Word Doccuments

[RKLT]

Can anyone tell me how to restore the original dates that letters were typed
instead of having them update everytime I open the doccument.?

Also how do I stop it happening again

Thanks

RLT

 

[Pat Garard]

G'Day RKLT,

When you
Insert>Date and Time,
make sure that the 'Update Automatically' box (in the Dialog)
is NOT checked.

 

[Judy in Sth Aust.]

I think if you type in the date (and not use "insert date") it should be OK.
Using "insert date" seems to update every time you open.

 

[Margaret Aldis]

The date in question has been entered as a DATE field (this is what you get
if you Insert > Date and ask for it to automatically update - it is always
the current date).

If you toggle field codes (Shift-F9) you can change the field to a
CREATEDATE (date document was created) or SAVEDATE (date document last
saved). Note though that either of these might give the wrong information
depending on the history of the file.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

A DATE field is also what you get if you use the Alt+Shift+D shortcut or the
Insert Date button on the Header and Footer toolbar.

 

[Charles Kenyon]

You are using a DATE or TIME field rather than a CREATEDATE field. This
field should be put in the original template if possible.

In the document in question, press Alt-F9 to display field codes. Then
change the field to a CREATEDATE field, press F9 and then Alt-F9.

I would recommend putting the field right in your template rather than using
Insert > Date or the keyboard shortcut. Unless you have very unusual
letters, the date always goes in the same place. On the rare occasions that
you don't want a date, it is easy enough to delete.

See http://addbalance.com/word/datefields1.htm for information on the
different kinds of datefields and how to format them.

 

[Frequent User]

How do I insert an automatic updating SAVEDATE?

G'Day RKLT,

When you
Insert>Date and Time,
make sure that the 'Update Automatically' box (in the Dialog)
is NOT checked.
--
Regards,
Pat Garard
Melbourne, Australia
_______________________

 

[Jay Freedman]

Insert > Field > SaveDate. But it doesn't automatically update... you can
make it update by selecting it and pressing F9, or print the document or
just go to Print Preview (assuming that "Update fields" is checked in Tools

 

[pkh@bbb]

"Insert date and time" and automatically update option is checked: Using
this feature in Word 2002 causes a document to open with the current date,
rather than being able to see the last date on the document. It used to
update only when the document was previewed or printed. Updating the date
when you just open a document to look at it means you can't see what date was
on a document previously. This is a change from previous versions of Word.
Why? Is there a way to make it update the date only when you preview or
print a document?

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

"Insert date and time" and automatically update option is checked: Using
this feature in Word 2002 causes a document to open with the current date,
rather than being able to see the last date on the document.

Really? I don't think so. That checkbox only applies when you actually use
that dialog to insert a date.

It used to
update only when the document was previewed or printed. Updating the date
when you just open a document to look at it means you can't see what date was
on a document previously. This is a change from previous versions of Word.
Why? Is there a way to make it update the date only when you preview or
print a document?

I'm not sure you can have the same date field not-update and then update,
but maybe. Which version of Word are you using? Does "used to" mean you
changed versions?

This is what is going on:

The keyboard shortcut for Insert Date, and the icon on the header/footer
toolbar insert an automatically updating date field, {DATE}, so if either of
those were used in creating the doc, you get date changes. Or if Insert |
Date & Time was used with the "update automatically" checkbox selected.

Word has a setting to Update Fields on Print, which also triggers on Print
Preview. I'm not sure what controls updating fields on open. Generally,
updating on open would be a good thing, as if you don't want a field to
update, why use a field?

To get the original date back for old docs, select the field, toggle field
codes on the right-click menu (or hit alt-F9), and change the DATE field to
CREATEDATE.

For more information, see here:
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/DateFields.htm

I suppose you could Lock the field after printing to keep it from updating
on open. Or the above link will introduce you to PrintDate, which may be
what you want.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Well, first of all, if you want to insert a date that doesn't update, you
shouldn't have "Automatically update" checked. If you use the keyboard
shortcut to insert a date, however, it will always be a DATE field. You can
always restore this to the date the document was created by editing the
field to make it a CREATEDATE field. For more, see
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/DateFields.htm

 

[pkh@bbb]

I do want to insert a date that updates, but I don't want it to update unless
I "preview" or "print" the document, which is the way it used to work in a
prior version prior of Word when "automatically update" was checked.

 

[pkh@bbb]

I do want to insert a date that updates, but I don't want it to update unless
I "preview" or "print" the document, which is the way it used to work in a
prior version of Word (that came with Windows 98) when the date had been
inserted and "automatically update" was checked. I am currently using Word
2002 SP3 on a new computer using Windows XP.

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

So I guess newer versions added something as a "feature" that you don't
like. This probably even qualified as a bug fix, I bet people complained
about forcing their automatically updating dates to update. I don't think
you can control it, though you could scour Tools | Options looking for
something that controls updating fields on open. I don't think it's there,
though.

Read the suggested article and see if PrintDate meets your needs, sounds to
me like it might.

Or see this Help topic:
Prevent changes to information inserted by a field