Microsoft KB Archive/41280

Word: Print Merge SET and ASK Allowed Only Once Per Variable

PSS ID Number: Q41280 Article last modified on 03-07-1997

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Word versions 5.0 and later do not support the use of the print merge instructions SET and ASK when used to change the value of a user-defined field previously assigned by a SET or ASK statement.

In Word version 5.0, the use of a SET or ASK statement to change the value of a field that was previously set by a SET or ASK statement will sometimes work correctly and will sometimes cause the values of other fields to change randomly. In Word version 5.1, resetting a field with a SET or ASK statement does nothing.

This functionality was allowed in Word versions 3.0x and 4.0 although it was against the intended use of the feature and was not documented. The documentation states that a SET statement is to be used when the variable is intended to remain the same for the duration of the merge. An ASK statement is to be used when the value of the variable is to be entered by the user each time a record is merged from the data document.

Word versions 3.0x, 4.0, 5.0, and 5.1 do not have a feature designed to assign a value to a variable at any given time.

KBCategory: kbprint KBSubCategory: kbmerge Additional reference words: macword macword5 calculate math addition plus subtraction minus multiplication division times multiple 3.00 3.01 3.02 4.00 5.00 5.10 ====================================================================== ============================================================================= Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1997.