Navigator window is the key to using master documents effectively. Through the Navigator window, you can do the following:

• Add existing subdocuments to your master document

• Create new subdocuments

• Rearrange the order of the subdocuments

• Remove subdocuments from the master document

• Quickly edit a subdocument

• Update the master document when a subdocument changes

1. Create a New Master Document
   
   Select File, New, Master Document from Writer's menu. Writer creates a new, blank master document that looks just like any regular document. In addition, Writer automatically opens the Navigator window from where you'll add and manage the subdocuments.
   
   
2. Add Files to the Master Document
   
   You now must add files to the master document. These files will be Writer documents and may be standalone documents, but when you add them as subdocuments to the master document, these files become linked. Each subdocument's footnotes, table of contents entries, index entries, and caption numbers will interrelate and become dependent on the rest of the subdocuments.
   
   Navigator's first entry is always Text , and you should double-click this entry and type some introductory text or some message for your master document (you can later move this text to the end of the master document where it's out of the way). You only need a short note, such as This is my master document for my book . This text acts like a global placeholder for all the subdocument styles. It's as though the master document needs to have its own text, even a single line or word of text, that belongs solely to it. The master document then can maintain styles that it links to its text and then can make available to all the other subdocuments when needed.
   
   

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   Hold Ctrl while you click to select document names to select multiple documents at once.

   You now should add the subdocuments. To add a document, click and hold the Navigator window's Insert button to display a menu. Select File from the menu, and the Insert dialog box opens. Locate the folder where your files are stored by selecting from the Look in list box and then click the document or documents you wish to add to the master document.
   
   Once you've selected the documents to add to your master document, click the Insert button. All the subdocuments will become linked to the master document. You will be able to scroll through your entire book by scrolling through the master document. If a subdocument doesn't appear in the order you wish inside the master document, click to select the subdocument and then click the Move Up or Move Down button to reposition the subdocument in the list.
   
   You now can work with the master document and treat it as though it were a single, huge document. For example, you can print the master document to print all the subdocuments in order. The one thing you cannot do is edit text in any subdocument. To make changes to any subdocument ”thereby making changes to the overall master document ”you must navigate to the created subdocument and make changes there. You change the formatting, add text, and perform any other edits needed in the subdocument. After editing the subdocument, you then must inform the master document of those changes by updating the master document, as you'll see next .
   
   
3. Jump to Any Chapter to Edit
   
   Think of your master document as the launch pad for any subdocument within your master document. For example, to edit Chapter 2, simply double-click that chapter in the master document's Navigator window to display Chapter 2. (You can also highlight Chapter 2's name and click the Navigator window's Edit button to open Chapter 2 for editing.) You now can edit the chapter just as you would any Writer document. The Navigator window turns into a normal document's Navigator window, without any of the master document's special Navigator window properties.
   
   

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   To start each subdocument on a new page within the master document, apply the Heading 1 paragraph style to the first line in each subdocument. See 17 Use a Style for more information about styles.

   Once you've finished the edits, save the subdocument with the usual File, Save command.
   
   
4. Return to Update the Master Document
   
   Since you made changes to the subdocument, you must inform the master document of those changes. Open Writer's Window menu and select the master document (you can use the Alt+Tab keystroke to jump to the master document window as well) to view it. Long-click the Update button and choose All if you want Writer to update every subdocument's content inside the master document. (If you changed only the selected chapter, choose Selection , and if you changed only links, such as footnotes or index entries, select either Indexes or Links .)
   
   Writer reloads every subdocument in the master document, updates any links, such as footnote and index entries, to maintain their order, and finally updates the master document that you see in the master document's editing area. Any changes you made to a chapter will now appear in the master document, which you can see if you scroll down the master document. Those changes would not have been there before you updated the master document.
   
   
5. Add New Content to the Master Document
   
   You aren't required to add pre-existing documents to your master document. You can create new documents that immediately become subdocuments. Long-click the Navigator window's Insert button and select New Document to create a blank, new subdocument. As soon as the subdocument's editing area appears, Writer displays the Save As dialog box so you can assign a name to your subdocument. As you type the new subdocument's contents, any index, footnote, caption number, or other master document reference can be updated (with the master document's Update button) once you complete the subdocument and return to the master document.
   
   

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   Save your master document as a PDF file to create an entire eBook readable on many different kinds of computers.

   Save the master document when you finish your editing session to ensure that it and the subdocuments are saved and linked properly for your next editing session.