Incrementing field in Mailing Labels - part 2

[dennis]

Graham Mayor was kind enough to answer an earlier question
on sequenced mailing labels. I have a followup for him (or
anyone else) that might be able to provide the "final
piece" of this equation:

Can I have a USER INPUT type of field to "seed" the
FUNCTION, so that I might use:

=({SEQ Label} + MySeed)

So that if a user enters 1000, the first field sequence
number is 1001?

The user might see: "Enter your starting sequence number: "

and would enter that number from a paper ledger.

I don't really understand how to use that type of input
yet, so I'd also like to know how I can "hide" that field
in the document, but have it come up for user-entry when
ready to print (or when opening the doc, it really doesn't
matter when).

Thanks!

PS: If there's any way to add an auto-incrementing number
to an Access data source (and then use that number for the
SEQ label), might you please tell me how.

 

[Graham Mayor]

You can do this, but it's a bit fiddly.

Setup your merge label document with your merge fields. For the incrementing
number use the field combination
{={SEQ Label} + {REF MySeed}}

This will prompt a Syntax error - ignore that. It only means that the
bookmark doesn't exist yet.

Propagate the content to all the cells.

In the first cell insert the following fields
{SET MySeed 0 }{ASK MySeed "Enter starting number" \o}

Select the lot - CTRL+A then F9 to update, cancel the prompt. The error
message will have gone away, and the number fields should start at 1.

You are now ready to use the merge document. When you merge you will get a
prompt for the start number. This number will
be added to MySeed and thus to the incrementing numbers.

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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[dennis]

I regret that I am still getting the syntax error, after
following your adice to the letter. (How can I see the
entire error message for a field BTW?)

I created my address fields, then in front of them,
INSERTed a Field of type Formula (=).

In the Formula box, I entered "={SEQ Label} + {REF MySeed}"
(no quotes). I did indeed get the Syntax Error as you
predicted. (Word inserted the outer curly braces of course.)

Then I propagated the first label to the rest.

At that point, I moved the cursor above the formula in the
first cell, and INSERTed a SET field and then an ASK field,
the syntax of which matched your example perfectly.

I then entered <CTRL>A and then <F9>. The prompt came up
asking what starting number I wanted (the default is 0). I
hit CANCEL, and the SYNTAX ERROR stayed in each label.

I have not continued past that point, as your post states
that the error should have vanished. I am using Word 2002
(Office XP).

Any advice would be very welcome.

Thanks

 

[Graham Mayor]

I think I know where you are going wrong. You are using the insert field
command to insert the formula field. You must do this manually using CTRL +
F9 to set each pair of field boundaries - the curly braces. You can toggle
the display with ALT+F9. Temporarily cut the SET and ASK fields to the
clipboard (CTRL+X) then make the changes, repropagate to change the rest of
the labels, then paste the clipboard contents (CTRL+V) back into the first
cell.

If you have any further problems contact me via my web site link.

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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