I've made a letter-heading template that contains a date field that is
automatically filled with the current date when the letter is written.
The trouble is, if I need to look at the soft-copy some time later, the
date field is updated to the new date. How can I get the date to be
inserted automatically when the letter is created, but then stay the
same when examined several days/weeks later?

--

Regards, Gary Wooding
(To reply by email, change feet to foot in my address)

Change (in the template) the date field to the CreateDate field. In the
template, the field will display the date the template was created: when you
open a document based on the template, it will display the current date
(because the document has just been created) and will remain that date
forever.

--
Terry Farrell - Word MVP
http://word.mvps.org/

"Wooding" wrote in message
...
: I've made a letter-heading template that contains a date field that is
: automatically filled with the current date when the letter is written.
: The trouble is, if I need to look at the soft-copy some time later, the
: date field is updated to the new date. How can I get the date to be
: inserted automatically when the letter is created, but then stay the
: same when examined several days/weeks later?
:
: --
:
: Regards, Gary Wooding
: (To reply by email, change feet to foot in my address)

You can change the field in your old documents also to restore their
creation dates.

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org




TF wrote:
Change (in the template) the date field to the CreateDate field. In
the template, the field will display the date the template was
created: when you open a document based on the template, it will
display the current date (because the document has just been created)
and will remain that date forever.


"Wooding" wrote in message
...
I've made a letter-heading template that contains a date field that
is automatically filled with the current date when the letter is
written. The trouble is, if I need to look at the soft-copy some
time later, the date field is updated to the new date. How can I get
the date to be inserted automatically when the letter is created,
but then stay the
same when examined several days/weeks later?

--

Regards, Gary Wooding
(To reply by email, change feet to foot in my address)

TF wrote:
Change (in the template) the date field to the CreateDate field. In the
template, the field will display the date the template was created: when you
open a document based on the template, it will display the current date
(because the document has just been created) and will remain that date
forever.

Thanks guys.
I changed the template to CreateDate and new documents now get an
indelible date inserted exactly as required.
I misread your riders though; I got the impression that the template
would display its own creation date after the change, but it now shows
the date it was changed. Its not a problem, just unexpected after
reading the rider.

--

Regards, Gary Wooding
(To reply by email, change feet to foot in my address)

The date shown in the template is irrelevant. Open the template and update
the field to show when it was created.

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org




Wooding wrote:
TF wrote:
Change (in the template) the date field to the CreateDate field. In
the template, the field will display the date the template was
created: when you open a document based on the template, it will
display the current date (because the document has just been
created) and will remain that date forever.

Thanks guys.
I changed the template to CreateDate and new documents now get an
indelible date inserted exactly as required.
I misread your riders though; I got the impression that the template
would display its own creation date after the change, but it now shows
the date it was changed. Its not a problem, just unexpected after
reading the rider.

But consider that the "creation date" may be the date it was saved on your
computer, not the date it was created by the person who sent it to you.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"Graham Mayor" wrote in message
...
The date shown in the template is irrelevant. Open the template and update
the field to show when it was created.

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org




Wooding wrote:
TF wrote:
Change (in the template) the date field to the CreateDate field. In
the template, the field will display the date the template was
created: when you open a document based on the template, it will
display the current date (because the document has just been
created) and will remain that date forever.

Thanks guys.
I changed the template to CreateDate and new documents now get an
indelible date inserted exactly as required.
I misread your riders though; I got the impression that the template
would display its own creation date after the change, but it now shows
the date it was changed. Its not a problem, just unexpected after
reading the rider.

TF wrote:
Change (in the template) the date field to the CreateDate field. In the
template, the field will display the date the template was created:

Its amazing how easy it is to give the wrong impression. The information
I got from Terry and Graham solved my problem and the template then
worked exactly as I originally expected, which was to display the date I
changed to CreateDate. Documents based on the revised template now work
as wanted.
It was the snippet quoted above that fooled me. I read it literally and
it seemed to say "Change (in the template) ... the CreateDate ... will
display the date the template was _created_:". It didn't, of course. It
displayed the date the template was _changed_. That's all. I'm happy.
Everything is now working fine.

--

Regards, Gary Wooding
(To reply by email, change feet to foot in my address)

That's correct. If you open a document (or template) and save it with a
different name, it becomes a newly created document (or template) so the
CreateDate will update too.

Terry

"Wooding" wrote in message
...
: TF wrote:
: Change (in the template) the date field to the CreateDate field. In the
: template, the field will display the date the template was created:
:
: Its amazing how easy it is to give the wrong impression. The information
: I got from Terry and Graham solved my problem and the template then
: worked exactly as I originally expected, which was to display the date I
: changed to CreateDate. Documents based on the revised template now work
: as wanted.
: It was the snippet quoted above that fooled me. I read it literally and
: it seemed to say "Change (in the template) ... the CreateDate ... will
: display the date the template was _created_:". It didn't, of course. It
: displayed the date the template was _changed_. That's all. I'm happy.
: Everything is now working fine.
:
: --
:
: Regards, Gary Wooding
: (To reply by email, change feet to foot in my address)