DDE Link to Excel Does Not Update After Editing in WinWord

• Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 2.0, 2.0a, 2.0a-CD, 2.0b, 2.0c

SUMMARY

When you create a DDE link to insert text from a Word for Windows document in a Microsoft Excel worksheet, Word inserts a bookmark in its document to reference the link. Sometimes you cannot update the information in Excel after you edit it in Word. This may happen if you delete the bookmark in Word when you edit the text. You can inadvertently delete such bookmarks if the link does not contain at least one paragraph mark.

Therefore, to prevent the inadvertent deletion of a DDE bookmark, include at least one paragraph mark when you select text for a DDE link.

MORE INFORMATION

When you create a DDE link, you can view the associated bookmark by choosing Bookmark from the Insert menu. The syntax of such bookmarks is "DDE_LINKx" (without the quotation marks), where "x" is the number of the link, such as 1. If the bookmark does not include the paragraph mark following the link text, Word deletes the bookmark when you edit the selection. When the bookmark is gone, the link is broken.

Workaround

In a table:         Insert a paragraph mark after the text you want to link
                    to Excel and include it in the link selection.

Outside a table:    Include the paragraph character that follows the text
                    in the link selection.