Generate an index from a Word document based on a list of words

Question

I have a list of words:

Avocado
Banana
Canteloupe

I also have a Word doc. I want to know the page numbers where those words appear in the Word doc so that I can generate an index like this:

Avocado 6, 13
Banana 2, 20, 75
Canteloupe 11, 18

I'm using Word 2011 on Mac.

Solution 1

@bibadia's comment led me to the answer. I needed to create a concordance file and then use that to generate the index.

Microsoft's instructions read:

Click Insert Table Button image on the Standard toolbar.

1. Drag to select two columns.
2. In the first column, enter the text you want Microsoft Word to search for and mark as an index entry. 3. Make sure to enter the text exactly as it appears in the document. Then press TAB.
3. In the second column, type the index entry for the text in the first column. Then press TAB. If you want to create a subentry, type the main entry followed by a colon (:) and the subentry.
4. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each index reference and entry.
5. Save the concordance file.

See https://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/create-an-index-HP005189283.aspx

Solution 2

You are looking to insert an Index.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-ie/mac-word-help/create-or-edit-an-index-HA102929532.aspx

You can create an index entry for a specific word, phrase, or symbol, or for a topic that spans a range of pages.

1. Mark index entries for words or phrases

2. Select the text that you want to use as an index entry.

3. On the Insert menu, click Index and Tables.

4. On the Index tab, click Mark Entry.

   TIP To go directly to the Mark Index Entry dialog box, press COMMAND + OPTION + SHIFT + X .

Type or edit the text in the Main entry box. TIP

To create a subentry, specify the main index entry, and then type the subentry in the Subentry box. To create a third-level entry, type the subentry text followed by a colon (:) and the text of the third-level entry.

5. Do one of the following:

TO MARK "The index entry" CLICK "Mark"

TO MARK "The first occurrence of this text in each paragraph in the document that exactly matches the uppercase and lowercase letters in the entry" CLICK "Mark All"

6. TIP To mark index entries for symbols such as @, in the Main entry box, immediately following the symbol, type ;# (semicolon followed by the number sign), and then click Mark. When you build the index, Word puts the symbols at the beginning of the index.

7. To mark additional index entries, select the text or click immediately after it, click in the Mark Index Entry dialog box, and then repeat steps 4 and 5. NOTE Word inserts each marked index entry as an XE (Index Entry) field in hidden text format. If you do not see the XE field, click Show/Hide Show button on the Standard toolbar.

Comments

[Joe Mornin]

Doesn't that require me to mark each index entry by hand?

[DavidPostill]

Please quote the essential parts of the answer from the reference link, as the answer can become invalid if the linked page changes or the target site is unreachable/permanently offline.

[Joe Mornin]

@DavidPostill "Word automates most of the work involved in creating an index and enables you to easily make updates or apply formatting changes. To create an index, you must first mark your index entry by providing the name of the main entry and the cross-reference in your document. After your index entries are marked, you can create an index."

[Brian Folan]

Yes - you will need to mark each word you want. It's how the Index will know what you want added.

[Joe Mornin]

Thanks. I know about the index feature, but I'm asking if there's a way to find the page numbers from a secondary word list (which might include a large number of terms, as it does in my case).

[Admin]

You can use a concordance file - a Word document with a table containing 2 columns. The first column contains the exact terms to search for (i.e. to catch all instances of "term" you may need at least "term", "TERM" and "Term". The second contains the text for the generated XE field. In Mac Word you then Automark using the Index and Tables dialog, Index tab, AutoMark option. Then generate your Index. (It's not a good way to create an "intelligent" index but it should help with mass indexing).