Dear Computer Lady,
I have been getting your newsletter for years, find many helpful hints, programs, etc. Thank you, thank you, thank you..
I have been using Microsoft Works for years. Recently got a new computer and some other new programs. When I mail merge from my Microsoft works database to a word document to create labels I cannot get the zip code to print the five digits if the first digit is a 0. I literally have to go back to the data base, and add “0 to the front of each zip code, even though they show 5 digits. Is there any way to correct that? I have my field set correctly for the five digits, but when it transfers to word, the first 0 is omitted. We have a business and send out hundreds of letters a year, so it is a real problem.
Thank you, Sandi
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Dear Sandi,
When you type numerical codes like zip codes into your works database, works automatically formats them as numbers. Since numbers don’t start with a zero, works is removing the leading zero from your zip codes. The same thing happens when storing data in a Works spreadsheet.
What you need to do, is format the field as text so that the zero will not be dropped. I don’t have works installed on my computer, but a little bit of searching on Microsoft’s website turned up the following directions:
To preserve leading zeros in a number in a Works database field, follow these steps:
1. Select the field where you want to preserve leading zeros.
2. On the Format menu, click Field.
3. Under Format, click Number.
4. In the Appearance box, click 01235.
5. In the Number of digits box, type the maximum number of leading zeros you want to preserve, and then click OK.
For example, to preserve leading zeros for a field that contains a five-digit ZIP code, type 5 in the Number of digits box.
To preserve leading zeros in a number in a Works database field when you merge the field into another document, save the database as a Text & Commas (*.csv) file, and then use the .csv file as the data source for the merge operation.
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If you are using an Excel Spreadsheet as your data source:
To preserve leading zeros in a number in a Works spreadsheet cell, follow these steps:
1. Select the cells where you want to preserve leading zeros.
2. On the Format menu, click Number.
3. Under Format, click Leading Zeros.
4. In the Number of digits box, type the maximum number of leading zeros you want to preserve, and then click OK.
For example, to preserve leading zeros in a cell that contains a five-digit ZIP code, type 5 in the Number of digits box.
Elizabeth