WD97: Fillin Field Prompts Twice

• Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

When using the Fillin field in a new document, you are prompted twice for the information.

CAUSE

Word 97 has a new feature that will automatically update a Fillin field under the following conditions:

• The fill-in field is stored in a template other than NORMAL.DOT.

  -and-

• You create a new document based on this template.

  NOTE: If a fillin field is placed in the normal template (NORMAL.DOT)

           that fillin field does NOT update automatically when a new 
           document is opened.
  
  

Note: This functionality is different than in previous versions of Word and there is no way to turn off this feature.

WORKAROUND

Method 1: Lock the Fillin Fields

1. On the File menu, click Open and open your template.

2. Display the field codes in your document. On the Tools menu, click Options. Click the View tab, under Show, click the Field Codes option to select it, and then click OK.

3. Select your Fillin field, and then press CTRL+F11.

   This will lock the Fillin field so it will not update. Repeat this step for each of your Fillin fields.

4. Create an AutoNew macro with the following statement:

         ActiveDocument.Fields.Locked = False
         ' Note: If you do not want the fields
         ' to update automatically, do not add
         ' the following command line to your
         ' AutoNew macro.
         ActiveDocument.Fields.Update
   

5. Close and save the macro and your template.

Method 2: Use Form Fields

Use form fields to enter information into your form instead of the Fillin field.

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q141990
   TITLE     : How to Create an Online Form Using Form Fields

Method 3: Use the Ask field

Use the Ask field to prompt you for the required information. Then, use the REF field to insert the prompted information into your document.

For example:

     {Ask Name "What is your name?"}{REF Name}

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft Word 97 retained, for backwards compatibility, the use of certain fields to prompt you for the insertion of information into your document. In previous versions of Word, you could use the Ask or Fillin fields to prompt you for information. Using these fields required a macro that would force Word to bring up the field prompts automatically.

Microsoft Word 97 will automatically bring up the prompt for any Fillin field you may have in your document without the use of a macro, but it will not bring up the prompt for the Ask field.

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q142213
   TITLE     : How to Create an Automated Form with Fill-in Fields

Keywords          : kbfield word8 word97 kbualink97 kbusage
Version           : 97
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbbug