Formatting of time different in data document in Excel and main document in Word

[V. Dalton]

Please forgive me if this question has already been
answered. 306 pages is a lot of information to read. I
got through about 50 pages before my eyes gave out.

I am using Word 2000 for my main mailmerge document and
Excel 97 for its data document.

When I open the data document, the merged items are
formatted correctly -- exactly as they are in Excel.
However, when I close and save the Word file and open it
later, the number and time merges are formatted
improperly.

I fixed the number entry using a number switch. But, the
time entry displays the month, day and year along with the
time which includes the hours, minutes, seconds and AM or
PM. I've tried a variety of switch combinations with no
success. My Excel database has the time listed as 2:15
and that's how I want to see it in my Word document.

Is this possible? If so, how? I can constantly reopen the
data document but I'm trying to streamline my work, not
make it more cumbersome?

Thank you, V. Dalton

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

This sort of problem is seen more often in Word 2002, which links to Excel
using OLEDB, which doesn't preserve number formatting. In that version, the
solution is to force Word to use DDE instead; I don't know what the problem
might be in Word 2000. If you don't get a satisfactory answer here, you
might try microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields instead. The premier expert
on mail merges, Cindy Meister, does not, I think, read this NG (for the very
reason you mentioned, since she's on a dial-up connection for which she must
pay by the minute).

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Lowland]

Have you set the correct Time/Date format in Control Panel Date/Time applet?


Lowland

 

[Graham Mayor]

It shouldn't be a problem in Word 2000, as that connects by DDE, however a
switch on the time field should do the trick (unless non US dates are
involved when Word can get rather confused - dates and time are interwoven
in Word.)

For a time field to display 2:15 you need
{Mergefield Time \@ "h:mm"}

A lowercase "h" bases time on the 12-hour clock. An uppercase "H" bases time
on the 24-hour clock

h or H
Displays the hour without a leading 0 (zero) for single-digit hours. For
example, the hour of 9 A.M. is displayed as "9".
hh or HH
Displays the hour with a leading 0 (zero) for single-digit hours. For
example, the hour of 9 A.M. is displayed as "09".

Minutes (m)
The letter "m" must be lowercase to distinguish minutes from months.
m
Displays minutes without a leading 0 (zero) for single-digit minutes. For
example, { TIME \@ "m" } displays "2".
mm
Displays minutes with a leading 0 (zero) for single-digit minutes. For
example, { TIME \@ "mm" } displays "02".


--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP
E-mail (e-mail address removed)
Web site www.gmayor.dsl.pipex.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word
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