Word Document

[Guest]

In a Word document, is there a formatting tool that will force all dates
(i.e., Jul 20, 2005 or 07/20/05) into the same format? Fields will do this
for current date, save date and print date but is there a mechanism for
transforming any and all dates within the body of a document into a
predetermined format? I'm just checking into field codes but I don't use
them and know little about them.

 

[Jay Freedman]

In a Word document, is there a formatting tool that will force all
dates (i.e., Jul 20, 2005 or 07/20/05) into the same format? Fields
will do this for current date, save date and print date but is there
a mechanism for transforming any and all dates within the body of a
document into a predetermined format? I'm just checking into field
codes but I don't use them and know little about them.

Hi Michael,

Yes, there is a switch, called a Date-Time Picture (\@) field switch, that
will do date format conversions. You can look up that term in the Help to
see the various formatting characters you can use.

Include this switch in any field that can result in a date expression to
change its format. As you said, the Date, SaveDate, and PrintDate fields use
this switch (so will the CreateDate field). What may not be obvious is that
you can even reformat a plain-text date:

- Insert a bookmark around the text date.
- Create a Ref field that contains the bookmark's name.
- Include the appropriate \@ switch inside the Ref field.
- Update the Ref field.

If the contents of the bookmark don't form a valid date, the Ref field will
simply repeat the bookmark. If it is a valid date, though, the format will
be dictated by the picture switch.