Age Calculation with Fields

Summary: You may need to dynamically calculate an age within a document. You can do this by using fields, and every time the field results are updated your date will be updated. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, and Word 2003.)

If you desire, you can use fields to calculate an age. For instance, the field could calculate the number of years between some base date and today's date. The following compound field will do the trick:

{ = INT({ DATE \@ "yyyy" } + { DATE \@ "M" } / 12 +
{ DATE \@ "d" } / 365.25 - YYYYb - Mb / 12 - Db / 365.25) }

As those who are familiar with fields know, each of the braces in this sample represent a new field. In addition, you should replace the YYYYb, Mb, and Db placeholders with the year, month, and day of month for the base date. For instance, if your birthday were 21 June 1959, then you would replace YYYYb with 1959, replace Mb with 6, and Db with 21. When you then calculate the field (by selecting it and pressing F9), it is replaced with a number representing the number of years between the base date and today.

Tip #1008 applies to Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

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Age Calculation with Fields