How do I format mail merge fields?

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Black Doctor - 14 Feb 2007 21:44 GMT

I am using Excel & Word 2003. I have tried to format the merge fields in my
document without success. For example, I want the date to read 1 December
2007. After I press Alt+F9, my 'date' field is as follows : { MERGEFIELD
"Date1" } so I changed it to read { MERGEFIELD "Date1" \@ "d mmmm yyy"} - but
when I hit Alt+F9 again it doesn't change the format. What am I doing wrong?

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macropod - 14 Feb 2007 22:21 GMT

Hi Black Doctor,

The lower-case 'm's in your formatting switch are for minutes - months require 'M's. Try:
{ MERGEFIELD "Date1" \@ "d MMMM yyyy"}
After pressing Alt-F9 to toggle the code display off, press F9 to update the displayed results.

Cheers

Signature

macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]

| I am using Excel & Word 2003. I have tried to format the merge fields in my
| document without success. For example, I want the date to read 1 December
| 2007. After I press Alt+F9, my 'date' field is as follows : { MERGEFIELD
| "Date1" } so I changed it to read { MERGEFIELD "Date1" \@ "d mmmm yyy"} - but
| when I hit Alt+F9 again it doesn't change the format. What am I doing wrong?

Reply to this Message

Black Doctor - 14 Feb 2007 23:16 GMT

It still doesn't work. Now I get an error in the field saying : 'Error!
Unknown charater in picture string'.

> Hi Black Doctor,
>
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> | "Date1" } so I changed it to read { MERGEFIELD "Date1" \@ "d mmmm yyy"} - but
> | when I hit Alt+F9 again it doesn't change the format. What am I doing wrong?

Reply to this Message

Doug Robbins - Word MVP - 15 Feb 2007 04:52 GMT

As the formatting switch is correct, the must be something wrong with the
data. What is displayed if you remove the formatting switch.

Signature

Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

> It still doesn't work. Now I get an error in the field saying : 'Error!
> Unknown charater in picture string'.
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
>> | when I hit Alt+F9 again it doesn't change the format. What am I doing
>> wrong?

Reply to this Message

Black Doctor - 15 Feb 2007 05:35 GMT

Exactly what I have written : 'Error! Unknown character in picture string.'

This is the code : { MERGEFIELD "Date1" \@ "d MMMM yyy"}

I still can't see where its going wrong.

Cheers

"Doug Robbins - Word MVP" wrote:

> As the formatting switch is correct, the must be something wrong with the
> data. What is displayed if you remove the formatting switch.
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
> >> | when I hit Alt+F9 again it doesn't change the format. What am I doing
> >> wrong?

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macropod - 15 Feb 2007 06:45 GMT

Hi Black Doctor,

Check the number of 'y's.in your formatting switch. It's not the same as I posted.

Cheers

Signature

macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]

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Black Doctor - 15 Feb 2007 21:18 GMT

Thankyou very much - it works now, but I did try to do this yesterday. Do you
have to save the file or go back through the steps before it updates? Also,
does using spaces between the formatting switch and the mergefield code cause
issues?

Thanks again.

> Hi Black Doctor,
>
[quoted text clipped - 36 lines]
> | > >> | when I hit Alt+F9 again it doesn't change the format. What am I doing
> | > >> wrong?

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macropod - 16 Feb 2007 06:33 GMT

Hi Black Doctor,

After updating the code, pressing F9 updates the displayed results in your mailmerge master. You'd have to re-run nthe merge to
update the output documents.

I'm not aware of any particular issues with having more than one space between the mergefield code and the switch. Not that I've
tried a whole lot of spaces ... seems to cope with at least 50!

Cheers

Signature

macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]

| Thankyou very much - it works now, but I did try to do this yesterday. Do you
| have to save the file or go back through the steps before it updates? Also,
[quoted text clipped - 43 lines]
| > | > >> | when I hit Alt+F9 again it doesn't change the format. What am I doing
| > | > >> wrong?

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