Autodate in templates

[Drew]

I have a document template that autofills the date in 2 places, one date
needs to update everytime the document is opened. No problem there. The
other date needs to autofill the first time a document is created from the
template and remain static thereafter. I tried insert date with the the
automatic update turned off and I tried a {CreateDate} field. Both return
the date that the template was created, not the date that a doc was created
using the template. The {SAVEDATE} field doesn't work, because the doc may
be edited and saved multiple times after creation.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

The CreateDate field is the one you want, but it does not update
automatically. You can update it manually or by printing.

 

[Drew]

That's so close...
What we wanted to avoid are manual updates. We want to automate as much of
the doc as possible.

So, there is no way for the CreateDate field to poll the system date at the
time that a Word doc is created from the template without polling it every
time the doc is opened??

Thanks.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

To clarify, the field does update when you print or Print Preview or if you
update fields generally; it just doesn't update fully automatically. It
updates to the date of creation, and it never updates thereafter; that's the
whole point of it.

The CreateDate field in the template will always be the date the template
was created. The CreateDate field in a document based on the template,
although it will at first display the creation date of the template, will
actually *be* the creation date of the document, and this value will be
displayed when you update fields by printing or any other action that
updates fields. After that it will not change.

 

[Graham Mayor]

A CREATEDATE field in a document created from a template that contains such
a field should always show the date the document was created. I have never
seen such a document display the template creation date? The template
however will always show the template creation date. I have to wonder if
this is a document being re-used as a 'template' rather than a template
being used with File > New to create a new document? With a true template,
it would be a simple matter to force the dates to do whatever you want with
a macro, but I would not recommend the use of macros in a document used as a
template.

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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I believe you're right, Graham. I just tested with a couple of my letter
templates, one with the date in the header and one with the date in the
body, and both had the correct CreateDate on creation. I do reuse some
letters (to specific addressess), so that's the issue I'd see there.