Barcode in Mailmerge document

[fig000]

Hi,

I've been looking at a number of the postings for putting a barcode
into a mailmerge document. Unlike many of the examples this is not a
ZIP Code, but just a number.

I've tried a number of things, including creating the barcode in an
envelope mailmerge and moving it (I couldn't get it work in the evelope
mailmerge ).

The most promising thing I've found is that if I type a static number
with asterisks (like this *1234*) I get a bar code that prints. I'm
doing this by creating merge field, putting in the *1234* and setting
the font to the IDAutomation.com Code39 that I installed on my machine.
This gives me a nice bar code printed in the merge document.

What I need to do is do the same with a field from my data source.
I've tried putting asterisks around the merge field (e.g. *<<merge
field>>* in the edit field dialog) etc. I've tried putting the \b
switch after the field. I will admit I'm confused. I'm haven't done a
mail merge in 10 years and I'm not sure of the issues.

Any help would be appreciated.

Neil

 

[bhsmaths]

Hi Neil,
With the library card routine I use, I wrote a very simple VB code that
rewrote the data file (from a csv file) so that my field for barcode was
delimited by asterixs. I also at the same time created a field where
photographs were accessed by their barcode name.jpg. I then loaded into
excel and resaved as a xls file.
Al S at BHS maths

 

[barcodewiz]

Hello Neil,

Please have a look at our web page for step-by-step instructions with
screen shots on how to create barcodes with Word's mail merge:

http://www.barcodewiz.com/barcodeactivexhelp/usinginmsword_mailmerge.asp

This page shows how to retrieve data from an Excel spreadsheet, and
create barcodes using our ActiveX Control (it's a plugin for use in
Word and other programs). The procedure is very similar when using our
barcode fonts.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Alek Szymanski
http://www.barcodewiz.com

 

[fig000]

Hi,

Thanks to bhsmaths and barcodewiz for their great information.
Oddly, we found a way to make the barcode show up on a merge document.
I'll point out that this is not a label; the barcode is showing up on
an 8 by 11 piece of paper.

I used a font file called "IDAutomation.com Code39". What happened is
that our scanners (socket handscanner plugged into viewsonic pocket pc)
won't read the barcode at all. We took the same scanner and read in
some labels that also are supposed to be using barcode 39 and it
worked! Obviously it's not the same font.

I'm not sure what font our label printing software is using (though I
intend to try to find it) but I'm confused about why one barcode 39
font is different from another. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Neil

 

[barcodewiz]

Neil,

You may want to switch back to a readable font, such as Arial, and make
sure your data shows *12345* after you merge.
Another thing to try is using parentheses instead of asterisks (I'm not
sure if that's what IDAutomation uses, but it's worth a shot). The
reason for not using asterisks is because Word will sometimes turn
anything enclosed in them to BOLD.
IDAutomation is a good company (although I hate to say that, since they
are our competitor ), so I'm sure their Code 39 font will work.

Alek Szymanski
http://www.barcodewiz.com