WD98: Ordinal Dates Are Mail Merged without Superscript (185152)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition
This article was previously published under Q185152

SYMPTOMS

If you use the mail merge feature of Word 98 Macintosh Edition, ordinal dates (for example, 21st) do not retain their superscript size. Ordinal dates are formatted with the style of the field they are being merged with.

CAUSE

The result of the mail merge uses the formatting of the main document.

A field can contain only one character attribute. If you apply superscript formatting to a field, the entire field result will be formatted with superscript characters.

WORKAROUND

You can work around this design by automating the AutoFormat feature. To record a macro that will change dates to ordinals within the merged document, follow these steps:
  1. In the document that results from a mail merge, on the Tools menu, point to Macro, and click Record New Macro.
  2. Enter a name, assign the macro to Toolbars or Keyboard if you want, and then click OK.
  3. On the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect, and then click the AutoFormat As You Type tab.
  4. Click to clear every check box except "Ordinals (1st) with superscript."
  5. Click the AutoFormat tab, click to clear every check box except "Ordinals (1st) with superscript," and click OK.
  6. On the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect, and then click OK.

    NOTE: This will replace date formats dates with ordinals (1st - 1 with the st superscripted).
  7. On the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect and click the AutoFormat As You Type tab.
  8. Select every check box you want, click the AutoFormat tab and then select every check box you want. Click OK.
  9. On the Tools menu, point to Macros, and click Stop Recorder.
NOTE: You must use the Visual Basic Editor to edit the code to personalize your macro. To view or edit the macro code, follow these steps:
  1. On the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Macros.
  2. Click "Normal.dot" (or whatever template you saved your macro to) from the "Macros In" list, select the macro name, and then click Edit.
Once completed, you can copy the macro to any template and run it each time you perform a mail merge. To copy the macro to your Normal template, use the Visual Basic Editor, which allows you to copy the associated modules and forms.

You can also copy macros using the Organizer. To do this, follow these steps:
  1. Open the Project (template) that contains your macro in the left pane, and open Normal (or the template you want to copy to) in the right pane.
  2. Click the Macro Project Items tab.
  3. Click Copy to copy the appropriate modules and forms from your custom template to Normal (or template you want).

MORE INFORMATION

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Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:6/17/2005
Keywords:kbhowto KB185152
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