Word 2007 merge field doesn't pick up formating of XL source

[stuck]

I have an XL 2000 workbook that formats a column to a custom format of 000, so that it displays leading zero's.

When I use this work book as a mail-merge data source and make the mail merge link using Word 2000, Word displays the custom formatted numbers with the leading zeros

When I use Word 2007, the leading zeros don't appear

Any clues, hints 'n' tips as to how to make Word 2007 behave they way I was expecting (i.e. same as Word 2000) gratefully received.

Ken

[HansV]

Word 2002 and later by default use OLE DB to connect to a mailmerge data source, and this method ignores formatting set in the source program.
You can either specify the formatting in Word, or use DDE instead of OLE DB to connect to the data source. See this post for the details.

[stuck]

Given that I have a mix of Word 2000 & 2007 I think the second option to pointed me to, to use DDE, will be the one for me but I'll check out both when I get back to work tomorrow.

Thanks,

Ken