Forum Discussion
Automate adding date to report
Hi
I have a simple report which is created using MS Word, each time I use the report I need to change the Month and year, to reflect the current content I am reporting on. Is there a way to create field for the Month and year values, then when I open the document a popup or user input window appears to allow the user to add these details; Month and a year value. All fields throughout the document are updated accordingly. Or alternately, is there a means to ask MS Word to prompt for these details when the document is opened and again update the value throughout the document?
Many thanks Chris
Before answering directly, I'll say that if you're in the habit of opening a previous month's report and modifying it with new data, that's a poor practice. For one thing, it risks accidentally overwriting the previous report with the new one; if you don't have reliable backups, the previous version of the document is not recoverable. The proper way to use Word is to make a template of the report -- you can do that simply by using File > Save As and changing the file type from .docx to .dotx. Then use the File > New command (or just double-click the template's icon in File Explorer) to base each new document on the template.
To make your Month and Year fields, use the Insert > Quick Parts > Field dialog to insert these two fields at the beginning of the template (or just press Ctrl+F9 to insert the field brackets, and type the text between them):
{ FILLIN "Enter month" } { FILLIN "Enter year" }
Select the two fields and insert a bookmark named Month_Year. Then press Alt+F9 once (or maybe twice) so the field codes disappear.
At each place in the template where you want the month and year to appear, insert this field:
{ REF Month_Year }
Save the template and close it.
When you create a new document based on the template, these two boxes will appear first:
When the document appears on the screen, the month and year will appear in the FILLIN fields and all the REF fields.
If you make a mistake and want to change the date, select the whole document (Ctrl+A) and update its fields (F9).
Before answering directly, I'll say that if you're in the habit of opening a previous month's report and modifying it with new data, that's a poor practice. For one thing, it risks accidentally overwriting the previous report with the new one; if you don't have reliable backups, the previous version of the document is not recoverable. The proper way to use Word is to make a template of the report -- you can do that simply by using File > Save As and changing the file type from .docx to .dotx. Then use the File > New command (or just double-click the template's icon in File Explorer) to base each new document on the template.
To make your Month and Year fields, use the Insert > Quick Parts > Field dialog to insert these two fields at the beginning of the template (or just press Ctrl+F9 to insert the field brackets, and type the text between them):
{ FILLIN "Enter month" } { FILLIN "Enter year" }
Select the two fields and insert a bookmark named Month_Year. Then press Alt+F9 once (or maybe twice) so the field codes disappear.
At each place in the template where you want the month and year to appear, insert this field:
{ REF Month_Year }
Save the template and close it.
When you create a new document based on the template, these two boxes will appear first:
When the document appears on the screen, the month and year will appear in the FILLIN fields and all the REF fields.
If you make a mistake and want to change the date, select the whole document (Ctrl+A) and update its fields (F9).
