Switches disappear

[AJ345]

Hi, I'm trying to format a numeric mailmerge field.



After many tries, I got it to retain this:
{ MERGEFIELD \# $,0 ContribTotalAmount }

Now I'm trying to add the ".00"

I go into the field and change it to :
{ MERGEFIELD \# $,0.00 ContribTotalAmount }

I preview results, or toggle field codes, and he number appears without the decimal point and last two digits. I re-toggle and I'm back to:
{ MERGEFIELD \# $,0 ContribTotalAmount }

I've also tried:
{ MERGEFIELD \# $,0.00 \*MERGEFORMAT ContribTotalAmount }

Sometimes when I toggle the first time it works, but disappears when I do the merge.

This has happened with every field I've tried to format - dates, etc. I've tried it with and without quotes. After awhile, I get it to take, but I never know why. Please help!!

[gmayor]

{ MERGEFIELD ContribTotalAmount \# $,0.00 }
or
{ MERGEFIELD "ContribTotalAmount" \# $,0.00 }

should give you the result you require. Don't forget to update the field

[AJ345]

Thanks. Are you saying I need to put the switch at the end? If not, please explain how what you have differs from what I have?

Also, when you say update the field, can you tell me what sequence I should use? I entered the switch as you have it, { MERGEFIELD ContribTotalAmount \# $,0.00 }, then saved the doc. Then I right-clicked, clicked Update Field, and it goes back to $1,000 without the .00. Toggling field codes reveals it to be { MERGEFIELD \# $,0 ContribTotalAmount } - right back to what I had before. Are you using office 2013?

I appreciate your help.

[gmayor]

The conventional wisdom is that the switches go at the end of the field structure.

There is no mechanism whereby a field can revert to a previous description unless there is some document corruption, and this is true whether you use 2013 or any earlier version. The principles involved are the same.

There is clearly a problem with this document. I suspect that there is an orphan lock file involved. Close the document. Close Word. Check in Windows Task manager (CTRL+SHIFT+ESC) that the process Winword.exe is no longer running. If it is, close it from the dialog.

Reboot the PC.

See http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm with respect to orphan lock files.

Restart Word and open the merge document. From the mailings tab, set the document type to Normal Word Document and then re-attach the data source.

Does it behave normally now?

[AJ345]

I've done it all. Many times. Done it on multiple PCs and with multiple docs. I think it is a buggy piece of CRAP.

Having said that, I just got it to work. I hit alt/F9, edited it manually, put in the \*MERGEFORMAT switch manually, hit alt/F9, then merged, and it was retained.

Thanks for your patience and for allowing me to vent