WD: How to Create Ordinal (Legal) Date Formatting in FORM Fields

' day of 'MMMM, yyyy

If you switch to field codes view by pressing ALT+F9, you will see three fields in your document, with no spaces between any of them, as shown in the sample below:

{ FORMTEXT 1 }{ text1 \* ordinal }{ FORMTEXT 2 } ..............

Note: The dotted line under the first field represents hidden text.

Fill in the Form:

Use the following instructions to fill in the form:

1. From the Tools menu, choose Protect Document.

2. Select the Forms option and then choose OK. Word moves the insertion point to the first FORM field.

3. In the first FORM field, type the numeric day value (a whole number from 1 through 31). For example, type "12" (without the quotation marks).

4. Press TAB or ENTER to move to the next FORM field.

5. In the second FORM field, type the month and year. For example, type "August, 1994" or "08/94" or "aug 94" (without the quotation marks).

6. Press TAB or ENTER. If this is the last FORM field, Word moves back to the first FORM field. The text in your document looks like the following sample:

          12     day of August, 1994
   
   

7. To view the document as it will print, switch to Print Preview. Word updates the bookmark reference and does not display the results of the hidden field, so the above sample appears as follows:

   12th day of August, 1994

   Note: If you switch to Page Layout view, the hidden FORM field result displays along with the bookmark reference field. This looks incorrect, as shown below, but the result prints correctly:

   1212th day of August, 1994

Method 2: Use a macro

WARNING: ANY USE BY YOU OF THE CODE PROVIDED IN THIS ARTICLE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. Microsoft provides this macro code "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose.

Use the instructions below to insert a single FORM field, and attach both an Entry and Exit macro to verify and format the FORM field result in ordinal number form. This method works only if your document contains at least two FORM fields (it does not work if your document contains only one FORM field).

1. Create the following two global macros, named OnEntry and OnExit, respectively:

   OnEntry Macro -------------

          Sub MAIN
             On Error Resume Next
             ' INSERT THE FORM FIELD BOOKMARK NAME IN SETFORMRESULT.
             SetFormResult "text1", GetPrivateProfileString$("Microsoft
             Word", "storevalue", "winword6.ini")
             SetPrivateProfileString "Microsoft Word", "storevalue", "",
             "WINWORD6.INI"
             WordRight 5, 1
             err = 0
          End Sub
   
       Note: The OnEntry macro checks the validity of your input
             (this is necessary because the DATEVALUE WordBasic command
             cannot read a date that contains a literal). This macro runs
             when Word moves the insertion point into the FORM field,
             before you type any input.
   
       OnExit Macro
       ------------
   
          Sub MAIN
             ' INSERT THE FORM FIELD BOOKMARK NAME IN GetFormResult$.
             HOLD$ = GetFormResult$("TEXT1")
             SERIALDATE = DateValue(HOLD$)
             daynumber = Day(serialdate)
             Select Case daynumber
                Case 1, 21, 31
                   daysuffix$ = "d'st day of 'MMMM, yyyy"
                Case 2, 22
                   daysuffix$ = "d'nd day of 'MMMM, yyyy"
                Case 3, 23
                   daysuffix$ = "d'rd day of 'MMMM, yyyy"
                Case Else
                   daysuffix$ = "d'th day of 'MMMM, yyyy"
             End Select
   
             SetPrivateProfileString "Microsoft Word", "DateFormat",
             daysuffix$, "WINWORD6.INI"
             SetPrivateProfileString "Microsoft Word", "storevalue", hold$,
             "WINWORD6.INI"
             ' INSERT THE FORM FIELD BOOKMARK NAME IN SETFORMRESULT.
             SetFormResult "text1", Date$(serialdate)
             SetPrivateProfileString "Microsoft Word", "DateFormat", "",
             "WINWORD6.INI"
          End Sub
   
       Note: The OnExit macro runs after you type an entry in the
             FORM field and press TAB or ENTER. This macro formats your
             input as a date in ordinal form.
   
   

2. From the Insert menu, choose Form Field.

3. Select the Text option and then choose the Options button.

4. From the Type list, select Date.

5. From the Entry list, select your OnEntry macro.

6. From the Exit list, select your OnExit macro, then choose OK.

   ARTICLE-ID: Q160988
   TITLE     : WORD 97: How To Create Ordinal (Legal) Dates In Form Fields

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Word User's Guide," version 6.0, pages 309-310, 317-318, 326