Article ID: 193652
Article Last Modified on 8/18/2005
APPLIES TO
- Microsoft Word 6.0 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Word 6.0a
- Microsoft Word 6.0c
- Microsoft Word 6.0 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Word 6.0 for Macintosh
- Microsoft Word 6.01 for Macintosh
- Microsoft Word 6.01 for Macintosh
- Microsoft Word 95 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Word 95a
This article was previously published under Q193652
SYMPTOMS
In Microsoft Word, when you perform a mail merge with an external data
source that contains phone numbers, the phone numbers are incorrectly
formatted in the mail merge results. The separator characters may be
missing or incorrect, or you may receive the following error message:
Error! Picture String contains unmatched quotes.
For example, if the expected phone number is (999) 555-1212, the number may
appear as one of the following:
- 9995551212
-or-
- (9995551212)
-or-
- (999) 555 1212
CAUSE
This problem occurs when you use data from Microsoft Access or another
database source that can store phone numbers as ordinary numbers, but can
present them with the correct formatting in the native program.
During a mail merge, the data appears in its native, stored format from the
external data source. This occurs when the merge field for the phone number
is missing the numeric picture field switch or has incorrect syntax.
WORKAROUND
To work around this problem, use the numeric picture switch "\#" in the
merge field for the phone number. Follow these rules when using the numeric
picture switch "\#":
- Enclose the format picture in quotation marks (") if the output
format you want contains spaces, parentheses, or other characters.
- Enclose any hyphens in apostrophes (') so that the hyphen is
treated as a text string. This is necessary even if the entire
format picture is already enclosed in quotation marks.
Examples:
Format wanted Field code to use
-----------------------------------------------------------
(999) 555-1212 {MERGEFIELD phone \# "(###) ###'-'####" }
999-555-1212 {MERGEFIELD phone \# "###'-'###'-'####" }
999 555-1212 {MERGEFIELD phone \# "### ###'-'####" }
NOTE: To view the actual field codes { } instead of the merge fields << >>,
use ALT+F9 (OPTION+F9 on Macintosh) to turn them on and off.
STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.
Additional query words: ASCII ANSI dBase FoxPro macword6 Paradox SQL telephone office office7 office95 text
Keywords: kbbug kbmerge kbfield kbpending KB193652