Hi there,

I have this IF statement, amongst others, in a template at the moment:

{IF {ref COMP}= "" "" "{ref COMP /* CHARFORMAT}"}

COMP is a bookmark that is SET at the beginning of the template to the
company name that should have been passed from our company contacts database
(ACT!) by {SET COMP "[[Company]]"}.

However, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it prints
the correct information and sometimes you get the name of the field instead.
It's not too much of a problem when I only have one contact to write to, but
we're now in the position where we need to do a mailshot to all of our
customers and obviously can't risk any of them not being included in the
mailing.

I think the problem is the first {ref COMP} which should just be {COMP} but
every time I save the template and open it again Word keeps putting all the
REF's I took out back in.

Does anyone have any idea how to stop it doing that? (I don't know why it is
as I have other templates where it doesn't put them in and they work fine -
very frustrating!!)

Many thanks in advance to anybody who can help!

Alison

Sorry - I forgot to mention it!

Alison

"MeWivFree" wrote:

Hi there,

I have this IF statement, amongst others, in a template at the moment:

{IF {ref COMP}= "" "" "{ref COMP /* CHARFORMAT}"}

COMP is a bookmark that is SET at the beginning of the template to the
company name that should have been passed from our company contacts database
(ACT!) by {SET COMP "[[Company]]"}.

However, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it prints
the correct information and sometimes you get the name of the field instead.
It's not too much of a problem when I only have one contact to write to, but
we're now in the position where we need to do a mailshot to all of our
customers and obviously can't risk any of them not being included in the
mailing.

I think the problem is the first {ref COMP} which should just be {COMP} but
every time I save the template and open it again Word keeps putting all the
REF's I took out back in.

Does anyone have any idea how to stop it doing that? (I don't know why it is
as I have other templates where it doesn't put them in and they work fine -
very frustrating!!)

Many thanks in advance to anybody who can help!

Alison

They should all be REF fields. Are the field delimiters actual delimiters or
are they typed braces?

If you are changing a document that is based on a template by deleting or
changing fields, that change is not made in the template and will not be
reflected in new documents.

For mailings where you have a list of people/companies why not use
mailmerge?
--
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!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

"MeWivFree" wrote in message
...
Hi there,

I have this IF statement, amongst others, in a template at the moment:

{IF {ref COMP}= "" "" "{ref COMP /* CHARFORMAT}"}

COMP is a bookmark that is SET at the beginning of the template to the
company name that should have been passed from our company contacts
database
(ACT!) by {SET COMP "[[Company]]"}.

However, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it prints
the correct information and sometimes you get the name of the field
instead.
It's not too much of a problem when I only have one contact to write to,
but
we're now in the position where we need to do a mailshot to all of our
customers and obviously can't risk any of them not being included in the
mailing.

I think the problem is the first {ref COMP} which should just be {COMP}
but
every time I save the template and open it again Word keeps putting all
the
REF's I took out back in.

Does anyone have any idea how to stop it doing that? (I don't know why it
is
as I have other templates where it doesn't put them in and they work
fine -
very frustrating!!)

Many thanks in advance to anybody who can help!

Alison

Hi Charles

Thanks very much for the extremely prompt reponse!

I don't seem to be able to use mailmerge as I cannot get Word to recognise
the ACT! database (.dbf extension) as a source.

The {}'s are entered using the CTRL-F9 method and the field names in [[]]'s
are inserted by editing the document template using ACT! and picking the
field names from the list that I am offered (if that makes any sense!)

Thanks

Alison

"Charles Kenyon" wrote:

They should all be REF fields. Are the field delimiters actual delimiters or
are they typed braces?

If you are changing a document that is based on a template by deleting or
changing fields, that change is not made in the template and will not be
reflected in new documents.

For mailings where you have a list of people/companies why not use
mailmerge?
--
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!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

"MeWivFree" wrote in message
...
Hi there,

I have this IF statement, amongst others, in a template at the moment:

{IF {ref COMP}= "" "" "{ref COMP /* CHARFORMAT}"}

COMP is a bookmark that is SET at the beginning of the template to the
company name that should have been passed from our company contacts
database
(ACT!) by {SET COMP "[[Company]]"}.

However, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it prints
the correct information and sometimes you get the name of the field
instead.
It's not too much of a problem when I only have one contact to write to,
but
we're now in the position where we need to do a mailshot to all of our
customers and obviously can't risk any of them not being included in the
mailing.

I think the problem is the first {ref COMP} which should just be {COMP}
but
every time I save the template and open it again Word keeps putting all
the
REF's I took out back in.

Does anyone have any idea how to stop it doing that? (I don't know why it
is
as I have other templates where it doesn't put them in and they work
fine -
very frustrating!!)

Many thanks in advance to anybody who can help!

Alison

Can you export your selected ACT records to a comma- or tab-delimited text
file and use that instead?

I'm not familiar with ACT (haven't used it for more than 10 years) and its
interface with Word. The other thing you should be aware of is that REF
fields do not usually update when the bookmark changes. They have to be
updated through some other process.
--
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!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

"MeWivFree" wrote in message
...
Hi Charles

Thanks very much for the extremely prompt reponse!

I don't seem to be able to use mailmerge as I cannot get Word to recognise
the ACT! database (.dbf extension) as a source.

The {}'s are entered using the CTRL-F9 method and the field names in
[[]]'s
are inserted by editing the document template using ACT! and picking the
field names from the list that I am offered (if that makes any sense!)

Thanks

Alison

"Charles Kenyon" wrote:

They should all be REF fields. Are the field delimiters actual delimiters
or
are they typed braces?

If you are changing a document that is based on a template by deleting or
changing fields, that change is not made in the template and will not be
reflected in new documents.

For mailings where you have a list of people/companies why not use
mailmerge?
--
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!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

"MeWivFree" wrote in message
...
Hi there,

I have this IF statement, amongst others, in a template at the moment:

{IF {ref COMP}= "" "" "{ref COMP /* CHARFORMAT}"}

COMP is a bookmark that is SET at the beginning of the template to the
company name that should have been passed from our company contacts
database
(ACT!) by {SET COMP "[[Company]]"}.

However, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it
prints
the correct information and sometimes you get the name of the field
instead.
It's not too much of a problem when I only have one contact to write
to,
but
we're now in the position where we need to do a mailshot to all of our
customers and obviously can't risk any of them not being included in
the
mailing.

I think the problem is the first {ref COMP} which should just be {COMP}
but
every time I save the template and open it again Word keeps putting all
the
REF's I took out back in.

Does anyone have any idea how to stop it doing that? (I don't know why
it
is
as I have other templates where it doesn't put them in and they work
fine -
very frustrating!!)

Many thanks in advance to anybody who can help!

Alison

Thanks again Charles - I will export them to a tab-delimited file and see how
that goes.

ACT! seems to be a bit of a pain and I think it is possibly it that is
causing the problem rather than Word! Unfortunately nothing else seems to be
sufficient for our sales director's needs so use ACT! we must!!

I have successfully used the same IF statements with other contact and
document management programs before and this is the only one that has ever
given me trouble like this!

Alison

"Charles Kenyon" wrote:

Can you export your selected ACT records to a comma- or tab-delimited text
file and use that instead?

I'm not familiar with ACT (haven't used it for more than 10 years) and its
interface with Word. The other thing you should be aware of is that REF
fields do not usually update when the bookmark changes. They have to be
updated through some other process.
--
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!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

"MeWivFree" wrote in message
...
Hi Charles

Thanks very much for the extremely prompt reponse!

I don't seem to be able to use mailmerge as I cannot get Word to recognise
the ACT! database (.dbf extension) as a source.

The {}'s are entered using the CTRL-F9 method and the field names in
[[]]'s
are inserted by editing the document template using ACT! and picking the
field names from the list that I am offered (if that makes any sense!)

