Using a FILLIN field before a batch of labels

[Miles]

Using Word 2003, we've created a label mailmerge that prints some per-record
info from the database, but also prints a street name which the operator
must be for prompted at the beginning of the run. To be clear, the street
name is the same for all labels, but other info can vary. We print 2 labels
per sheet.

I added a text box off in the top margin of the template containing a FILLIN
field inside of a bookmark. The labels use a REF field to access the street
name via the bookmark. The operator is prompted when the merge runs, but the
information she inputs is not printed on sheet 1 -- only on sheets 2 and
onward. Again, the text box with the FILLIN is at the very top of the page.

The customer will be modifying the label template from time to time, so that
means he'll be doing an "update all labels." That rules out putting the
FILLIN field in the first label only since that'd get propagated to all
labels when the customer updates the labels, and I don't trust him to do any
fancy cutting & pasting of fields. Also, conditionals based on the record #
wouldn't work because the customer sometimes does mail merges that don't
start with record 1. Using a conditional that only asks for input if the
bookmark is blank wouldn't work since the bookmark can have FILLIN data
leftover from the last run.

Is there a trick for doing this? Thanks.

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

I would put an autonew macro in the template and in that macro is would use
the command

Dim streetname as String
streetname = InputBox("Enter the Street Name")
With ActiveDocument
.Variables("varstreetname").Value = streetname
.Fields.Update
End With

Then in the template, insert a { DOCVARIABLE varstreetname } field where
ever you want the street name to appear.

--
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