WD: Err Msg: "MergeField Was Not Found..." When Merging

• Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
• Microsoft Word for Windows NT, version 6.0
• Microsoft Word for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
• Microsoft Word 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, versions 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.1a
• Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to run a mail merge using a main document and data source that were created in Word version 5.x, you may receive the following error message:

   Error! MergeField was not found in header record of data source.

CAUSE

This problem will occur if the Word 5.x document contains a MERGEFIELD field with a division (/) symbol. This symbol is not converted correctly in later versions of Word.

For example:

In a converted Word 5.x main document, you may have a MERGEFIELD that resembles one of the following examples:

   <<Zip/10>>

   -or-

   { MergeField Zip/10 }

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, change the MERGEFIELD so that it resembles the following:

   { = { MergeField Zip } / 10 }

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

Keywords          : kbfield macword ntword winword word8 word97 wordnt macword98
Version           : MACINTOSH:6.0,6.0.1,6.0.1a; WINDOWS:6.0,6.0a,6.0c,7.0,7.0a,97; WINNT:6.0
Platform          : MACINTOSH WINDOWS winnt
Issue type        : kbbug
Solution Type     : kbfix kbworkaround