DOCUMENT:Q97484  14-NOV-2000  [word97]
TITLE   :WD97: Conditional Alphanumeric Merge May Yield Incorrect Results
PRODUCT :Word 97 for Windows
PROD/VER:WINDOWS:97
OPER/SYS:
KEYWORDS:kbualink97 kbfield winword word97 kbmerge

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The information in this article applies to:

 - Microsoft Word 97 for Windows 
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SYMPTOMS
========

A mail merge operation may yield incorrect results if you use a conditional
statement to evaluate alphanumeric data when the first character of the data is
numeric.

CAUSE
=====

This happens because conditional statements (IF fields) evaluate only the first
two characters of a numeric string.

WORKAROUND
==========

To work around this problem, modify the data so that each field begins with a
non-numeric character. Then, modify the conditional field in the main merge
document to match the data.

To do this, follow these steps:

1. In the data document, add a character to the beginning of each data field
   that starts with a number. You can use any character, such as a parenthesis
   (you can also add one to the end of the field, so that it's easier to read)
   or an ampersand (&). This makes the first character in the number field a
   character instead of a numeral.

   Modified with parentheses:

      ---------------------------------
      |  Rec_Num  |Name      |Number  |
      ---------------------------------
      |     1     |John      |(1AA)   |
      ---------------------------------
      |     2     |Bill      |(1AB)   |
      ---------------------------------
      |     3     |Fred      |(2AA)   |
      ---------------------------------
      |     4     |George    |(ABC)   |
      ---------------------------------

   Modified with an ampersand:

      ---------------------------------
      |  Rec_Num  |Name      |Number  |
      ---------------------------------
      |     1     |John      |&1AA    |
      ---------------------------------
      |     2     |Bill      |&1AB    |
      ---------------------------------
      |     3     |Fred      |&2AA    |
      ---------------------------------
      |     4     |George    |&ABC    |
      ---------------------------------

2. In the main document, edit the test portion of the conditional field so that
   it matches the newly modified data. For example:

   If the data is surrounded by parentheses, modify the field to look like this:

   {IF {MERGEFIELD number} = "(1A)" "This is true"}

   If the data begins with an ampersand, modify the field to look like this:

   {IF {MERGEFIELD number} = "&1A" "This is true"}

MORE INFORMATION
================

For example, using the following sample data file, the following conditional
statement incorrectly yields a true result for the first and second records,
although only the second record satisfies the condition:

   {IF {MERGEFIELD NUMBER} = "1AB" "This is true"}

NOTE: The IF field evaluated only the first two characters (1A) of the numeric
string.

Sample Data File
----------------

   ---------------------------------
   |  Rec_Num  |Name      |Number  |
   ---------------------------------
   |     1     |John      |1AA     |
   ---------------------------------
   |     2     |Bill      |1AB     |
   ---------------------------------
   |     3     |Fred      |2AA     |
   ---------------------------------
   |     4     |George    |ABC     |
   ---------------------------------

Additional query words: numbers strings alphabetic

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Keywords          : kbualink97 kbfield winword word97 kbmerge 
Technology        : kbWordSearch kbWord97 kbWord97Search kbZNotKeyword2
Version           : WINDOWS:97
Issue type        : kbprb

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