Thanks

Alison

"Charles Kenyon" wrote:

They should all be REF fields. Are the field delimiters actual delimiters
or
are they typed braces?

If you are changing a document that is based on a template by deleting or
changing fields, that change is not made in the template and will not be
reflected in new documents.

For mailings where you have a list of people/companies why not use
mailmerge?
--
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!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

"MeWivFree" wrote in message
...
Hi there,

I have this IF statement, amongst others, in a template at the moment:

{IF {ref COMP}= "" "" "{ref COMP /* CHARFORMAT}"}

COMP is a bookmark that is SET at the beginning of the template to the
company name that should have been passed from our company contacts
database
(ACT!) by {SET COMP "[[Company]]"}.

However, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it
prints
the correct information and sometimes you get the name of the field
instead.
It's not too much of a problem when I only have one contact to write
to,
but
we're now in the position where we need to do a mailshot to all of our
customers and obviously can't risk any of them not being included in
the
mailing.

I think the problem is the first {ref COMP} which should just be {COMP}
but
every time I save the template and open it again Word keeps putting all
the
REF's I took out back in.

Does anyone have any idea how to stop it doing that? (I don't know why
it
is
as I have other templates where it doesn't put them in and they work
fine -
very frustrating!!)

Many thanks in advance to anybody who can help!

Alison

Some versions of Word have had difficulty resolving nul fields written the
manner you have portrayed them. Reversing the field in those circumstances
tends to be more reliable. Try

{IF {ref COMP} "" "{ref COMP /* CHARFORMAT}"}


--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

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



MeWivFree wrote:
Thanks again Charles - I will export them to a tab-delimited file and
see how that goes.

ACT! seems to be a bit of a pain and I think it is possibly it that is
causing the problem rather than Word! Unfortunately nothing else
seems to be sufficient for our sales director's needs so use ACT! we
must!!

I have successfully used the same IF statements with other contact and
document management programs before and this is the only one that has
ever given me trouble like this!

Alison

"Charles Kenyon" wrote:

Can you export your selected ACT records to a comma- or
tab-delimited text file and use that instead?

I'm not familiar with ACT (haven't used it for more than 10 years)
and its interface with Word. The other thing you should be aware of
is that REF fields do not usually update when the bookmark changes.
They have to be updated through some other process.
--
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!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

"MeWivFree" wrote in message
...
Hi Charles

Thanks very much for the extremely prompt reponse!

I don't seem to be able to use mailmerge as I cannot get Word to
recognise the ACT! database (.dbf extension) as a source.

The {}'s are entered using the CTRL-F9 method and the field names in
[[]]'s
are inserted by editing the document template using ACT! and
picking the field names from the list that I am offered (if that
makes any sense!)

Thanks

Alison

"Charles Kenyon" wrote:

They should all be REF fields. Are the field delimiters actual
delimiters or
are they typed braces?

If you are changing a document that is based on a template by
deleting or changing fields, that change is not made in the
template and will not be reflected in new documents.

For mailings where you have a list of people/companies why not use
mailmerge?
--
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!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

"MeWivFree" wrote in message
...
Hi there,

I have this IF statement, amongst others, in a template at the
moment:

{IF {ref COMP}= "" "" "{ref COMP /* CHARFORMAT}"}

COMP is a bookmark that is SET at the beginning of the template
to the company name that should have been passed from our company
contacts database
(ACT!) by {SET COMP "[[Company]]"}.

However, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it
prints
the correct information and sometimes you get the name of the
field instead.
It's not too much of a problem when I only have one contact to
write to,
but
we're now in the position where we need to do a mailshot to all
of our customers and obviously can't risk any of them not being
included in the
mailing.

I think the problem is the first {ref COMP} which should just be
{COMP} but
every time I save the template and open it again Word keeps
putting all the
REF's I took out back in.

Does anyone have any idea how to stop it doing that? (I don't
know why it
is
as I have other templates where it doesn't put them in and they
work fine -
very frustrating!!)

Many thanks in advance to anybody who can help!

Alison