WD97: Fillin Field Prompts Twice

ID: Q164547

The information in this article applies to:

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.

If you have an AutoNew or FileNew macro that issues a command to update fields, Word 97 will prompt you twice for each of your Fillin fields when creating a new document based upon the template containing the fields.

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

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

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.

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.

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

Close and save the macro and your template.

NOTE: Word updates Fillin fields before executing an AutoNew macro. Because you have locked the Fillin fields, Word can only prompt once for each of your fillin fields as a result of the AutoNew macro.

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:

Q141990 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}

NOTE: Do not use the Fillin field.

STATUS

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

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:

Q142213 How to Create an Automated Form with Fill-in Fields

Additional query words:

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