Current date shows up in text when I retrieve old letters.

[Guest]

Just started a new job. When I retrieve letters from Word folders, the
current date shows up in the body of the letter; not the date the letter was
actually typed and stored. The current date is highlighted in grey. It does
no good to print out this copy of the letter, as it has the wrong date on it.
How may I solve this problem?

 

[JoAnn Paules [MVP]]

It's a field set up for current date. You should delete that field and just
type in the correct date - if you know it.

 

[Jezebel]

It means the dates were entered as DATE fields. These always update to the
current date. Change them to CreateDate fields - this will show the date the
document was created, which might or might not be the correct date.
CreateDate will also be the wrong date if --

1. There was a delay between creating the document and actually issuing the
letter, or
2. The letter was created by copying an old letter and doing a SaveAs (in
which case CreateDate refers to the creation of the original).

You can also use PrintDate -- this might be more accurate if the letter was
despatched as hard-copy or as PDF; but of course it might have been printed
again subsequently. For future reference, best practice with formal
correspondence is to keep a fixed copy of the document as despatched,
preferably by archiving a PDF, or by unlinking fields (press ctrl-shift-F9
to replace all fields with their results) -- following which they never
update.

To change the fields: Press Alt-F9 to display field codes. Change DATE to
CREATEDATE. Press F9 to update the field. Press Alt-F9 to hide the code and
display the result. The grey is the Field Shading setting on Tools > Options

View and does not print.

 

[Charles Kenyon]

Whoever typed it did so using a DATE or TIME field rather than a CREATEDATE
field. This CREATEDATE field should be put in the original template if
possible (instead of inserting using the keyboard shortcut or header/footer
toolbar button).

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.

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

--

Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide


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[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Actually, I believe Save As changes the CreateDate.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Graham Mayor]

It certainly does - even if you save as with the same name.

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

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