ID: Q114223
The information in this article applies to:
If you have the "Change 'Straight Quotes' to 'Smart Quotes'" option selected and you create a comma-delimited data source for Mail Merge, all fields but the first field will be printed with the smart quote showing. (To locate the "Change 'Straight Quotes'..." option, click AutoCorrect on the Tools menu.)
This problem occurs only if you have created the data source manually in Word and the "Change 'Straight Quotes'..." option is selected. This will not occur if you use Mail Merge Helper to create the data file.
When smart quotes are used, Word places opening (beginning) smart quotes only after white space (a normal or nonbreaking space, a tab, or a paragraph mark). Word will not insert opening smart quotes immediately after a comma. Instead, Word inserts a closing smart quote after each comma. This restriction causes all the closing smart quotes that are not paired with a preceding opening smart quote, to be considered part of the data and, therefore, they are not printed.
Do not use smart quotes when you manually create a data source in Word. To eliminate smart quotes with an existing data source document, follow these steps:
1. On the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect.
2. Click to Clear the "Change 'Straight Quotes' to 'Smart Quotes'" check
box and click OK.
4. In the Find text box, type ^0148.
5. In the Replace With text box, type ", and click Replace All.
6. In the Find Text box, type ^0147.
7. In the Replace With text box, type ", and click Replace All.
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Word versions listed above. This problem was corrected in Microsoft Word for Windows 95, version 7.0 and Word 98 Macintosh Edition.
Additional query words: unwanted datafile data file quotation marks curly
Keywords : kbfield winword kbmerge macword word6
Version : WINDOWS:6.0,6.0a,6.0c;MACINTOSH:6.0,6.0.1,6.0.1a
Platform : MACINTOSH WINDOWS
Issue type : kbbug kbhowtoLast Reviewed: February 4, 1998