Mergefield Format - Numbers and Text

[VickiMc]

In my (Excel) Database I have Field I need to merge which contains a four
digit Code, the majority of which are numbers eg 6781. These merge fine
without any requirement to place a switch, however one or two of the codes
are made-up of four letters and are displayed as a single zero. *MERGEFORMAT,
& *CHARFORMAT result in a blank field.
What do I have to stipulate to get the text to appear in the Mergefield?
PS I have formatted the column in Excel as TEXT.

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

If using a version of Word before 2007, from the Tools menu, select Options
and then go to the General tab and check the box for "Confirm conversions at
open ". If using Word 2007, click on the Office button and then on Word
Options and then on Advanced and go to the General section of the dialog and
check the box for "Confirm file format conversion on open"

After doing that, when you attach the data source to the mail merge main
document, select the DDE option for the method by which the attachment
should be made (In Word 2007, it is necessary to click on the "Show all
formats" button to see that option.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

 

[VickiMc]

Thanks for our prompt reply Doug.
I have tried this routine previously but (for whatever reason) I get a
MessageBox stating that Word cannot establish a DDE link - I left it there,
thought it was me, and promptly posted my question.
Any ideas how I am to proceed further?
I'm not that savvy when it comes to the nuts & bolts of computers, but in
case it matters, I should advise you this is a company computer to which I
have no administrative rights.

 

[Peter Jamieson]

If you haven't already looked at http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk/t0003.htm then I
suggest you do. Unfortunately it is very difficult to advise what your next
step should be. Probably the simplest workaround if you are performing the
merge yourself is to select the table in Excel, and copy/paste into a new
Word document, save that and use it as the data source.

 

[VickiMc]

Thanks Peter, I think I may have identified the problem at your point 2.
The mergelist I have is on the second Worksheet of the Workbook.
I'll swap the worksheets around and see if that rectifies the problem.
Standby. . . . .

 

[VickiMc]

My gratitude to both you and Doug - I'm fixed.
Must have been a 'doh' moment when I set-up the database in the first place
- I do so know the basic principles of mailmerge.
Once Again, Thank You!