What Is A Field?
Fields are used to display up-to-date document information, such as the name of the last person
who worked on the document, or the last time a document was saved, and where it’s saved now.
Fields can be used to automate processes and tasks, such as automating page numbering, as well
as to automatically update the document with key information, such as your name.
You can insert fields anywhere in a document, and they are useful in organisational templates and
forms, particularly where multiple people use the same business documents.
To update field data and display the latest information, click in the field and press .
Field Codes
Each field acts as a placeholder for certain types of data, and contains a code that instructs Word
what type of data to insert. A field code is made up of the following syntax:
{ FIELDNAME “Properties” \*SWITCHES }
Where:
FIELDNAME is the Field name, such as Numwords or Date.
“Properties” and \*SWITCHES are the field properties that you can set for a field type. Each
field type will contain properties that are relevant to that field type.
Types Of Field Properties
Field properties include the following.
Formatting controls: allows you to specify the format of field data, such as the date or the
numbering format, as well as capitalisation. These formatting controls are referred to as
SWITCHES.
Prompts: used to insert the text that will prompt users for specific information when using
prompting fields (such as the Fill-In or Ask fields).
Text, such as Name, Value and Comment fields that enable you to type the required name or
value. This therefore becomes a manual field entry and overrides automatic updating.
You can view and hide the field codes by pressing + .
The Fields Dialog Box
The complete list of fields available in Word is located in the Fields dialog box. To open the Fields
dialog box, click on the Insert tab, then click on Quick Parts in the Text group and select Field.
Here you can insert and modify fields, as well as view and hide field codes. You can also set field
properties and the format (switches).
The Difference Between Fields And Content Controls
As well as fields there are also content controls. A content control displays field information for
certain types of document information fields but in a different format. When a user clicks on data
contained in a content control, the data is displayed in a data input field, with the field name
displayed in a label. Content controls can make it easier for users to work with fields, as they guide
the user as to what they need to type in a particular field. Content controls are useful for forms or
any business documents that contain document information fields.
You can insert content controls by clicking on the Insert tab, then clicking on Quick Parts and
selecting Document Property to view a list of available content controls.