WD: Updating DATABASE Field May Change Results (109569)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Word for Windows 6.0
  • Microsoft Word for Windows 6.0a
  • Microsoft Word for Windows 6.0c
  • Microsoft Word for Windows 95
  • Microsoft Word for Windows 95 7.0a
  • Microsoft Word 97 for Windows
This article was previously published under Q109569

SYMPTOMS

The contents of a DATABASE field may change when you re-sort (update) by the same criteria if the data types in one column are not consistent.

CAUSE

Word will use the first entry in a field (column) to determine what data type is in that field. If a column contains different data types, the sort order will vary if the first element is numeric, text, or date.

For example, the following database will have these three results when sorted: 
   Original        First sort:      Second sort:      Third sort:
                   numeric          alphabetic        date
   ==============================================================
   24              banana           01/8/92           24
   5               apple            12/12/93          5
   banana          01/8/92          24                apple
   apple           12/12/93         5                 banana
   12/12/93        5                apple             01/8/92
   01/8/92         24               banana            12/12/93
Fields with consistent data types will sort or update consistently within Word.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:8/16/2005
Keywords:kbfield kbmerge KB109569
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