spell check is disabled after mail-merge   

I'm working with a database application which uses MS Word and word
documents for reports.

If I open Word directly (just normal word-processing), everything works
fine, and spelling is checked
automatically.

If I go into Word via this database application, the resulting document does
not check spelling.  You need to highlight the entire document, select a
language, and finally it will check the spelling.  I have checked the
Options screen, and nothing is different.

If I click the RECHECK    key, the program finds some grammar problems
(green underline), but does not find spelling errors (red underline)

I talked to the database tech support.  They say the document is a result of
a mail-merge, but they can't explain why spell-check is disabled.

I did a  normal mail-merge, and the resulting document (merged document)
does not have spell-check disabled.

Any ideas??
Thanks,
John

date: Thu, 6 Apr 2006 23:45:00 -0400   author:   John Gilchrist

Re: spell check is disabled after mail-merge   

Hi John, 

You'll find that the RESULT of mail merge fields will never spell check, even 
though the surrounding text might. The default for most fields in Word is to 
activate the "Do not check spelling or grammar" option in Tools/Language/Set 
language.

This option could well be active for the entire document, or even be defined 
as part of a style. If you hadn't said the rechecking brings up some grammar 
errors, I'd be fairly certain this is the case :-) But you may want to take a 
close look at the option in the document in question and see if it's active.

> I'm working with a database application which uses MS Word and word
> documents for reports.
>  
> If I open Word directly (just normal word-processing), everything works
> fine, and spelling is checked
> automatically.
>  
> If I go into Word via this database application, the resulting document does
> not check spelling.  You need to highlight the entire document, select a
> language, and finally it will check the spelling.  I have checked the
> Options screen, and nothing is different.
>  
> If I click the RECHECK    key, the program finds some grammar problems
> (green underline), but does not find spelling errors (red underline)
>  
> I talked to the database tech support.  They say the document is a result of
> a mail-merge, but they can't explain why spell-check is disabled.
>  
> I did a  normal mail-merge, and the resulting document (merged document)
> does not have spell-check disabled.
>

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

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date: Sun, 09 Apr 2006 19:32:39 +0200   author:   Cindy M -WordMVP-