WD2000: Date/Time Form Fields Not Converted Correctly from Word 97

• Microsoft Word 2000

SYMPTOMS

Date form fields in documents created in versions of Word 97 that use non-English field names are not displayed correctly in Word 2000. Word 2000 does not convert the non-English abbreviations for day, month, and year to the English abbreviations.

The following language versions of Word 97 use non-English field names and switches:
French
German
Spanish

For example, French Word 97 uses the abbreviations "j" for day (French jour) and "a" for year (French an). The abbreviation for month is "M" in both languages. When you create a form with a date form field that has a specific date format in French Word 97 and then open it in Word 2000, the abbreviations "j" and "a" are not converted to the corresponding English abbreviations "d" for day and "y" for year.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

Steps to Reproduce the Problem

1. Start German Word 97.
2. Display the Forms toolbar (click ANSICHT - SYMBOLLEISTEN - FORMULAR).
3. Insert a text form field by clicking the button with the ab symbol on the Forms toolbar.
4. Double-click the form field to edit the options.
5. In the Typ list box, select Datum (German).
6. In the Datumsformat list box, select t. MMMM jjjj (German Word 97 uses t for "Tag" = day, j for "Jahr" = year).
7. Click OK.
8. Protect the form by clicking the button with the padlock symbol on the Forms toolbar.
9. Save the document and close it.
10. Open it again in Word 2000 (any language version).
11. Type a date into the form field. For example, on a system with U.S. country settings, type 8/8/99. Press TAB.

Additional query words:

Keywords :
Version : WINDOWS:2000
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbbug