Word 2003 Date Field Codes

[DaveInPitt]

Greetings good people of the Lounge: I have a question regarding Word 2003 Field Codes. I need to create a new Date field code using the following format: DATE \@ "MMMM dd, yyyy" This format will give me the following results (December 20, 2010). When I go to the Insert, Field menu in Word and choose the Date category, this is where I want to add the new date format. Does anyone know how to create these? Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

[HansV]

You cannot add custom formats to the list, it is hard-coded into Word. You can, of course, enter your custom format in the text box.

If you often want to insert a date field with a custom date format, make it into an AutoText entry named for example MyDate. You can then easily insert it in any document by starting to type MyDate and accepting the AutoComplete suggestion that appears when you've typed four characters or so.

[StuartR]

Simply type the format string you want to use into the text box, like this...

DateField.png

[DaveInPitt]

Hi Stuart, I've attempting to do this but I cannot save it. My issue is happening on one particular computer. If I view my existing Date field codes from my computer, the format I want to use is there. I had thought that these codes were saved back to Normal.dot but that doesn't seem to be the case.

[StuartR]

...I had thought that these codes were saved back to Normal.dot but that doesn't seem to be the case.

I don't remember this happening in the past. The formatting code is simply added to the field that you are inserting.

[DaveInPitt]

Thanks Hans - I went ahead and created this as an auto text entry. Hopefully, this is acceptable to the end user. Happy New Year!

[DaveInPitt]

Here is my list of Date field codes. The date format that my user wants to use is not available to her. That's why I was thinking that you can add new codes and\or that these codes are part of Normal.dot. I replaced her Normal.dot but that didn't resolve the issue.

[HansV]

The list depends on the user's Windows settings but cannot be modified.

[StuartR]

The format December 30, 2010 is available in the list on my PC running Office 2007, but not on my PC running Office 2010.

2007.png

2010.png

[HansV]

Stuart, do you have different system date settings on these PCs?

[StuartR]

Stuart, do you have different system date settings on these PCs?

No, both have a short date of 30/12/2010 (dd/MM/yyyy) and a long date of 30 December 2010 (dd MMMM yyyy).

[HansV]

Hmmm - or do they have different spell check languages? The first screenshot appears to lean towards US formats, and the last one towards UK formats.

[StuartR]

Both PCs have appear to have identical Regional and Language settings, both set to English (United Kingdom).
Word defaults to English UK spelling on both PCs.

[HansV]

Strange - but that's not uncommon with Word...

[DaveInPitt]

My issue is resolved. I had to update the Windows Xp Regional and Language Options; Customize\Date and select the format for the Long Date. After this was completed the "missing date field" is now available in Word under Insert, Field, Date. Thank you both for your assistance!

[HansV]

Thanks for posting the resolution!