I'm trying to set up a client data base and the fields are not in the order I
want. I have tried everything I know to move them. They move, but don't
stay where I move them to! There's NO way for me to reset the order of my
custom data base fields. Please help.

Hi ?B?QmVh?=,

I'm trying to set up a client data base and the fields are not in the order I
want. I have tried everything I know to move them. They move, but don't
stay where I move them to! There's NO way for me to reset the order of my
custom data base fields.

May we assume you're referring to the order of the columns in the Recipients
dialog box of Word 2002 or 2003?

If that's the case, then you can't influence this. Someone at Microsoft decided
it would be "really cool" to "help" the user by automatically putting the
columns in the "best" order. And didn't give us any way to change that.

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply
in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-)

Many thanks Cindy. I appreciate your confirming what I had discovered. I
will simply find another data base program for my client list. Thanks again
for the input.
Bea

"Cindy M -WordMVP-" wrote:

Hi ?B?QmVh?=,

I'm trying to set up a client data base and the fields are not in the order I
want. I have tried everything I know to move them. They move, but don't
stay where I move them to! There's NO way for me to reset the order of my
custom data base fields.

May we assume you're referring to the order of the columns in the Recipients
dialog box of Word 2002 or 2003?

If that's the case, then you can't influence this. Someone at Microsoft decided
it would be "really cool" to "help" the user by automatically putting the
columns in the "best" order. And didn't give us any way to change that.

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply
in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-)

Hi Bea,

I appreciate your confirming what I had discovered. I
will simply find another data base program for my client list. Thanks again
for the input.

Just to be sure we're clear on this: the problem is with Word and not your
database. If you want to use Word for mail merge, you're going to have the
problem no matter what database you use.

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply
in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-)