i am interested in finding the most efficient way to automate a document. my
document is actually a model or format document. the dynamic language in the
document is either text or numbers (math cacluations).

i want to use something a bit more powerful than search and replace for the
text changes. i realize bookmarks and field codes are options. here are my
questions. which are easier to use and where should they be kept. Inside
the document (i.e. input pages at front of document) or external (another
word document or another office progam (such as access).

second, for the numerical replacements, in the past, I have calculated these
in excel, then had manually enterered them into an access database, whereby
they were "merged" into my source document. the problem here is I was
retyping much of the workbook or spreadsheet data more than once. I have
pretty much decided to group calculations in my document and just paste
special or paste special link from my workbooks into the document.

in summary, i am changing a lot of similar text fields and a lot of similar
number fields in my document and i just want to type the change in one place.
i would like to graduate from search and replace, so should i consider
bookmarks or field codes in a merge document?

thanks for your input.