Mailmerge Date

I have a template I created & used in Word 2003. As the mailmerge template
generated a document it would insert the days date in the Createdate field.
At that point I could save the generated document and if I opened it on a
later date it would show the date I generated the document.

I have upgraded to Word 2007 and it no longer works. When I generate a
document now the date inserted is the date the template was created. I have
tested with Createdate, Printdate, Savedate and Date without being able to
achieve the desired results. I have also tried with the "Preserve Formatting
During Updates" checked and unchecked with no luck.

1). Can someone tell me what field I should use to generate a document and
insert today’s date?
2). When I save and open this document on a later date, I want to see the
date it was generated?

When you use the word "template" do you mean a document saved as a .dot,
..dotx or .dotm file from which you are creating a mail merge main document
by using FileNew?

Or, are you referring to the mail merge main document that has just been
saved as a .doc, docx or docm file.

If you use a CREATEDATE field in the former and you create the mail merge
main document by using FileNew and then select that file, that mail merge
main document and the documents created by executing the merge will contain
the date upon which the FileNew action was taken.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com
"Thomas" wrote in message
...
I have a template I created & used in Word 2003. As the mailmerge template
generated a document it would insert the days date in the Createdate
field.
At that point I could save the generated document and if I opened it on a
later date it would show the date I generated the document.

I have upgraded to Word 2007 and it no longer works. When I generate a
document now the date inserted is the date the template was created. I
have
tested with Createdate, Printdate, Savedate and Date without being able to
achieve the desired results. I have also tried with the "Preserve
Formatting
During Updates" checked and unchecked with no luck.

1). Can someone tell me what field I should use to generate a document and
insert today’s date?
2). When I save and open this document on a later date, I want to see the
date it was generated?

Hi Thomas,

The DATE field ordinarily survives the mailmerge process and remain active in the output document, which can be problematic, since
such fields update to the current date every time you open the document. Conversely, CREATEDATE fields from the mailmerge main
document reflect that document's creation date (not that of the mailmerge output).

To force DATE fields to convert to their results (ie so that they become static dates), reflecting the date on which the merge was
performed, simply embed them in an IF field coded along the lines of:
'{IF TRUE {DATE}}'

Note: The field brace pairs (ie '{ }') for the above example are created via Ctrl-F9 - you can't simply type them or copy & paste
them from this message.

--
Cheers
macropod
[Microsoft MVP - Word]


"Thomas" wrote in message ...
I have a template I created & used in Word 2003. As the mailmerge template
generated a document it would insert the days date in the Createdate field.
At that point I could save the generated document and if I opened it on a
later date it would show the date I generated the document.

I have upgraded to Word 2007 and it no longer works. When I generate a
document now the date inserted is the date the template was created. I have
tested with Createdate, Printdate, Savedate and Date without being able to
achieve the desired results. I have also tried with the "Preserve Formatting
During Updates" checked and unchecked with no luck.

1). Can someone tell me what field I should use to generate a document and
insert today’s date?
2). When I save and open this document on a later date, I want to see the
date it was generated?

Macropod:

Since every record will have a first name, should my fomula look like this:
{ IF «FirstName» "",{DATE \@ "MMMM d, yyyy" \* MERGEFORMAT}}

Hi Thomas,

You could do that, but there's no need to complicate things - and I'd get rid of the \* MERGEFORMAT switch too (it does nothing to
enhance the merge).

--
Cheers
macropod
[Microsoft MVP - Word]


"Thomas" wrote in message ...
Macropod:

Since every record will have a first name, should my fomula look like this:
{ IF «FirstName» "",{DATE \@ "MMMM d, yyyy" \* MERGEFORMAT}}

Hi Thomas,

An alternative field construction is:
{QUOTE{DATE \@ "MMMM d, yyyy"}}

--
Cheers
macropod
[Microsoft MVP - Word]


"Thomas" wrote in message ...
Macropod:

Since every record will have a first name, should my fomula look like this:
{ IF «FirstName» "",{DATE \@ "MMMM d, yyyy" \* MERGEFORMAT}}

Doug:

I have a .doc I am opening, merging in table data and saving off as a new
..doc. The problem is I want the new.doc to have the date it was generated.
I keep getting one of 2 results. 1) I open new.doc and get the date the
template was created or 2) I open new.doc and get todays date.

How can I generate new.doc on tue 10/10/09 and get the tue 10/10/09 date
each time I open that specific new.doc.

"Doug Robbins - Word MVP" wrote:

When you use the word "template" do you mean a document saved as a .dot,
..dotx or .dotm file from which you are creating a mail merge main document
by using FileNew?

Or, are you referring to the mail merge main document that has just been
saved as a .doc, docx or docm file.

If you use a CREATEDATE field in the former and you create the mail merge
main document by using FileNew and then select that file, that mail merge
main document and the documents created by executing the merge will contain
the date upon which the FileNew action was taken.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com
"Thomas" wrote in message
...
I have a template I created & used in Word 2003. As the mailmerge template
generated a document it would insert the days date in the Createdate
field.
At that point I could save the generated document and if I opened it on a
later date it would show the date I generated the document.

I have upgraded to Word 2007 and it no longer works. When I generate a
document now the date inserted is the date the template was created. I
have
tested with Createdate, Printdate, Savedate and Date without being able to
achieve the desired results. I have also tried with the "Preserve
Formatting
During Updates" checked and unchecked with no luck.

1). Can someone tell me what field I should use to generate a document and
insert today’s date?
2). When I save and open this document on a later date, I want to see the
date it was generated?

Use the {IF TRUE {DATE}} construction suggested by Macropod in his initial
response to your original question.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com
"Thomas" wrote in message
...
Doug:

I have a .doc I am opening, merging in table data and saving off as a new
.doc. The problem is I want the new.doc to have the date it was
generated.
I keep getting one of 2 results. 1) I open new.doc and get the date the
template was created or 2) I open new.doc and get todays date.

How can I generate new.doc on tue 10/10/09 and get the tue 10/10/09 date
each time I open that specific new.doc.

"Doug Robbins - Word MVP" wrote:

When you use the word "template" do you mean a document saved as a .dot,
..dotx or .dotm file from which you are creating a mail merge main
document
by using FileNew?

Or, are you referring to the mail merge main document that has just been
saved as a .doc, docx or docm file.

If you use a CREATEDATE field in the former and you create the mail merge
main document by using FileNew and then select that file, that mail
merge
main document and the documents created by executing the merge will
contain
the date upon which the FileNew action was taken.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com
"Thomas" wrote in message
...
I have a template I created & used in Word 2003. As the mailmerge
template
generated a document it would insert the days date in the Createdate
field.
At that point I could save the generated document and if I opened it on
a
later date it would show the date I generated the document.

I have upgraded to Word 2007 and it no longer works. When I generate a
document now the date inserted is the date the template was created. I
have
tested with Createdate, Printdate, Savedate and Date without being able
to
achieve the desired results. I have also tried with the "Preserve
Formatting
During Updates" checked and unchecked with no luck.

1). Can someone tell me what field I should use to generate a document
and
insert today’s date?
2). When I save and open this document on a later date, I want to see
the
date it was generated?