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  Web http://www.klippert.com



  Tuesday, February 09, 2010 – Permalink –

Merge Formatting Extended

Manipulation

When you merge data into Word, it takes on the formatting of the target document.
This tip allows you the dictate the appearance of merged data.


VitalNews.com




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<Doug Klippert@ 3:41 AM

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  Sunday, January 17, 2010 – Permalink –

Merge Word to PDF

Not just MailMerge anymore

Sure, you can create a merged letter and have 30 pages of individualized information.
What now? How do you create separately named documents to, maybe, send as attachments?
Another task might be to convert those 30 docs to PDF. Oh, the hours wasted!

Graham Mayor, a retired newsgroup junkie, offers a solution.
It's a macro that will convert the merged output as individually named doc(x), and/or PDF files.
I've used it, and now wonder what I can do with the time I'm saving.






GMayor.com

Merge with Attachments



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<Doug Klippert@ 3:10 AM

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  Monday, January 11, 2010 – Permalink –

Merge Access with Word

Database integration



"You can merge Microsoft Office Access 2007 data with a Word 2007 document by using the Mail Merge Wizard. This demo shows you how to create a simple form letter and how to troubleshoot problems. You can also use this feature to create address labels or any other type of Word document in which you want to display Access data."
Office.Microsoft.com




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<Doug Klippert@ 3:45 AM

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  Monday, June 15, 2009 – Permalink –

SQL Warning in Word

Merge Ahead!


When you open a Word  mail merge main document that is linked to a data source, you may receive the following message:

Opening this will run the following SQL command:

SELECT * FROM C:\file_name.log

Data from your database will be placed in the document. Do you want to continue?


SQL Warning

This message helps protect you from unintentionally sending data to a malicious user.
To suppress this message, you must first create the following registry key:


  1. Open Registry Editor.
  2. Locate, and then click the following registry key:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Word\Options

    (Use 12.0 for Word 2007)


  3. Click Edit, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.

  4. Under Name, type:

    SQLSecurityCheck

  5. Double-click SQLSecurityCheck.

  6. In the Value data box, type:

    00000000
See
Microsoft KB 825765

Installing Office XP SP3 appears to cause the same problem. For Word 2002 (XP also known as 10.0) you need to place the registry key in: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Word\Options

(Thanks to Brian Livingston at WindowsSecrets.com for pointing the way to a solution)




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<Doug Klippert@ 3:15 AM

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  Tuesday, January 27, 2009 – Permalink –

Mail Merge Page Printing

One big page


After completing a merge to a new document, the status bar may indicate that the insertion point is located on page 1 of 38 pages. This is a bit of mis-information.

If you turn on Show/Hide and look at the merged document in Normal view, you'll see that the merged document has section breaks rather than page breaks.

If you try to print what should be Page 1, the entire document will print.

To print just the first section, use "s1" in the Print dialog box.



Another way to handle it is to go to Edit>Replace and replace

"^b" (section break)

With

"^m" (manual page break)



From Office.Microsoft.com:
In the Pages box, type instructions to print one of the following:


Noncontiguous pages

Type the page numbers with commas between them. Type the range of pages with a hyphen between the starting and ending numbers in the range. For example, to print pages 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8, type 2,4-6,8
A range of pages within a section

Type p page number s section number. For example, to print pages 5 through 7 in section 3, type p5s3-p7s3
An entire section

Type s section number. For example, type s3
Noncontiguous sections

Type the section numbers with commas between them. For example, type s3,s5
A range of pages across sections

Type a range of page numbers and the sections that contain them with a hyphen between the starting and ending numbers in the range. For example, type p2s2-p3s5




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<Doug Klippert@ 3:51 AM

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  Monday, January 19, 2009 – Permalink –

Merge Pictures

Different picture to every letter in a mail merge



A variation of this technique could also be used with an IF statement to display different pictures based on some criteria, such as Zip code.
  1. Open the Excel worksheet that you use as the mail merge data source.

  2. Insert a new column that has a column heading such as Picture.

  3. For each row of the Excel worksheet, insert in the Picture column the path and the file name of the picture that you want to use for that record of the data source. Additionally, enclose the path and the file name in quotation marks (").

    For example, copy the path and the file name of the picture in Windows Explorer. Then, paste the path and file name into the Excel worksheet.

    Note The path and the file name of each picture in the Picture column will appear similar to the following example:


    "C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Pictures\foldername\filename.jpg"

  4. On the Edit menu, click Replace. Then, replace each instance of a single slash mark (\) with double slash marks (\\) in each path.

    For example, each path should now look similar to the following example:

    "C:\\Documents and Settings\\username\\My Documents\\My Pictures\\foldername\\filename.jpg"

  5. Save and then close the Excel worksheet. Then, quit Excel.
In Word, follow these steps:
  1. Open the mail merge main document.

  2. If the Excel data source is not attached, attach the data source. To do this, go to Step 3 of 6 in the Mail Merge task pane. Click Browse, and then attach the Excel data source.

