"defined" function

[Monika Krug]

How is the "defined" function for the formula field
working?

I tried { = defined ( { Mergefield x } ) } .

This does print 1 when x is a valid mail merge field, but
when it is not, it does not print 0, but "syntax error"
instead.

TIA,
Monika.

 

[Peter Jamieson]

As far as I know, defined() expects a numeric argument and is really there
to trap divide-by-0 and overflow errors, not "exists" type errors.

I don't think there is a field that will usefully tell you whether a
particular mergefield name is valid or not - you would probably have to use
VBA prior to the merge to do that.

Peter Jamieson

 

[Monika Krug]

As far as I know, defined() expects a numeric argument and is really there
to trap divide-by-0 and overflow errors, not "exists" type errors.

I don't think there is a field that will usefully tell you whether a
particular mergefield name is valid or not - you would probably have to use
VBA prior to the merge to do that.

Peter Jamieson

Thank you for this clarification.

Regards,
Monika.