I use Word a good deal for writing letters and have various templates for
this purpose. All of these have dates within them and, to ensure that they
give the correct date when a letter is created, the 'update automatically'
box is checked.

This is fine until it comes to re-printing saved letters created in the
past. Obviously when these are opened, the date updates again, thereby
showing today's date rather than the date on which the letter was written.

Is there a way around this? All I can think of is some sort of macro that
is used when the file is closed (or even saved) to remove the automatic
update?

Thanks.

The correct date will be inserted upon creation without that check; you'll
get date text instead of a DATE field, which is what you have now. You can
edit the field to change it to CREATEDATE (Alt+F9, edit, Alt+F9, F9). Best
is to use a CREATEDATE field in your letter template; see
http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/Letterhead.htm

--
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.

"Terry Bennett" wrote in message
...
I use Word a good deal for writing letters and have various templates for
this purpose. All of these have dates within them and, to ensure that
they
give the correct date when a letter is created, the 'update automatically'
box is checked.

This is fine until it comes to re-printing saved letters created in the
past. Obviously when these are opened, the date updates again, thereby
showing today's date rather than the date on which the letter was written.

Is there a way around this? All I can think of is some sort of macro that
is used when the file is closed (or even saved) to remove the automatic
update?

Thanks.

Terry,

Don't use Update Automatically. That inserts a Date field in Word that will
update to the current date anytime fields are updated (usually when you
print). With that option uncheck you get a plain text date stamp. What you
want is a CreateDate field in the template that you use to create your dated
documents. It will input the current date when the document is created and
that date stays fixed.

--
Greg Maxey/Word MVP
See:
http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/word_tips.htm
For some helpful tips using Word.


Terry Bennett wrote:
I use Word a good deal for writing letters and have various templates
for this purpose. All of these have dates within them and, to ensure
that they give the correct date when a letter is created, the 'update
automatically' box is checked.

This is fine until it comes to re-printing saved letters created in
the past. Obviously when these are opened, the date updates again,
thereby showing today's date rather than the date on which the letter
was written.
Is there a way around this? All I can think of is some sort of macro
that is used when the file is closed (or even saved) to remove the
automatic update?

Thanks.

Thanks guys - much appreciated

"Terry Bennett" wrote in message
...
I use Word a good deal for writing letters and have various templates for
this purpose. All of these have dates within them and, to ensure that they
give the correct date when a letter is created, the 'update automatically'
box is checked.

This is fine until it comes to re-printing saved letters created in the
past. Obviously when these are opened, the date updates again, thereby
showing today's date rather than the date on which the letter was written.

Is there a way around this? All I can think of is some sort of macro that
is used when the file is closed (or even saved) to remove the automatic
update?

Thanks.

You are using a DATE or TIME field rather than a CREATEDATE field. This
field should be put in the original template if possible (instead of
inserting using the keyboard shortcut or header/footer toolbar button).

In the document in question, press Alt-F9 to display field codes. Then
change the field to a CREATEDATE field, press F9 and then Alt-F9.

See http://addbalance.com/word/datefields1.htm for information on the
different kinds of datefields and how to format them.

--

Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome!

My criminal defense lawyer site: http://addbalance.com.
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from my ignorance and your wisdom.
"Terry Bennett" wrote in message
...
I use Word a good deal for writing letters and have various templates for
this purpose. All of these have dates within them and, to ensure that they
give the correct date when a letter is created, the 'update automatically'
box is checked.

This is fine until it comes to re-printing saved letters created in the
past. Obviously when these are opened, the date updates again, thereby
showing today's date rather than the date on which the letter was written.

Is there a way around this? All I can think of is some sort of macro that
is used when the file is closed (or even saved) to remove the automatic
update?

Thanks.