How the behavior of the Word fields changes after you install the Word update

This article describes how the behavior of fields in Microsoft Word changes after you install one of the following updates:

• Microsoft Word 2002 SP-2 Update: October 16, 2002
• Microsoft Word 2000 SR-1 Update: October 16, 2002
• Microsoft Word 97 for Windows Patch

For more information about these updates, see the articles that are in the "References" section of this article.

Changes to the Default Behavior of Affected Fields

After you install the Word Update, the default behavior of some fields in Word documents is changed in certain scenarios. For the purpose of documenting these behavior changes in this article, the affected fields are grouped into one of following three groups: the Link Group, the Picture Group, and the Text Group.

The following is a list of all the affected fields and what group they belong to:

• Link Group: the LINK field and the SUBSCRIBE field.
• Picture Group: the IMPORT field and the INCLUDEPICTURE field.
• Text Group: the INCLUDETEXT field, the DDE field, the INCLUDE field, and the DATABASE field.

Default Behaviors of Link Group Fields

If you open a document that contains a field that is in the Link Group after you apply the Word Update, you receive the following message: Note If you clicked to clear the Update automatic Links at open setting on the General tab in the Tools Options dialog box, the message does not appear. When this setting is not selected, fields are not updated when the document is opened.

If you click Yes in the message, all the fields in the Link Group that are in the document are updated and become "live," meaning that if the source data ever changes, the fields are automatically updated without any user intervention required.

If you click No in the message, all the fields in the Link Group that are in the document are not updated and become "static," meaning that if the source data ever changes, the fields are not automatically updated. If you insert a new link in the document by using one of fields from the Link Group after you click No in the message, the link is created, but if the source data ever changes, the link is not automatically updated.

Note If you click No in the message, you still have the option to manually update linked fields. To do this, select the field that you want to update, and then press F9 (or right-click the field, and then click Update Field).

Default Behaviors of the Text Group Fields

By default, the Text Group fields do not re-calculate without direct user intervention after you apply the Word Update. To manually update a field, select the field that you want, and then press F9 (or right-click the field, and then click Update Field).

Default Behaviors of the Picture Group Fields

By default, the Picture Group fields do not re-calculate without direct user intervention after you apply the Word Update. To manually update a field, select the field that you want, and then press F9 (or right-click the field, and then click Update Field).

The INCLUDEPICTURE Field Behavior Exception When It Is Used with the \d Switch

You can change the default behavior of the INCLUDEPICTURE field to allow the field to automatically re-calculate when a document is opened by using the \d switch. When the \d switch is included, the INCLUDEPICTURE field does not store the contents that it links to inside the Word document that the INCLUDEPICTURE field resides in, and as a result, data cannot be gathered from alternate locations and stored in the document when the field is re-calculated. The following are scenarios where the \d switch may be used:

• Using pictures as bullets in filtered HTML format.
• Using pictures that are links to remote files, such as a link to a .gif file posted to the Web.

The field code for an INCLUDEPICTURE field using the \d switch is similar to the following field code: Note When you open a document that contains an INCLUDEPICTURE field that is used with the \d switch, and you have installed the Word Update and set the FieldCalcSecurityLevel registry key to 2 as described in the "The Functionality That Is Added to Control the New Default Field Behaviors" section of this article, you override the \d switch. In this scenario, the INCLUDEPICTURE field never re-calculates and the link is effectively broken.

The Functionality That Is Added to Control the New Default Field Behaviors

The Word Update permits you to use the FieldCalcSecurityLevel registry key. The FieldCalcSecurityLevel registry key permits you to modify the default behavior of the Word fields that are described in this article.

Note The FieldCalcSecurityLevel registry key is not automatically created when you install the Word Update. To use the FieldCalcSecurityLevel registry key, manually create the registry key by using the steps in this article.

