WD: Error with Blank ASK or FILLIN Fields on Merge

ID: Q109566

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
Microsoft Word for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, versions 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.1a
Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition

SYMPTOMS

If the result of an ASK or FILLIN field is blank, the following error message may appear when you use a REF field to recall the ASK or FILLIN field:

Error! reference source not found

If you refer to the blank ASK or FILLIN field with a bookmark name, the following error message appears:

Error! bookmark not defined

Additionally, if the result of the field is blank during a mail merge operation, the following message appears as each record with blank results is merged:

A field calculation error occurred in record X

There is no context-sensitive Help for this error message.

WORKAROUND

To work around these errors, force the field to evaluate to a space by either typing a space in the dialog box when prompted or by setting the field default as follows

{Ask Answer "Question" \d " "}

where the \d switch sets the default result for a field.

An alternative workaround is to select the field and reapply the bookmark to the field. The \d switch isn't necessary.

The bookmark that Word applies to the ASK field is placed at the end of the field and looks like "][" when the bookmarks are visible. For example, the formula

{ASK bookmark "question"}

would look like:

{ASK bookmark "question" ][}

To correct this, select the field and reapply the bookmark. When you are finished, the bookmark looks like:

[{ASK bookmark "question" }]

STATUS

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

Additional query words:

Keywords : kberrmsg kbdta kbfield winword kbmerge macword word6 word7 word95
Version : MACINTOSH:6.0,6.0.1,6.0.1a,98; WINDOWS:6.0,6.0a,6.0c,7.0,7.0a
Platform : MACINTOSH WINDOWS
Issue type : kbbug