Table Footnote Matching
Table Footnote Matching scans your document's tables for footnote callout symbols and matches them to their corresponding footnote paragraphs. When a match is found, the footnote symbol in the footnote paragraph is tagged with the label_fn character style. When a mismatch is found, the workflow inserts a Word comment identifying the issue.
The workflow flags mismatches in both directions: a callout with no matching footnote, and a footnote with no matching callout. If no comments are inserted, matching completed successfully.
This workflow is particularly useful when your publication requires XML export—the label_fn tags enable the export step to correctly link table footnotes to their callout symbols.
Preparing to use Table Footnote Matching
Before running this workflow:
- Ensure table footnote paragraphs use the footnote paragraph style configured for your publication. Contact your Typefi administrator if you are unsure which style is in use.
- Use one paragraph per footnote. If two footnote symbols appear in the same paragraph, only the first symbol will be matched—the second will be silently skipped.
- If your publication uses lowercase letters as footnote linking symbols (a, b, c), format them as superscript in both the table cell callout and the footnote paragraph. Standard symbols (
*,†,‡,§,¶,|) do not need to be formatted as superscript.
Run Table Footnote Matching
- Open your document in Microsoft Word.
- Select the Advanced Workflow tool to open a dropdown (Word → Orion → Edit → Advanced Workflows).
- Select Table Footnote Matching. Typefi Orion scans all tables in the document and matches callout symbols to footnote paragraphs. Word comments are inserted where issues are found.
After running
Comments inserted by the workflow are attributed to "Orion Table Footnote Matching" in Word's review panel. The following questions explain what each comment means.
Why does a comment say "Unmatched cites: [symbol]"?
A callout symbol was found in a table cell but no matching footnote paragraph could be found.
Action: Check that a footnote paragraph exists for that symbol, or remove the callout from the table cell.
Why does a comment say "Unmatched Table footnotes: [symbol]"?
A footnote paragraph was found but no matching callout symbol could be located in the table.
Action: Add the missing callout to the correct table cell, or remove the unused footnote paragraph.
Why does a comment say "Table footnote does not start with a recognised linking symbol"?
A paragraph is styled as a table footnote but its first character is not a supported linking symbol.
Supported symbols are: * † ‡ § ¶ | and combinations such as ** or ††. Single lowercase letters are supported when formatted as superscript. Superscript numbers are not supported.
Action: Update the footnote to begin with a supported symbol, or check that the paragraph style is correct.
Why does a comment say "Table footnote has the same linking symbol as another footnote"?
Two footnote paragraphs in the same table use the same linking symbol.
Action: Assign a unique symbol to each footnote in the table.