Inserted times changed

[sbmcdon]

I was taking notes in a meeting and using the insert -> date and time
feature with the update automatically checkbox unchecked. When I saved
the file all the times were correct and were the first time I open the
file after closing and saving it, but the next day when I opened it all
the times had been updated to the current time. I am wondering if
there is any way to get the original times back, or if that is lost. I
am also wondering what I did wrong as the box is still unchecked, but
the time continues to update everytime I open the file. Thanks.

Scott

 

[mmmmark]

I was taking notes in a meeting and using the insert -> date and time
feature with the update automatically checkbox unchecked. When I saved
the file all the times were correct and were the first time I open the
file after closing and saving it, but the next day when I opened it all
the times had been updated to the current time. I am wondering if
there is any way to get the original times back, or if that is lost. I
am also wondering what I did wrong as the box is still unchecked, but
the time continues to update everytime I open the file. Thanks.

Scott

It updates that field with current information on startup or at print time
depending on some deeply hidden preferences I believe. Surely someone will
chime in with a more exact answer.

-Mark

 

[Clive Huggan]

It updates that field with current information on startup or at print time
depending on some deeply hidden preferences I believe. Surely someone will
chime in with a more exact answer.

-Mark

I think you have lost the original information in that document, Scott,
because the displayed result in the date field was over-written with new
data when the document was opened up on the subsequent day.

The settings are in Insert menu -> Date and Time pane, as I gather you have
used, and I seem to recall that checking / unchecking the "Update
automatically" box determines whether an updating field is inserted or text
is inserted.* Why yours is still updating when you have unchecked the box is
beyond me, except to suggest that you may have set this as the default (my
notes mention "you have to check what the last type of date format was
before you can confidently insert a date the next time"). Perhaps someone
more expert than I can help.

This subject gave me the extreme irrits when I first encountered it a few
years ago, and it still does. So I now bypass all the aggravation with menu
items and/or keystrokes that allow me to choose the sort of date I want,
directly. I describe the steps in appendix D in some notes that describe the
way I use Word: "Bend Word to Your Will", available as a free download from
the MVPs' website at http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/Bend/BendWord.htm

* You can easily distinguish between these 2 options by setting your "View"
preferences to Show -> Field shading -> Always. You can change a field
display to text (irreversibly) by selecting the date and keying
Command-Shift-F9.


Cheers,

Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is at least 5 hours different from the US and Europe, so my
follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
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[Daiya Mitchell]

If you have Word 2004, you should consider using Notebook Layout for taking
notes--every new Notebook doc opens with a CreateDate field at the top.

What version do you have?

But I think you must have had the box checked somehow, and not noticed
because Insert | Date and Time without the box checked doesn't insert a
field, and there's no way Word can update something that isn't a field. Hit
Opt-F9, you will see all the times change to fields. Or were you using a
keyboard shortcut that inserted a field without you realizing?

Whether the box is unchecked now doesn't make a difference, it only matters
whether the box was checked when the time was inserted. If the box was
checked when the time was inserted, Word inserts a field. Once it's a field,
it's a field unless you Unlink it. You can Unlink your fields now, but they
will not go back to the original times. I don't think there is any way to
recover it in this case.

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Scott-

Not sure what the cause is, but I'm pretty sure you can't recover the
original dates/times. To help prevent further changes, Cmd+Click the
date and see if "Toggle field codes" appears in the shortcut menu. If
so, cut the date/time and Paste Special as Unformatted Text back into
the same file.

If the dates are being inserted as fields without Update Automatically
checked, try trashing the Preferences file & see if that helps.

Good Luck |:>)

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Mac]]

The box needs to be checked or unchecked before you insert the time.

If Update Automatically is checked, Word inserts a DATE field coded to
display the current system date as a time. If the box is unchecked, Word
inserts the current date or time as plain text.

That's the one you wanted ... Altering the setting after you have inserted
the time has no effect. Sorry!

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

----- Original Message -----
From: "Clive Huggan" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.mac.office.word
Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2005 7:32 AM
Subject: Re: Inserted times changed