Microsoft KB Archive/286880

= Filters for blanks and nonblanks are replicated in the filter criteria list in Word =

Article ID: 286880

Article Last Modified on 1/29/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Word 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Office Word 2003

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This article was previously published under Q286880





SYMPTOMS
When you filter a column for blanks or non-blanks in the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box, the filter criteria is duplicated each time you re-open the dialog box. When more than half the filter criteria list is full of either &quot;Is blank&quot; or &quot;Is not blank&quot; criteria, and you open the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box one more time, the whole list is cleared, leaving no filters applied.



CAUSE
The SQL string for the expression &quot;MyField Is blank&quot; is:

(MyField IS NULL) OR (MyField IS '')

When this SQL string is parsed, two entries are passed to the Office DataSource Object (ODSO), which produces two &quot;is blank&quot; entries in the query criteria list. The same is true for the &quot;MyField Is not blank&quot; expression, except in the negative.



WORKAROUND
To clear the filter criteria, follow these steps:
 * 1) On the Mail Merge task bar, click Edit recipient list.
 * 2) Click the down arrow to the left of any column header, and then click Advanced.
 * 3) In the Filter and Sort dialog box, on the Filter Records tab, click Clear All, and then click OK. All filters are now removed.



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.



MORE INFORMATION
For more information about sorting and filtering data in a mail merge operation, click Microsoft Word Help on the Help menu, type Select recipients to include in a mail merge in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.

Additional query words: WD2002 WD2003

Keywords: kbbug kbpending KB286880

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