MsOffice 97 and Mail Merge..help

[kgb]

Hi,
NOt sure if this is the appropriate group, but i will give a try. Is it possible that any of you, who is very understanding and real pro at Mail Merge in MsWord 97, can send me a break down step by step how to creating labels. I already typed in 100 addresses in a doc but would like to print them on mailing labels? My email is do_g@hotmail.com.
Thanks
George.

[U-96]

Ermmm I get paid to do this, so I hope this works for you... http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

I assume that your addresses are in some sort of explicit format. By this I mean, for example, a comma delimited ASCII file.

Ideally your data should look something like this:

"Mr Bill Smith","1133 N 42nd Ave #4D","New York","NY","10022"

If it doesn't then try manipulating it using the "Save As" option. This will allow you to save in this format. It just makes things SO much easier.

Even better if your data has been exported as set fields, so that if you don't have a ZIP code for someone, it is expressed as "" in your data (this makes formatting a little more predictable)
If you have a header record this is good too - it tells the app what to expect in each record: for the example used above it would look like this:
Name,Address,City,State,Zip
This tells the app to expect 5 fields per record, and it will use these field names when you compile your labels.

OK open up MSWord97 and go to
Tools->Mail Merge->Create->Mailing labels
->Active Window

Next select your data source - the document with your addresses in - usually a .txt file.
Get Data->Open Data Source

this gives you a browser window to find your file. If it doesn't seem to be there, change the "type of file" setting to .txt or "All Files", as it goes to "Word Documents" by default.

Double click your data file, then hit the "Setup Main Document" button.

The next screen allows you to set up your label size (get the code from the packet), sheet feed, etc. Select what is relevant for you and hit "Ok"

Next you have the "Create labels" box.
Hit "Insert Merge Field" and one of two things may happen. If you have a regular record pattern, with a header record, it will give you a pop-up menu with these fields in. If not it will use the data from the first record to represent these fields, which sucks. As I remember, this first record will not print out because MSWord97 thinks it is a header record.

Drop your fields into the box, using <enter> <space> ctrl-B ctrl-I whatever to get it the way you want.

Hit OK when done and it will take you back to the main mail merge dialogue.

Optionally you can hit "Query Options" here, if you want to sort your labels by State or zip for example, but this only really works well with formatted data as described above.

Finally hit "Merge"->Merge to new document->Merge

Always merge to a new document, it saves screwing up your label template.

Hopefully you should now have a page of labels with your addresses on. Do a sample print on normal paper first to check the margins are okay, labels are expensive!

Good luck,

U-96

PS Please note this is just the way I do it, not the only way! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[kgb]

HI, Thanks for your reply.

Where I'm getting screwed with the MERGE in MsWord 97 is the DATA SOURCE area.

All my addresses are type in a DOC not a TXT file. When you create a DATA SOURCE; it seems, to me, is where you create the FIELDS in which Name, Addresses etc will appeared. What i get is the 2 first addresses only and not the set up i want. What i expect is Name, Address, city, etc AND then insert the Address document or insert the document? Not sure if this is clear...

But you did help a bit...but' i'm still lost in it.

Any more suggestion....anyone.
George

[U-96]

I imagine your data is somehting along the lines of:

Mrs Ada Adams, 101 Newsome Blvd, Albuquerque, NM, 77777
Mr Bill Badger, 45 5th Ave, 14th Floor, NY, NY, 10001


Both look perfectly adequate to the human eye, but not to MSWord, for it is the device of the devil.
The second example address has 6 fields, and the first has 5. MSWord does not like this much.

It sounds like your data isn't in a format that mail merge can use efficiently. While it won't immediately help your problem, I would recommend that if these addresses are ones you will use again, enter them into either an Excel spreadsheet (use columns like name, address #1,address#2, city, state, zip - and STICK to those columns, leaving cells blank if necessary), or use MSAccess and use the create database wizard to start an address book.
You may have to invest a couple of hours to type in the data (or cut and paste from your doc) but if you use these addresses frequently, it will pay off in the long run. It also makes it easier to keep other info, like phone numbers, customer refs, whatever.

With Excel you can export your addresses as a .txt file and follow the procedure I outlined above in my first post. You may be able to create labels directly, but I don't use Excel much so I can't say.

With Access you can definitely create labels directly from your database.

The problem with your current setup is that mail merge is looking at the first text in your document and (normally) expects there to be a hard return after each record and some kind of delimiter (usually a comma or TAB character) between fields. It also wants a regular number of fields per record.

A good dataset should look like a matrix (called a "table", it looks pretty much like a spreadsheet). Having blank fields is perfectly fine if you don't have that information, like a missing ZIP for example.

If it doesn't find these markers, it will keep going until it DOES find them. This is most likely why you are getting the first two addresses and little else.

As my data-processing Master Jedi once told me - "Garbage in, garbage out". http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif
(at least that's how MSWord views your addresses in their current format).
Try to imagine how MSWord is looking at your addresses. It is a idiot, a child. Everything must be spelled out for it.

The quick fix alternative is to try and format your address doc to the same dimensions as your label stationery, but the time spent fiddling with the tabs would be better invested in making your data re-usable by putting it in Excel or Access, in my opinion.

U-96