Formating Dates from Excel in Merge

I am using Word and Excel 2007

I would like to merge dates from an excel file. The date entry in
excel = 10/1/2009; however, I formatted the column to look like
Thursday, October 1, 2009.

When I merge it to Word, it merges 10/1/2009.

How can I format my word document so it converts it to the long form?

Catherine




--
ccieri

Hi ccieri,

To get the date format you want, you can add a formatting picture switch. In Word:
.. select the mergefield;
.. press Shift-F9 to expose the field coding. It should look something like {MERGEFIELD MyDate} where 'MyDate' is your mergefield's
name;
.. delete anything appearing after the mergefield's name and add '\@ "dddd, MMMM d, yyyy"' to the field, as in {MERGEFIELD MyDate \@
"dddd, MMMM d, yyyy"}. With this switch your date will come out as 'Thursday, October 1, 2009'. Other possible date formatting
switches include:
. \@ "dddd, d MMMM yyyy";
. \@ "ddd, d MMMM yyyy";
. \@ "d MMM yyyy";
. \@ "dd/MMM/yyyy";
. \@ "d-MM-yy";
Note: Note: you can swap the d, M, y expressions around, but you must use uppercase 'M's for months.
.. position the cursor anywhere in this field and press F9 to update it;
.. run your mailmerge.


--
Cheers
macropod
[Microsoft MVP - Word]


"ccieri" wrote in message ...

I am using Word and Excel 2007

I would like to merge dates from an excel file. The date entry in
excel = 10/1/2009; however, I formatted the column to look like
Thursday, October 1, 2009.

When I merge it to Word, it merges 10/1/2009.

How can I format my word document so it converts it to the long form?

Catherine




--
ccieri