Updating dates

[Guest]

I have had to create a new template in 2003 after years of previous
word versions. Because I like to keep my own creations off the C:
partition I have created a templates folder in my data partition and
set the file locations to look there for templates.

It now seems that when I click on File.New it doesn't look at my new
folder. To find the template I have to go File>Open>Docs/Templates
and open the template that way. It's not as convenient.

Also I created a date but it doesn't update when I open the template.

Is there any help, please.

Many thanks.

Colin

 

[Ken Puls]

I don't know why this functionality isn't exposed to Excel, but you can
deal with this through Word. Go in to Word and choose
Tools|Options|File Locations. Change the "Workgroup templates"
directory to what you need.

In addition, I have a little utility available at my site which can do
this. It also will list all templates (Excel and otherwise) in a menu
for easy reach. You can find that here if you're interested:
http://www.excelguru.ca/node/65

HTH,

Ken Puls, CMA - Microsoft MVP (Excel)
www.excelguru.ca

 

[Ken Puls]

Oops! Just realized that this is the Word group, not the Excel group.
Regardless, the instructions to change your template directory work, but
the add-in I referred to is an Excel add-in.

Cheers,

Ken Puls, CMA - Microsoft MVP (Excel)
www.excelguru.ca

 

[Guest]

Hello Ken

I don't have any difficulty with modifying file location but it
doesn't seem to behave the way I expect it. I'll use your utility and
let you know the result.

More to the point, in spite of advices posted to others just a few
days ago, I've had no luck with establishing a date in the template
that updates to today's date. I know that there is such a thing
because after many false starts I created one 5 or 6 years ago.

Sp[ecifically, the template had a date, let's say 28 October, 1999,
and when I clicked on new and chose letters.dot it opened a document
that was already dated with today's date. How do you do that.

As a last resort I might be able to use True Image v8 to extract that
file from a year old image. I might just do that if all else fails.

Best wishes.

Colin

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

The best sort of date field to insert in a template is CreateDate. This will
always reflect the creation date of the template in the template but will
update to the creation date of the document in each new document based on
the template. It will never update afterward. See
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/DateFields.htm

--
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.

Hello Ken

I don't have any difficulty with modifying file location but it
doesn't seem to behave the way I expect it. I'll use your utility and
let you know the result.

More to the point, in spite of advices posted to others just a few
days ago, I've had no luck with establishing a date in the template
that updates to today's date. I know that there is such a thing
because after many false starts I created one 5 or 6 years ago.

Sp[ecifically, the template had a date, let's say 28 October, 1999,
and when I clicked on new and chose letters.dot it opened a document
that was already dated with today's date. How do you do that.

As a last resort I might be able to use True Image v8 to extract that
file from a year old image. I might just do that if all else fails.

Best wishes.

Colin

Oops! Just realized that this is the Word group, not the Excel group.
Regardless, the instructions to change your template directory work, but
the add-in I referred to is an Excel add-in.

Cheers,

Ken Puls, CMA - Microsoft MVP (Excel)
www.excelguru.ca

 

[Guest]

Hello Suzanne

I realise that I am looking very stupid in public but I have had no
success. Everything you have said in this and earlier posts makes good
sense but the result is never what I'm looking for.

In this instance, having read your htm file, I have clicked File>new.
This has opened a new blank page with the assistant to the left. I
click on "templates in my computer" and it obligingly lists the
entries from my templates folder in my data partition.

I choose letters.dot and position the curser where I want the date. I
click Insert>Createdate and choose the format and it produces this:

{CREATEDATE \@ "dd MMMM yyyy"\* MERGEFORMAT}


I know that this computes as 29 October 2006 but this doesn't appear
in the document even after I have saved it, closed it, and re-opened
it. It always appears as this code.

To be honest, neither did it look like this code in my old template.
It always appeared as a date.

What can I be doing wrong.

Colin

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Press Alt+F9 (or in this case possibly just F9) to toggle the display from
field codes to field results.

--
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.

 

[Guest]

You're not doing much wrong as such: what you are seeing is the field codes
rather than the results of the fields. You can change this to always view
the results by going to Tools, Options, View tab and clearing the checkbox
against View Field Codes.

 

[Guest]

Hurrah!!!

I hope this is a lesson for many others.

Best wishes

Colin

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

A lesson in what?

--
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.

 

[Guest]

A lesson in how to insert an updating date in a template. What else?
It was a hope that it would be found helpful to many others who have
struggled with it.

Colin