My zip code format is lost when merging from Excel to Word...

[MaggieDonuts]

I just purchased Microsoft Small Business with Outlook 2007 on new Dell and
I'm having the same problem, and I see it is almost 4 years later. Although
I clicked on the link that "Suzanne S. Barnhill" posted I don't see that this
solved the problem. Were you ever able to fix the problem of dropped zeros

 

[Graham Mayor]

The issue concerns the way Word mail merge connects to its data source,
which was changed for Word 2002 as the previous method DDE was unreliable.
Word now reads the underlying data without any formatting applied by Excel
hence leading zeros are stripped. The simplest answer is to use a formatting
switch - see the Zip code section of
http://www.gmayor.com/formatting_word_fields.htm .

Or you can revert to DDE albeit with the inherent risk that DDE is
unreliable, the method linked from that page.
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

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[Wordwonderor]

I could not figure this out even after reading deeply into the cited web
page. I was doing a mail merge from excel to a word label wizard. I couldn't
figure out where to insert the code. In excel, in the word data file, or one
of the labels. But the label seemed the only option. The wizard called the
field Postal when I toggled it (I had to expand my label size to see it),
although the Excel file called it Zip. I did my best at entering the code in
brackets before and after postal. I deleted postal and typed in {mergefield
zip \ # "00000"} but that didn't work. I was hampered by the fact no example
was given for formatting zip (only numbers and currency) and nothing for
labels. After many failed attempts, I follwwed the DDE instructions adding an
Insert Field Icon to my Label tool bar. Inserted the zip field with the code
after Country, and deleted Postal. This worked. I than propogated the field.
Few. I can't believe Microsoft made this process so cumbersome and has not
provided a fix. I am thinking Apple for my next purchase.

 

[MaggieDonuts]

I simply gave up trying to use Small Business and went back to my old
computer, hoping the mother board doesn't die on me, and continued to print
postcards with addresses directly from that computer. However, an associate
has figured out how publisher can print each of 1200 addresses on the
postcards I send. I also have a business "Market Advantage" program from my
company that allows me to maintain business contacts and notes. So I figured
Microsoft's Small Business Contact Manager was just not worth my time. If
you haven't figured out already, I'm not a computer genius, but I do manage
okay.

 

[Graham Mayor]

There is no 'fix' because it isn't broken. What you see is by design.
The DDE method of connection to the data was changed at Word 2002 because
DDE is somewhat unreliable in operation and the chosen alternative inserts
only the raw data. If DDE will work for you then fine, but if you want more
information about field switches see
http://www.gmayor.com/formatting_word_fields.htm

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Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

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[Diana L Middleton]

The DDE method worked well. I had trouble merging zip codes w/ 9 digits and a
hyphen, but this solved the problem.