WD97: SET Fields Within IF Field Evaluate Incorrectly (197827)

SYMPTOMS

When you use an IF field to determine how to set a bookmark, and you use SET fields inside the IF field, the bookmark being set always evaluates as the second SET statement.

For example, these statements

      {ask gender "What is the person's gender?"}
 -->  {if gender = f {set pronoun she}{set pronoun he}}
      {ref pronoun}

always show the bookmark "pronoun" as "he". This is because Word evaluates fields from the inside out and from left to right. It evaluates the first SET statement, and the bookmark "pronoun" is set to "she". It then evaluates the next SET field, and the bookmark "pronoun" is reset to "he". When the IF instruction is carried out, both the true bookmark and the false bookmark are "he".

WORKAROUND

The correct way to use these fields together is to put the IF field inside the SET field, as in the following example:

      {ask gender "What is the person's gender?"}
 -->  {set pronoun {if gender = f "she" "he"}}
      {ref pronoun}