EXCEL - WORD Merge Problem

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Yendorian - 20 Feb 2008 18:26 GMT

I've already posted this on the 'EXCEL Worksheet Functions' pages but
wondered if anyone from the WORD community can help with this one.
Working with Office 2003, I am trying to merge data from an EXCEL file to use
in a WORD doc. and getting an intermittent fault.
In all, I have 55 column headings in my EXCEL workbook but when I try to
merge these into my WORD doc only 49 of them appear in the 'Insert Merge
Field' tab and in the document.
I have tried using simple letters instead of full words as column headings
(e.g. "A" through to "BC" instead of "Surname", "Address" etc.) and there are
no hidden columns or spaces before the letters. On occasions I do get all the
required merge fields but only after closing down and starting the programme
again.
I am merging using DDE as I want to preserve the formatting from the EXCEL
file. My regional Settings are set to English (United Kingdom).
Can anyone help, please?
Yendorian

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Suzanne - 20 Feb 2008 20:04 GMT

I'm not an MVP, but I did encounter this same problem last week as I was
trying to work out some weird Excel to Word date conversions.

Is the first cell in your missing column empty? I assume, based on what I
encountered, that when using DDE to merge, Word will stop looking for data
when it encounters an empty cell. I also found DDE froze my PC and/or
frequently refused the connection.

Whatever the case, you may have to put aside the DDE and re-format your
Excel data to force Word to pull it in properly (e.g., my Excel dates are now
'Custom: ##-##-####); or consider creating your report forms in Excel.

Suzanne

> I've already posted this on the 'EXCEL Worksheet Functions' pages but
> wondered if anyone from the WORD community can help with this one.
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> Can anyone help, please?
> Yendorian

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Yendorian - 20 Feb 2008 20:35 GMT

Thanks for that, Suzanne,
I'll wait a bit longer to see if there are any other suggestions but I fear
I might have to reformat my EXCEL data at some stage.
Yendorian

> I'm not an MVP, but I did encounter this same problem last week as I was
> trying to work out some weird Excel to Word date conversions.
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
> > Can anyone help, please?
> > Yendorian

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Yendorian - 22 Feb 2008 22:56 GMT

Hi Suzanne,
I've solved the problem. It seems as if it was caused by a negative figure
in one of the first records to be merged (-£ 200). I changed this to a
positive number and it worked. Could be a useful tip for anybody in the
future - it's such a simple error that has caused me hours of research! Still
- it's all godd fun!
Yendorian

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