WD: Accented or Extended Characters Lost in Mail MergeLast reviewed: March 2, 1998Article ID: Q181896 |
The information in this article applies to:
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.
SYMPTOMSIf you use a text file (*.txt) as a data source for a mail merge, extended characters such as accented characters are replaced by symbols with no similarity to the expected characters. However, if you open the data source text file in the editor used to create the text file, the characters appear correct.
CAUSEThis problem occurs when you use text files created in a Microsoft Windows- based word processing program, such as Microsoft Notepad or Microsoft Word. In a text file, each character is saved as a numeric value. Windows-based programs usually use the numeric values in the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) character set. MS-DOS programs however use the numeric values from the ASCII character set, which does not include the extended characters. Therefore, MS-DOS programs use the OEM character set to define the extended characters. When Word sees a text file as the mail merge data source, it assumes that it was created in an MS-DOS based program and translates the characters using the ASCII character set. As a result the extended (accented) characters are lost.
RESOLUTIONTo correctly use your text file (*.txt) as a Microsoft Word mail merge data source, use any of the following methods.
Method 1: Convert the Text File to Word Document FormatTo convert the text file to Word document format, follow these steps:
Method 2: Convert the Text File to Microsoft Excel FormatTo convert the text file to Excel format, follow these steps:
Method 3: Modify the Registry Entries for WordWARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk. For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD). To change the default behavior of mail merge text import, modify one of the following keys in the Windows Registry.
NOTE: Extended characters in text files that were created in MS-DOS based programs will be imported incorrectly since this workaround applies only to Microsoft Windows-based programs.
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Additional query words: incorrect wrong
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