Zeros in empty mail merge field instead of just closing up

Hi! When I mail merge address info from an Excel
spreadsheet, the last merge field--empty zip code--does
not close up. I have two zip code fields: one for
physical address and one for P. O. Boxes. The last field
shows up as a zero when empty. I tried setting the Excel
options by unchecking zero, but that doesn't fix the
problem. I've also tried formatting the zip column to text
and number to see if that would fix it, but don't remember
that it fixed the problem. The zero doesn't really keep
the mail from being delivered, but it would be nice if the
blank field would just disappear as do other empty
fields. Any information would be greatly appreciated. I
don't know if this is fixable in Excel or in Word, but
figure it is fixable! Thanks!

P. J.

It is fixable in Word using a field switch
{Mergefield Zip \# "00000;00000;"}

The above reflects 5 digit Zips - see also
http://www.gmayor.com/formatting_word_fields.htm

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word




P. J. wrote:
Hi! When I mail merge address info from an Excel
spreadsheet, the last merge field--empty zip code--does
not close up. I have two zip code fields: one for
physical address and one for P. O. Boxes. The last field
shows up as a zero when empty. I tried setting the Excel
options by unchecking zero, but that doesn't fix the
problem. I've also tried formatting the zip column to text
and number to see if that would fix it, but don't remember
that it fixed the problem. The zero doesn't really keep
the mail from being delivered, but it would be nice if the
blank field would just disappear as do other empty
fields. Any information would be greatly appreciated. I
don't know if this is fixable in Excel or in Word, but
figure it is fixable! Thanks!

P. J.

Is the cell in Excel formatted as a number rather than as text? If so, I
think it will report a zero value when empty rather than a blank string.
Graham's fix may work for what you want, though.
--

Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word which is awesome!
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"P. J." wrote in message
...
Hi! When I mail merge address info from an Excel
spreadsheet, the last merge field--empty zip code--does
not close up. I have two zip code fields: one for
physical address and one for P. O. Boxes. The last field
shows up as a zero when empty. I tried setting the Excel
options by unchecking zero, but that doesn't fix the
problem. I've also tried formatting the zip column to text
and number to see if that would fix it, but don't remember
that it fixed the problem. The zero doesn't really keep
the mail from being delivered, but it would be nice if the
blank field would just disappear as do other empty
fields. Any information would be greatly appreciated. I
don't know if this is fixable in Excel or in Word, but
figure it is fixable! Thanks!

P. J.