You can use the FieldCalcSecurityLevel registry key to configure the default behavior of Word fields in the following manner:

• Level 0 - Word reverts to the previous field behavior.
• Level 1 - Word uses the field behaviors that are documented in this article.
• Level 2 - Word never re-calculates the fields in the Text Group or the Picture Group. The fields in the Link Group behave as described in the beginning of this article, but if you click No when you receive the message to set the link behavior, links in the Link Group are not re-calculated even when you try to manually re-calculate them.

Note After you install the Word Update, you cannot remove it. The Word Update changes the default behavior of some Word fields. If you want the Word fields to behave as they did before you installed the Word Update, set the FieldCalcSecurityLevel registry key to 0.

Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
After you install the Word Update, use the FieldCalcSecurityLevel registry key if you want to change the default behavior of the fields that are described in this article. To do this:

1. Quit Word if it is running.
2. Click Start, and then click Run.
3. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
4. Locate and then select the registry key that is appropriate to your version of Word:
   • For Microsoft Office XP or Microsoft Word 2002:
     
     HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Word\Options
     
     The following is the corresponding policy key:
     
     HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Word\Options
   • For Microsoft Office 2000 or Microsoft Word 2000:
     
     HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Word\Options
     
     The following is the corresponding policy key:
     
     HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Word\Options
   • For Microsoft Word 97 for Windows or Microsoft Word 98 for Windows Japanese:
     
     HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\8.0\Word\Options
     
     Note The Japanese versions of Word 97 for Windows and Word 98 for Windows do not have a corresponding policy key.
5. Verify that the following key exists. If it does, go to step 6.
   
   FieldCalcSecurityLevel
   
   If the key path does not exist, create the key. To create the key use the appropriate steps for your version of Word.
   • For Word 2002 and Microsoft Word 2000:
     1. On the Edit menu, click New, and then click DWORD Value.
     2. Type the following name for the new value:
        FieldCalcSecurityLevel
     3. Press the ENTER key.
   • For Word 97 and Word 98 Japanese:
     1. On the Edit menu, click New, and then click String Value.
     2. Type the following name for the new value:
        FieldCalcSecurityLevel
     3. Press ENTER.
6. Right-click the FieldCalcSecurityLevel registry key, and then click Modify.
7. In the Value data box, enter one of the following numeric settings: 0, 1, or 2.
   
   Note For a detailed description of what effect these numeric values have on the Word fields that are described in this article, see the beginning of this section.
8. When you are finished, click OK.
9. Exit Registry Editor.
10. Restart the computer.

Note The policy keys that are mentioned in this article only work when used under HKEY_CURRENT_USER, and do not work when used under HKEY_CURRENT_MACHINE. To make sure that this key effects all users on a workstation, set the policy key for each user who logs on to the workstation.

How the Word Update Affects Automation

When a macro is used to open a document with a field that has the new default settings and that is from the Text Group or the Picture Group, Word automatically updates the fields. Because macros can be signed and trusted, this remains a safe scenario. To prevent even signed macros from updating these fields automatically, set the FieldCalcSecurityLevel registry key value to 2.

When a macro opens a document with a field that has the new default settings and that is from the Link Group, the message that is described in the "Default Behaviors of Link Group Fields " section of this article appears. This message may break some Automation scenarios. When running trusted macros, you can suppress the new message by setting the DisplayAlerts property to wdAlertsNone. If you suppress the message by setting the DisplayAlerts property to wdAlertsNone in this scenario, the message does not appear while running Automation, the fields still update, and you are still protected in the typical use of Word.

To prevent fields in the Link Group from updating during Automation, set the FieldCalcSecurityLevel registry key value to 2. If you suppress the message by setting the DisplayAlerts property to wdAlertsNone in this scenario, the message does not appear while running Automation, and the fields are not updated either through Automation or through the typical use of Word. For additional information about how to use the 'DisplayAlerts' property, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: The following tables detail the possible outcomes that can occur when using DisplayAlerts property settings and the FieldCalcSecurityLevel registry key settings in various combinations.

Automation Scenarios (wdAlertsNone)

Automation Scenarios (wdAlertsAll or wdAlertsMessageBox)

For more information about the Word 2002 Update, the Word 2000 Update, and the Word 97 Patch, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: