WD97: Word Assigns a Delivery Point Bar Code (DPBC) of 99

ID: Q197008

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Word, when you use the address bar coding feature, a POSTNET delivery point bar code (DPBC) of 99 may be inserted in your document.

CAUSE

This problem occurs for one of the following reasons:

Word cannot parse the delivery address for the correct information.

-or-

The delivery address does not contain information that can generate a valid DPBC.

Word determines the DPBC by reading the address line preceding the address line containing the City, State, and ZIP Code (Postal Code). Note that Word determines the DPBC this way, regardless of the number of lines used to create the address.

MORE INFORMATION

An address will generate a DPBC of 99 if any of the following conditions are true:

The address line does not contain a number:

John Smith
Main St.
Anytown, WA 12345-6789

The address line contains only alpha characters:

John Smith
AA Main St.
Anytown, WA 12345-6789

The address line contains a slash mark (/):
John Smith
123/4 Main St.
Anytown, WA 12345-6789
NOTE: Both 1/4 Main St. and 12/3/4 Main St. will generate the DPBC 99.

The address line contains an APO or an FPO.

Note that there are other conditions not listed here that may cause an address to generate a DPBC of 99.

Examples of Common Addresses That May Generate a DPBC of 99

Example 1

John Doe
Big Time Company
123 Main St.
Suite 456
Anytown, WA 98007-5555

Word tries to generate a DPBC from the next-to-last address line--in this case, "Suite 456," which is not a valid street address. To correct this problem, move "Suite 456" to the same line as the street address:

John Doe
Big Time Company
123 Main St. Suite 456
Anytown, WA 98007-5555

Example 2

Pinecliffe International
Post Office Drawer 3737
Coal Creek Canyon
Golden, CO 80401-0100

Word tries to generate a DPBC from the "Coal Creek Canyon" line of the address. Because there is no number on this line, Word returns a 99 DPBC. Moving "Coal Creek Canyon" to the previous line will not work because "Post Office Drawer" is not a recognized address term. Changing the address to this format will work:

Pinecliffe International
Coal Creek Canyon
PO Box 3737
Golden, CO 80401-0100

Because Word checks only the next-to-last address line, Word ignores the "Coal Creek Canyon" line and tries to generate a DPBC from the line that reads "PO Box 3737." Since this is a valid address term, it generates the correct DPBC.

Example 3--A Military Address

John Doe
Company A, 122 Sig BN
Unit 20511 Box 4290
APO AA 34049-1234

Because this is an APO address, Word will return a DPBC of 99.

Example 4--An invalid Street Address

John Doe
100 Main St.
Apt 204
Anytown, WA 12345-5678

Word will try to generate a DPBC using the next-to-last line, "Apt 204." Because this is not a valid street address, Word will return a DPBC of 99. To generate the correct DPBC, move the apartment number to the previous line:

John Doe
100 Main St., Apt 204
Anytown, WA 12345-5678

For information about reading bar codes, obtain the "Designing Mail" packet from the U.S. Postal Service or please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q155187 WD: How to Read Postal Barcodes

NOTE: Word will not create a bar code for a Canadian postal code. Under the Canadian postal system, the post office applies bar coding to mail.

REFERENCES

CASS Technical Guide, March 1993

Additional query words: bar code

Keywords : kbdta kbenvelope word97 kbmerge
Version : WINDOWS:97
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb