ZIP Code merge error

[David Shepard]

When attempting to merge addresses (from an Excel spreadsheet) to a label I
get the error "ZIP code not vaild" when the ZIP code begins with 0. I
formatted the cell both as text and a ZIP code. No help. Cannot format as a
number because the leading zero gets dropped.
After hours of frustration I did find out that if the ZIP codes beginning
with zero are the first ones in the spreadsheet it works.
Anybody know what is going on?
Thanks.

 

[Richard O. Neville]

To pick up the leading 0, it is necessary to apply the correct format in the
Excel sheet, which will merge into Word. Go to Format-Cells-Number tab and
select "Special." You can choose 5-digit or 9-digit zips. If the zip is
01234, just enter 1234 and it will format correctly. If it's 01234-5678,
just enter 12345678.

 

[David Shepard]

The software seems a bit schizophrenic in this regard. I eventually tried
this but it still did not work. After your suggestion I opened the original
csv file and applied the special format. Worked fine. Why it would not work
when I added the zero and formated as text is a mystery. If I did format as
text and they were the first lines in the Excel file it also worked. The
problem with ZIP formatting is that you have to choose between ZIP and ZIP+4.
Often the codes are mixed so this is a bit of a hassle to sort, format,
resort. The ZIP software should be able to figure it out.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Alternatively, see http://www.gmayor.com/formatting_word_fields.htm. Another
approach is to use DDE instead of OLEDB to connect to the Excel data source;
see http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister/MM2002/MM2002.htm

 

[David Shepard]

Thanks, Suzanne. This may be beyond me. I just try to do the simple things. I
have book marked your suggestions for a little more study.

David