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MS Office Forum / Word / Mailmerge and Fax / March 2005Date Field in Merge Document
How do I create a form file that upon merging inserts the current date of the merge, then does not update after that point? In other words, after the merge is complete, the resulting document's date field should be automatically unlinked. I do not want to teach the user to unlink the field with Ctrl-Shift-F9, because there are several of these date codes throughout the form file, inlcuding headers and footers, and also I don't want to risk that the user forgets to unlink the date field. Thank you in advance. Karen Use a CREATEDATE field for the date and merge to a new document. The new document will always show the date of the merge.  Signature<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<> Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org <>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<> > How do I create a form file that upon merging inserts the current > date of the merge, then does not update after that point? In other [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > Thank you in advance. > Karen Thanks so much, Graham. You dah man! Is there a similar function for the document id code? To insert the new name and path of the resulting merged document? > Use a CREATEDATE field for the date and merge to a new document. The new > document will always show the date of the merge. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >> Thank you in advance. >> Karen You can insert the field for this but realize it won't give a real name until after the document is saved and the field is updated. SignatureCharles Kenyon Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide See also the MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word which is awesome! --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn from my ignorance and your wisdom. > Thanks so much, Graham. You dah man! > Is there a similar function for the document id code? To insert the new [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] >>> Thank you in advance. >>> Karen By just inserting the path/filename merge code? > You can insert the field for this but realize it won't give a real name > until after the document is saved and the field is updated. [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] >>>> Thank you in advance. >>>> Karen You would have to merge to a new document, save that document then insert the field. As Charles has indicated the name doesn't exist until the document is saved and it is not saved as part of the merge process. Signature<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<> Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org <>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<> > By just inserting the path/filename merge code? > [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] >>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>> Karen Thank you Graham, that is what I realize. Because of that, I am trying to create a form file that will have some kind of automated coding so the end user does not have to know to do these steps that you outline below after they save and name the document. It would be ideal if I could code something in the pre-merged document. For example, in Corel, the filename/path code can be inserted pre-merge, and take on the new document name after it is merged and saved as a new document. > You would have to merge to a new document, save that document then insert > the field. As Charles has indicated the name doesn't exist until the [quoted text clipped - 45 lines] >>>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>>> Karen It is a field on the header footer AutoText menu or available through Insert > Field. You can put the field into your merged document but it will not show a correct name and path until after the document is saved and the field is updated. If in a header / footer it will generally be updated when you print or do a print preview. If in the body, you'll need something that updates your fields. I had thought you could put it in the primary merge document before the merge, but checked when I read Graham's post and was mistaken. Word converts the field to text during the merge. (The primary way I use mail merge is to merge to the screen for a single client. I then print and save the merged document, with active fields. So putting it in the primary merge document works for me. I realize that most people actually perform a merge for multiple files.) It should be relatively simple to put together a processing macro that (1) performs the merge, (2) saves the result document, (3) inserts the field you want (which will then be correct when inserted), and then saves the document again. This could be put on a (floating) custom toolbar for your users to perform the merge. The following is the command to insert the field. Selection.Fields.Add Range:=Selection.Range, Type:=wdFieldEmpty, _ Text:= "FILENAME \p ", _ PreserveFormatting:=False Hope this helps, SignatureCharles Kenyon Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide See also the MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word which is awesome! --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn from my ignorance and your wisdom. -- Charles Kenyon Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide See also the MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word which is awesome! --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn from my ignorance and your wisdom. > By just inserting the path/filename merge code? > [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] >>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>> Karen Graham, I tried that and am getting a strange result. The resulting merged document is displaying the date the original merge form was created...not the date the original merge form is being merged. Does that make sense? In other words, I changed the form document on Jan. 14 and coded the date to be CREATEDATE. Now, every time the form is merged, the resulting date displayed is Jan. 14. What am I doing wrong? Thank you. Karen > Use a CREATEDATE field for the date and merge to a new document. The new > document will always show the date of the merge. