Q181730: WD97: How to Use Mail Merge to Create a List Sorted by Category
Article: Q181730
Product(s): Word 97 for Windows
Version(s):
Operating System(s):
Keyword(s): kbdta kbfield word97 kbmerge kblayout
Last Modified: 16-NOV-2000
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The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Word 97 for Windows
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SUMMARY
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You can use the Mail Merge feature in Word to create a list of data sorted and
separated by a category. This article contains instructions and a sample you can
use to create such a list.
MORE INFORMATION
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Setting Up the Data File
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Sort your data file so that all records with the same value for the key field
(category, the field upon which you base the sort) are together, as shown in the
sample data file below. The following sample list is sorted by the CITY field
(CITY is the key field in this example):
CITY EMPLOYEE SALES
Atlanta Smith $3,000
Atlanta Gates $50,000
Atlanta Henderson $10,000
Houston Jones $8,000
Houston Kelley $9,000
Houston Peterson $0
For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in
the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q142756 WD: How to Design and Set Up Mail Merge Data Sources
Setting Up the Main Document
----------------------------
NOTE: Paragraph marks in the following examples are designated as <B6>. To type a
paragraph mark, press ENTER. To show the paragraph marks in your Word document,
click the Show/Hide button on the Standard toolbar.
To set up your main document as a catalog, follow these steps:
1. From a new blank document, click Mail Merge on the Tools menu.
2. In the Mail Merge Helper, click the Create button and then click Catalog.
3. Click New Main Document when prompted.
4. In the Mail Merge Helper, click Get Data and then click Open Data Source to
attach the data file (use the sample file you created in the "Setting Up the
Data File" section of this article.
5. In the main document, insert the following fields to compare the contents of
each key field record with the contents of the next key field record, to
determine whether the key field contents change from one data record to the
next.
NOTE: This example uses the sample data from the "Setting Up the Data File"
section of this article. To insert the field braces, press CTRL+F9.
{If {MergeSeq} = "1" "{Mergefield City}<B6>
" ""}{Set Place1 {Mergefield City}}<B6>
{If {Place2} <> {Place1}"<B6>
{Mergefield City}<B6>
<B6>
{Mergefield Employee}{Mergefield Sales}" "{Mergefield
Employee}{Mergefield Sales}"}{Set Place2 {Mergefield City}}<B6>
NOTE: To insert the {MergeSeq} field in the mail-merge main document, click
Insert Word Field on the Mail Merge toolbar.
The fields laid out in this example produce a catalog listing on the same page
as follows:
Atlanta
Smith $3,000
Gates $50,000
Henderson $10,000
Houston
Jones $8,000
Kelley $9,000
Peterson $0
Forcing Each New Category to a New Page
---------------------------------------
The key field in this example is {Mergefield City}. When the value of City
changes in the data file to a different city, then a new page is added to the
merged results and the merge is continued at the top of the next page. To insert
the field braces, press CTRL+F9.
{If {MergeSeq} = "1" "{Mergefield City}<B6>
" ""}{Set Place1 {Mergefield City}}<B6>
{If {Place2} <> {Place1}"
----------------------------Page Break--------------------------------
{Mergefield City}<B6>
<B6>
{Mergefield Employee}{Mergefield Sales}" "{Mergefield
Employee}{Mergefield Sales}"}{Set Place2 {Mergefield City}}<B6>
NOTE: A page break is inserted either by pressing CTRL+ENTER or by clicking Break
on the Insert menu, selecting Page Break, and then clicking OK.
The fields laid out in this example produce a catalog listing on separate pages
as follows:
Atlanta
Smith $3,000
Gates $50,000
Henderson $10,000
----------------------------Page Break--------------------------------
Houston
Jones $8,000
Kelley $9,000
Peterson $0
Formatting the Key Field
------------------------
The key field in this example is {Mergefield City}. To format the results of the
{Mergefield City} as all capital letters, you can use the formatting switch of
"\* Upper". To insert the field braces, press CTRL+F9.
{If {MergeSeq} = "1" "{Mergefield City \* Upper}<B6>
" ""}{Set Place1 {Mergefield City}}<B6>
{If {Place2} <> {Place1}"<B6>
{Mergefield City \* Upper}<B6>
<B6>
{Mergefield Employee}{Mergefield Sales}" "{Mergefield
Employee}{Mergefield Sales}"}{Set Place2 {Mergefield City}}<B6>
The fields laid out in this example produce a catalog listing on the same page
with the city in all capital letters as follows:
ATLANTA
Smith $3,000
Gates $50,000
Henderson $10,000
HOUSTON
Jones $8,000
Kelley $9,000
Peterson $0
For more information about general field formatting switches, click "Contents and
Index" on the Help menu, click the Index tab in Microsoft Word Help, type the
following text
fields, formatting
and then double-click the selected text to go to the "Help Topics: Microsoft
Word" topic. If you are unable to find the information you need, ask the Office
Assistant.
NOTE: You can apply different formatting to the key field {Mergefield City} by
selecting the entire field (including the field braces ({}) and formatting the
field as you want. For example, to format the field, click Font on the Format
menu.
REFERENCES
==========
For additional information, click the article numbers below to view the articles
in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q141922 WD97: How to Start a Mail Merge
Q194747 WD97: Mail Merge Tutorial and Help File Available
Additional query words: invoice catalog phone directory conditional mailmerge howto how-to how to
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Keywords : kbdta kbfield word97 kbmerge kblayout
Technology : kbWordSearch kbWord97 kbWord97Search kbZNotKeyword2
Version : :
Issue type : kbinfo
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