MS Word Expert needed - Problem with Fill-In Fields

Andrew_Sam posted this at 23:26 — 12th January 2004.

Joined: Apr 2002

Hi Folks

I have a Form to which I've added a number of "Fill-In Fields" using Word 2000.
These have been added successfully to each of the 6 lines of the destination address and to "Dear....." and "Yours Faithfully".

My problem is that I'd also like to add them to the following areas:-

Your Reference
Our Reference
& Date

These are located directly opposite to the Destination address.
As I cannot upload a Word Template I attach a .Doc to show the layout.

When I add fields to the areas above it disrupts the existing fields i.e. the text that a user subsequently adds spills over and references appear on the address line and addresses on the reference line etc.

Also the order that the fields pop up to the User changes. I assume Word reads them from left to right but I would like the address to be entered first (all 6 lines), then the references, date, etc. in that order.

Thanks in hopeful anticipation

Andrew

Attachment	Size
Fields_Test.doc	53 KB

Andrew_Sam posted this at 23:17 — 13th January 2004.

They have: 26 posts

Joined: Apr 2002

Suzanne posted this at 23:36 — 13th January 2004.

She has: 5,507 posts

Joined: Feb 2000

Sorry, Andrew, not a lot of people use Word regularly.

JeevesBond posted this at 13:23 — 14th January 2004.

He has: 3,956 posts

Joined: Jun 2002

Lol, I also try to avoid it where possible

But seriously...I checked into this and fill-in fields are for mail merges aren't they? Although your problem sounds more related to just simple formatting, where are you getting the data from - Access? How long are the fields you're trying to import?

a Padded Cell our articles site!

Andrew_Sam posted this at 23:07 — 14th January 2004.

They have: 26 posts

Joined: Apr 2002

Thanks for replying folks, was on the verge of checking my deodrant there for a minute

Hopefully this explains things better.
This template is designed to be a letterhead for our Regional Offices. To simplify things for users, they will get prompted by "Fill In Fields" to enter the destination address (line by line), Relevant Rerefence Nos., date, etc.
I have it all working bar two "wee" things

Please see the attachment to this post eg.gif This shows the format of the head of the letter before any fields are entered (everything is aligned), The same portion of the letter after fields have been entered (notice the alignment is off) and lastly the code I've used for the "Fill In Fields". First problem is one of alignment - how do I ensure that entering an address will ot throw off the formating?
I would like the "Fields" to prompt the user in the order:-Line1 - Line 6, Your Reference, Our Reference & Date. This is the order they were created but Word seems to read from left to right.

Thanks

Andrew

P.S. Realise this is a Webmaster Forum and all that but why do so few use Word? Get ready for avalanche of anti-MS sentiment

Suzanne posted this at 23:21 — 14th January 2004.

She has: 5,507 posts

Joined: Feb 2000

I don't use word because I don't do any desktop publishing anymore. I do some print work, but that's done in Draw or Illustrator. AppleWorks covers me adequately for other text based work if I need it, and allows me to open all contemporary formats for spreadsheets and documents.

Word isn't helpful when programming or illustrating.

JeevesBond posted this at 10:31 — 15th January 2004.

He has: 3,956 posts

Joined: Jun 2002

Jeeves comes to the rescue

I put the address and references into a table, word reads the fields in the right order and the formatting is correct as well!
Have a look at the template attached (you'll have to change the file extension...it wouldn't let me upload as a .dot file ), and tell me what you think...