[Bertie]

Is it possible to change the default date format on the data filter to the
English dd/mm/yyyy rather than the US mm/dd/yyyy. I routinely need to check
for dates before 1st October and I ALWAYS forget to enter it as 10/01. Stupid
me, but if there is a way of defaulting to the UK format it might preserve
some of my hair. Thank you.

[Peter Jamieson]

A lot of things about data filtering in Word Mailmerge depend on the
type of data source and the version of Word.

Assuming you are using a recent version of Word (XP or later), and
connecting using the default method (OLE DB) to a Jet provider - e.g. to
an Access database, then I don't think you can change the default. All
that Word really does in this case is to
a. do some basic valdation checks
b. put the thing you type between two # signs
c. generate a SQL statement with a WHERE clause like

WHERE mydate = #01/31/2009#

As far as I know, a "date literal" in that format will always be
interpreted by Jet as a US date regardless of any other settings.

You can try using DD-MM-YYYY instead, e.g. 01-31-2009 . I am not
completely sure whether Jet always assumes that is DD-MM-YYYY, or takes
it from somewhere like your regional settings.

Personally I prefer to use the internationally unambiguous (as far as
SQL is concerned) YYYY-MM-DD format, which also works in this particular
case, e.g. 2009-01-31.

Although I appreciate that neither of those is much use if you have a
longstanding habit of typing in DD/MM/YYYY format, I'm not sure there is
anything else you can do about it.

Peter Jamieson

http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

On 04/12/2009 15:35, Bertie wrote:
Is it possible to change the default date format on the data filter to the
English dd/mm/yyyy rather than the US mm/dd/yyyy. I routinely need to check
for dates before 1st October and I ALWAYS forget to enter it as 10/01. Stupid
me, but if there is a way of defaulting to the UK format it might preserve
some of my hair. Thank you.