Formatting Mail Merge Date Field

[MT DOJ Help Desk]

Access 97
Word 2000

I am trying to merge some Access data into a Word document. Everything
works fine with the exception of one date field, which I can't get formatted
properly. In Access, the date is created using the calendar control on a
form, and is stored in mmmm dd, yyyy format (I've confirmed this by looking
at the values in the table). When I merge the data into Word, that date
field displays in mm/dd/yyyy format. Since I have Access storing the date
in the desired format, I figure that the problem must be with Word. I've
been trying to change the way that Word displays the contents of the date
field, and I've been playing with \* MERGEFORMAT, but I can't seem to get
the date to display in mmmm dd, yyyy format. Can someone tell me how I can
do this?

--Tom

 

[Peter Jamieson]

If Word is recognising the value as a date, try changing

{ MERGEFIELD mydate }

to

{ MERGEFIELD mydate \@"MMMM DD, YYYY" }

If Word is not recognising the value as a date, there is probably only one
option: create a query in Word that reformats the date exactly the way you
want it and return it as a string, and use that query as the data source for
your merge.

 

[macropod]

Hi Tom,

You need to add a date switch to your date mergefield:
\@ "mmmm dd, yyyy"

Cheers

 

[MT DOJ Help Desk]

That worked. Thanks for the help.

--Tom

Hi Tom,

You need to add a date switch to your date mergefield:
\@ "mmmm dd, yyyy"

Cheers

 

[sharon]

-----Original Message-----
That worked. Thanks for the help.

--Tom

calendar control on
a Access storing the
date must be with Word.
I've contents of the
date but I can't seem to
get


.
i'm having this problem too, adding in the switches

works kinda... the problem is that these documents have
been working fine up until my client got a new pc... any
ideas??

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi (e-mail address removed),

It would be better if you post a new message, posting to an
existing message, and at the very end of a very long quote
isn't optimal because people are likely to miss your
question.

i'm having this problem too, adding in the switches
works kinda... the problem is that these documents have
been working fine up until my client got a new pc... any
ideas??

The reason for this is the client probably upgraded to Word
2002 or 2003. These versions use OLE DB instead of DDE to
connect to the data. Only DDE allows one to bring across
the formats from the datasource in Excel or Access.

You'll find more information on this in the Word 2002
section of my website's mail merge FAQ. It also describes
how you can change back to using DDE and how to get back
the older interfaces.

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update
Sep 30 2003)
http://www.word.mvps.org

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