How can I insert a placeholder for blank Word merge fields?

[DJ]

How do I tell word to insert placeholder for an empty mergefield instead of
leaving it blank? I'm working on a form with merged information and my field
alignments are messed up whenever Word comes across a blank field. Thanks.

 

[Peter Jamieson]

Use tabs or a table layout if you need field results to appear at specific
points horizontally, or use an { IF } field if you want a visible
placeholder, e.g.

{ IF "{ MERGEFIELD myfield }" = "" "<placeholder>" "{ MERGEFIELD
myfield }" }

(all the {} need to be the special fild braces you can insert using ctrl-F9)

Peter Jamieson