  3. Click Next: Write your letter.

  4. In the mail merge main document, move the insertion point to the location where you want the picture to appear.

  5. On the Insert menu, click Field.

  6. In the Field dialog box, click IncludePicture under Field names, and then click OK.

    Note You may receive the following error message:

    Error! Filename not specified

  7. Press ALT+F9 to display the field codes in the mail merge main document. You will see a field that is similar to the following field:

    { INCLUDEPICTURE \* MERGEFORMAT }

  8. Move the insertion point into the field immediately following INCLUDEPICTURE.

  9. Press the SPACEBAR, and then click More items on the Mail Merge task pane.

  10. In the Insert Merge Field dialog box, click the picture merge field, such as Picture, and then click Insert.

  11. Click Close to close the Insert Merge Field dialog box.

    The INCLUDEPICTURE field should now look similar to the following field:

    { INCLUDEPICTURE { MERGEFIELD "Picture" } \* MERGEFORMAT }

  12. Press ALT+F9 to hide the field codes in the mail merge main


  13. Click Next: Preview your letters.


  14. Click Next: Complete the merge.

  15. In the Mail Merge task pane, click Edit individual letters.

  16. In the Merge to New Document dialog box, click OK.

  17. On the Edit menu in the merged document, click Select All.

  18. Press F9 to update the fields in the merged document.
    (Word mail merges are not dynamic)

  19. To print your letters from the merged document, click Print on the File menu. Each printed letter will contain the picture that you specified in the Excel data source.
Knowledgebase #909132: Different picture to every letter in a mail merge




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<Doug Klippert@ 3:48 AM

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  Friday, December 05, 2008 – Permalink –

Merge Formatting

$ lost


The data in Access or Excel has been formatted. You have leading zeros, percents, currency is formatted and so on.

Word 200+, however loses the formatting when a mail merge is attempted.

Here's a fix.

Word has three potential data access methods, the "old fashioned" ODBC or DDE and the newer OLE DB.

ODBC and OLE DB can, quickly, extract data from a source application without opening the program. The application does not even have to be installed.

The downside is that these methods do not transfer the formatting in the data file. Individual MERGEFIELDs need to be formatted in Word.

DDE can be used with Excel and Access. It communicates with the source and carries the formatting into the target document. This is how it worked before Word 2002.

To have a choice go to:
Tools>Options>General "Confirm Conversions at Open"

When you connect to the Data Source, a dialog box will give you the opportunity to choose the type of connection to use.


If you don't see DDE, check Show all.

Also see:

Answer Box:
Numbers don't merge right in Word

and:

Cindy Meister:
Mail Merge FAQ


Here are some other Mail Merge resources:
Mail Merge Links



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<Doug Klippert@ 7:34 AM

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  Wednesday, June 18, 2008 – Permalink –

Mail Merge

Personalize mass mailing


Mail merging creates multiple copies of the same document and inserts data from an external file or database. For example, printing a form letter for different recipients and including each recipient's name.
Word mail merge

FAQ about the mail merge feature in Word 2003 and in Word 2007 will help you learn how to use Mail Merge to create form letters, mailing labels, envelopes, or catalogs. It can also help you troubleshoot problems; and provides step-by-step instructions.

The Word MVP site has some more suggestions.


About.com:
Mail Merge
Creating Documents With Mail Merge


Cindy Meister:
Mail Merge FAQ



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<Doug Klippert@ 5:46 AM

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  Thursday, March 06, 2008 – Permalink –

Labels by Merging

Demos


As part of their series of demos, Microsoft has information on creating mailing labels from a database, or mailing list.

Create labels with mail merge

Here is another entry concerning some of the fine points.

More label info


Also, if you place a graphic in the first cell, it will be duplicated in each box.



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<Doug Klippert@ 6:43 AM

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  Sunday, February 10, 2008 – Permalink –

Merge to More than One Document

Custom content



In the Data Source, include a field for the type of letter the recipient requires.

In the Main merge document, enter IF fields, such as:

{IF {MERGEFIELD "LetterType"=1} {INCLUDETEXT "C:\\Project\\Letter1" \* MERGEFORMAT} ""}
{IF {MERGEFIELD "LetterType"=2} {INCLUDETEXT "C:\\Project\\Letter2" \* MERGEFORMAT} ""}



  • The curly brackets { } cannot be entered from the key board. Either use Insert>Field, or Ctrl+F9.
  • Word uses spaces in the If..Then..Else statement.
  • The last two quote marks "" are "empty" , so nothing will be entered.
  • Notice the \\ in the path statement. A path is not needed if the Main document is in the same folder as the letters.
  • To see the field codes, use Alt+F9 to toggle the view on and off.

Letters 1 and 2 can have completely different texts, formats and layouts. One can be an invitation to a sale, the other can be a dunning letter.
(To carry over different formatting, leave out the \* MERGEFORMAT switch)

After setting up the main document for mail merging, insert all of the fields you want to merge.

Copy the individual fields and paste them in the correct locations in Letter 1 and 2.

Go back to the main document and erase all of the text and fields EXCEPT for the IF statements.

Letters 1 and 2 do not have to be set up a merge docs, or connected to a data source. Their text will be inserted in the Main document depending on the field type.





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<Doug Klippert@ 7:32 AM

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