Edited MERGEFIELD Results Do Not Affect Fields in WinWord

ID: Q78655

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

In Microsoft Word for Windows, the results of a MERGEFIELD field typically display the name of the field from the data document. You can edit the displayed results of this field, but doing so does not change the field itself.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE PROBLEM

Word 6.0, 7.0, 97

1. Type "mergefield hello" (without the quotation marks).

2. Select the above words, and press CTRL+F9.

3. Press the F9 key.

4. Turn off the field codes. To do this, from the Tools Options View

   menu, look for an X next to Field Codes. If there is an X next to
   Field Codes, choose Field Codes to turn this option off.

5. Select the word "hello," but do not include the MERGEFIELD chevrons
   in your selection.

6. Press the DEL key and type the word "bye" (without the quotation
   marks).

7. Choose Field Codes from the Tools Options View menu to activate the
   field codes.

With field codes active, the field reads {mergefield hello}. With field codes turned off, the field result reads <<bye>>. To restore the field to normal, select it, and press F9.

Word version 2.0 for Windows

1. Type "mergefield hello" (without the quotation marks).

2. Select the above words, and press CTRL+F9.

3. Press the F9 key.

4. Turn off the field codes. To do this, from the View menu, look for

   a check mark next to Field Codes. If there is a check mark next to
   Field Codes, choose Field Codes to turn this option off.

5. Select the word "hello," but do not include the MERGEFIELD chevrons
   in your selection.

6. Press the DEL key and type the word "bye" (without the quotation
   marks).

7. Choose Field Codes from the View menu to activate the field codes.

With field codes active, the field reads {mergefield hello}. With field codes turned off, the field result reads <<bye>>. To restore the field to normal, select it, and press F9.

STATUS

Microsoft is researching this problem and will post more information here as it becomes available.

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Word for Windows User's Guide," version 2.0, page 749

KBCategory: kbusage KBSubcategory: kbfield kbmerge Additional query words: 2.0 2.0a 2.0a-CD 2.0b 6.0 6.0a 6.0c winword 7.0 word95 winword 7.0 word95 word6 winword2 word7 word97

Keywords          : kbfield kbmerge 
Version           : 2.x 6.0 6.0a 6.0c 7.0 7.0a
Platform          : WINDOWS

Last Reviewed: February 6, 1998