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >> Thank you in advance. >> Karen Have your original merge form be a template. Create a new merge form from it using File>New for each merge. SignatureCharles Kenyon Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide See also the MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word which is awesome! --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn from my ignorance and your wisdom. > Graham, > I tried that and am getting a strange result. The resulting merged [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] >>> Thank you in advance. >>> Karen Thank you Charles, but...Since we already have tons of documents set up as merge files, heavily coded with all kinds of data fields, if statements, etc., how can we accomplish this date function without going your suggested route? We would like to keep all these docs as merge forms rather than changing them all over to templates. > Have your original merge form be a template. Create a new merge form from > it using File>New for each merge. [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] >>>> Thank you in advance. >>>> Karen Template and merge form are not mutually exclusive types. Save your merge forms as templates, in an appropriate Workgroup templates folder. When you want to do a merge, create a new document based on the template (File > New) and merge to it. Links to your database established in the template will be maintained. SignatureCharles Kenyon Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide See also the MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word which is awesome! --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn from my ignorance and your wisdom. > Thank you Charles, but...Since we already have tons of documents set up as > merge files, heavily coded with all kinds of data fields, if statements, [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] >>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>> Karen Thank you again Charles, but since I explained that this is not the route we want to take for a multitude of reasons, that are too numerous to go into at this time, are you suggesting that there is NO mergedate solution if the files remain merge files? Karen > Template and merge form are not mutually exclusive types. Save your merge > forms as templates, in an appropriate Workgroup templates folder. When you [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] >>>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>>> Karen There is no automatic route I know of for you to take unless you are willing to change your merge files into templates and create new documents based on the templates. Once such a new document is created from the template, with your updated date in it, you can merge it. SignatureCharles Kenyon Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide See also the MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word which is awesome! --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn from my ignorance and your wisdom. > Thank you again Charles, but since I explained that this is not the route > we want to take for a multitude of reasons, that are too numerous to go [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] >>>>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>>>> Karen The date in the createdate in the merge source document is irrelevant. If you merge to a new document the date that document is created becomes the createdate for that document. If the field shows the wrong date select all (CTRL+A) then update (F9). That should fix it. Signature<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<> Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org <>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<> > Graham, > I tried that and am getting a strange result. The resulting merged [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] >>> Thank you in advance. >>> Karen Thank you so much for replying, Graham. Coincidentally, I was on your web site checking it out exactly when your reply came :-) What a cool web site! I love it! And I love that cute little thing that follows my pointer around! Anyway, once again, I tried...I insert this into the merge MAIN document: {CREATEDATE \@ "MMMMd, yyyy" \* MERGEFORMAT}. But sure enough, when I merge it, this is what I see: August 24, 2000 (This is the date I originally created this merge source document). (Ctrl-A), (F9) is changing nothing, no matter if I do it before and/or after merging. Please help me out of the twilight zone!! Thanks again, Karen > The date in the createdate in the merge source document is irrelevant. If > you merge to a new document the date that document is created becomes the [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] >>>> Thank you in advance. >>>> Karen I believe that the merge changes the field to its results, so an F9 after the merge wouldn't find a field to update. SignatureCharles Kenyon Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide See also the MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word which is awesome! --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn from my ignorance and your wisdom. > Thank you so much for replying, Graham. Coincidentally, I was on your web > site checking it out exactly when your reply came :-) What a cool web [quoted text clipped - 53 lines] >>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>> Karen This is not going to work :( That's what comes from not testing the suggestions before posting. Change the field back to a DATE field, update it, then merge to a new document CTRL+A then CTRL+SHIFT+F9 will fix it. Signature<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<> Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org <>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<> > Thank you so much for replying, Graham. Coincidentally, I was on your > web site checking it out exactly when your reply came :-) What a [quoted text clipped - 61 lines] >>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>> Karen For every lover of that infernal thing there is a hater ;-) SignatureGreg Maxey/Word MVP A Peer in Peer to Peer Support http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/word_tips.htm > This is not going to work :( That's what comes from not testing the > suggestions before posting. [quoted text clipped - 70 lines] >>>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>>> Karen I think you are in a minority of those who comment :) Signature<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<> Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org <>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<> > For every lover of that infernal thing there is a hater ;-) > [quoted text clipped - 72 lines] >>>>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>>>> Karen Since there will be a date at the top of the letter, as well as in the second page header, is there some code I can put in at the end of the merge, so the end user does not have to remember to do this every time they create a letter? Thank you, Karen > This is not going to work :( That's what comes from not testing the > suggestions before posting. [quoted text clipped - 69 lines] >>>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>>> Karen The user shouldn't have to remember to insert a second page header. Set the second page header up in the document template (or the merge source document) Word remembers the header settings. Insert a temporary page break, create your headers then remove the page break - see http://home.earthlink.net/~wordfaqs/Letterhead.htm Signature<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<> Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org <>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<> > Since there will be a date at the top of the letter, as well as in the > second page header, is there some code I can put in at the end of the [quoted text clipped - 85 lines] >>>>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>>>> Karen Graham, I already have that in my merge source document. My question is, how to be sure that header as well as the first page date are both fixed after the merge is complete. :-) Karen > The user shouldn't have to remember to insert a second page header. Set > the [quoted text clipped - 93 lines] >>>>>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>>>>> Karen The header is fixed by having a different first page header and setting the first and subsequent page headers before you merge. As indicated in my last post, Word will remember what you have setup when you remove the temporary page break. Setting up letterheads is explained in more detail at http://home.earthlink.net/~wordfaqs/Letterhead.htm The date is a little more complex, but the simplest plan is to use a Quote field {Quote {Date \@ "d MMM yyyy"}} will fix the date as text in the merged document. Change the mask to suit local date patterns. Signature<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<> Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org <>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<> > Graham, > I already have that in my merge source document. My question is, how [quoted text clipped - 109 lines] >>>>>>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>>>>>> Karen How about { QUOTE "{ DATE }" } ? Peter Jamieson > This is not going to work :( That's what comes from not testing the > suggestions before posting. [quoted text clipped - 69 lines] >>>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>>> Karen That works :) Signature<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<> Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org <>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<> > How about > [quoted text clipped - 86 lines] >>>>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>>>> Karen Hello Peter, I'm sorry I don't understand your reference below { QUOTE "{ DATE }" } Is this a merge field I put in the merge form? If so, how do I insert it? Thank you, Karen > How about > [quoted text clipped - 77 lines] >>>>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>>>> Karen It's an example of a "nested field". You can't usually enter them easily using e.g. Insert|Field, so... Use ctrl F9 to insert a pair of the special field braces {} Type QUOTE "" in between to give you { QUOTE "" } Put the insertion point between the "" and press ctrl-F9 to give you { QUOTE "{}" } Type DATE between the inner {} to give you { QUOTE "{ DATE }" } Peter Jamieson > Hello Peter, > I'm sorry I don't understand your reference below { QUOTE "{ DATE }" } [quoted text clipped - 83 lines] >>>>>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>>>>> Karen Thank you so much, Peter! It works great, in the header, too! And your directions are so clear :-) The only thing I can't finess is how to make it print like March 25, 2005 instead of 3/25/05. I experimented with some variations of what Graham wrote above, but I was unable to make it work. Can I impose on you one more time for this final step? > It's an example of a "nested field". You can't usually enter them easily > using e.g. Insert|Field, so... [quoted text clipped - 100 lines] >>>>>>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>>>>>> Karen In this case the date format switch needs to be applied to the DATE field, not the QUOTE field, so try { QUOTE "{ DATE \@"MMMM DD, YYYY" }" } If that does not work, can you let us know what you are seeing? Peter Jamieson > Thank you so much, Peter! It works great, in the header, too! And your > directions are so clear :-) [quoted text clipped - 112 lines] >>>>>>>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>>>>>>> Karen That works beautifully! Thank you so much for all your help, and for your very clear directions. Is there anywhere I can read about such other wonderful secret codes obtained by manually typing commands such as QUOTE between Ctrl-F9 brackets? I am wondering if all of the power and control of WordPerfect merge codes is hiding in there somewhere!!! :-) Thank you again, Peter! Karen > In this case the date format switch needs to be applied to the DATE field, > not the QUOTE field, so try [quoted text clipped - 129 lines] >>>>>>>>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>>>>>>>> Karen Almost all of the available field codes are documented in Word Help, usually near the bottom of the table of contents.The "=" field is usually hardest to find if you search Word Help. Some field types such as ADDIN are not documented (AFAIK) but are not usually useful for end users, and others such as DATA are old field types that are typically updated automatically by Word if you use them. I never used WordPerfect very much but my understanding is that the way data sources and the "merge code language" works in WP is more powerful than the Word equivalents. Peter Jamieson > That works beautifully! Thank you so much for all your help, and for your > very clear directions. [quoted text clipped - 141 lines] >>>>>>>>>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>>>>>>>>> Karen Thank you again! What is ADDIN, and what is AFAIK? Since I am not an end user (I am an MSAccess developer, extracting records from Access and interfacing/merging with Word merge forms), maybe I will be interested :-) > Almost all of the available field codes are documented in Word Help, > usually near the bottom of the table of contents.The "=" field is usually [quoted text clipped - 160 lines] >>>>>>>>>>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>>>>>>>>>> Karen ADDIN is a field that you don't need to worry about. AFAIK means as far as I know. SignatureCharles Kenyon Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide See also the MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word which is awesome! --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn from my ignorance and your wisdom. > Thank you again! What is ADDIN, and what is AFAIK? Since I am not an end > user (I am an MSAccess developer, extracting records from Access and [quoted text clipped - 165 lines] >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Karen AFAIK=As far as I know. I don't know the full history of the ADDIN field, but I believe it was intended to allow third party programs such as Personal information managers (PIMs) to maintain their private data in a way that Word would not normally touch. I have read that they are used by the program "Endnote" too. They are similar to PRIVATE fields which are, or were, used by Word when it opens a WordPerfect format doc, in essence to save information that it will need when it saves back to WP format. See http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/AddInFieldsContent.htm for info on ADDIN fields. I'm not sure this info. is the last word on the subject. See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/200318 for further info. on PRIVATE fields. Peter Jamieson > Thank you again! What is ADDIN, and what is AFAIK? Since I am not an end > user (I am an MSAccess developer, extracting records from Access and [quoted text clipped - 165 lines] >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Karen BTW, not sure this will fix your header problem - I haven't tested. Peter Jamieson > Hello Peter, > I'm sorry I don't understand your reference below { QUOTE "{ DATE }" } [quoted text clipped - 83 lines] >>>>>>>> Thank you in advance. >>>>>>>> Karen |
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