blank lines in merge document

[Gretha]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Power PC

have blank lines in the merged document. e.g. when there is NO data in the address1 field in my excel data sheet then the merged document shows a blank line

name

address2
city state postcode

it should be:

name
address2
city state postcode

in earlier versions of word it was simply fixed by ticking a box "don't print blank lines when field is empty" or something similar....

How do i solve this now???

Thanks heaps to anyone who can help me.... (have been looking for solution for past 2 hours...)

 

[macropod]

Hi Mia,

heres how you can supress the unwanted line:
1. Make a duplicate of the problem mailmerge field, so that you get something
like:
«Address1» «Address1»
2. Press Cmd-F9, to wrap a field around these, so that you get:
{ «Address1» «Address1» }
3. Fill in between the braces so that you end up with:
{IF«Address1»= "" "" "«Address1»¶
" }
where the '¶' is a real paragraph mark.

4. Delete the paragraph mark following the existing mergefield.

That should give the result you're after.

 

[CyberTaz]

Not dismissive of macropod's advice in any way but it isn't necessary to go
to that extent. There's an apparent bug in Word 2008 that causes the empty
row to appear if the default paragraph formatting is left at 10 pt Space
After. If you select the Address Block then go to Format> Paragraph & set
the Space After to 0 it will resolve the problem (as long as there's no
other content on the line). If you want more spacing between the paragraphs
adjust the Line Spacing instead.

Alternatively you can use a line break (Shift+return) rather than a
paragraph break at the end of each line.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[CyberTaz]

Sorry - should have tested first - the Shift+return idea *doesn't* work as
I'd expected it to. I'm reporting the issue to MacBU as soon as I send this.
However, you should be able to edit the Normal style to remove the spacing
or apply a different style to the address block in order to get the correct
effect.

Please submit your findings via Help> Send Feedback

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac