Data save/message question

[sam]

I think this is a word question rather than an access question.... I have an
access database which includes contact data. After a record is selected the
user can select a particular letter which in turn opens word and merges the
contact data into the letter. It is then saved (using 'save as' and saved as
a .doc) to another folder to be printed or emailed. All works fine for
printing purposes but when I email the merged document the user receives a
message upon opening such as 'Data from your database will be placed in the
document, do you want to continue" yes/No. Choosing yes presents the user
with options to select the data source etc, which is no good. Choosing no
opens the document and looks ok but my question is... can I stop this message
from appearing or save the document somehow so the message is not required.
Any help greatly appreciated

 

[Doug Robbins]

It sounds like the document is not actually being merged and that all you
are sending is a document containing a preview of the merge results. You
need to execute the merge to a new document which will then contain the
actual data converted to text, rather that it being displayed as a preview
of the result of the mergefield.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

 

[sam]

Thank you for your reply. I'm not too sure how to proceed to check what is
actually occuring.
To set up the merge I followed:
1. Opened the letter
2. Open data source
3. Connect to new data source.odc
4. Chose MS Access Database
5. Selected appropriate database and query

I have then inserted the database fields in the appropriate positions. have
i followed the wrong process?

 

[sam]

After looking some more I've found that choosing 'main document setup' on the
mail merge toolbar and then 'ok' for 'normal document'(which is already
selected upon opening) and saving as this will eliminate the problem. This is
ok to have to do but doesn't make a lot of sense to have to follow that
process either. It will help but surely it can just be saved directly as a
normal document?

 

[Doug Robbins]

That confirms that you are not actually executing the merge which is what I
had suspected. While it may not make sense to you, mail merge is not really
designed for the creation of single letters. Rather it is designed for the
creation of multiple copies of a base document with variations for each
record in the data source.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

 

[Charles Kenyon]

Actually, mail merge does work well for production of a single document, but
the user has to understand the process. I generally create the merge (using
a new merge document based on a template) and find the single record in the
database that I want. Then I print the document. If I want a disk copy, I
have a macro that locks merge fields. An alternative would be to do a query
that would only result in the single record.

I do this for form documents (often drafts that have to be edited) where I
produce the same form for multiple clients, but not at the same time.
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word which is awesome!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

 

[Doug Robbins]

That I well understand and starting with a template, the chance of saving
the mailmerge maindocument after unlinking the fields and hence render it
useless for further use is diminished. I am not sure that locking rather
than unlinking the merge fields would eliminate the OP's problem when the
documents are emailed.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

 

[Charles Kenyon]

I don't have the original post for some reason. I never email Word documents
unless I want them edited and sent back. I produce pdf files and send those.
Just overcautious, I guess.
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word which is awesome!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

 

[Doug Robbins]

Hi Charles,

This was the relevant part of it:

All works fine for printing purposes but when I email the merged document
the user receives a
message upon opening such as 'Data from your database will be placed in the
document, do you want to continue" yes/No. Choosing yes presents the user
with options to select the data source etc, which is no good. Choosing no
opens the document and looks ok but my question is... can I stop this
message
from appearing or save the document somehow so the message is not required.


--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

 

[sam]

I understand that word can be used for multiple letters with differing
address details but in this case I am using it for a single letter each time.
The reason for this is that i want to email the letter... access is virtually
useless for this purpose unless you convert to a pdf. Sometimes you can be
lucky and maintain the formatting by converting to another application but
mostly it's not worthehile.
I can understand what you are saying about this but I'm not sure now how to
complete the merge and save the merged fields. In the second (or third)
posting I left I said I could go to main document setup and make sure normal
word document is selected. Saving after that point actually saves the merged
fields.... but I don't know why it makes a difference, I'm just opening it,
checking that it is normal document and selecting ok, seems to be just
something it makes you do for no reason.