Mail Merge question

[wendysuy]

I am currently using 2007 and have saved a few date changes to the body of my
main document. When I run my mail merge, the changes to my main document are
only showing up correctly in the first document of my mail merge. All of the
other documents have the original dates that I changed. What do I need to do
to have the subsequent date changes picked up in the following mail merge
letters? Thanks.

 

[Peter Jamieson]

Can you spell out how you inserted these dates and how you modified them?

Peter Jamieson

 

[wendysuy]

Peter,

I just opened the old mail merge main document and changed the date
information from June to September and then changed the quarter end to read
third instead of second by deleting the old information and then typing in
the new information. I saved the document under a different name (instead of
2Q09cert), the document is now 3Q09cert. My guess is that the original main
document has a prespecified link to the data base such that when I open the
document in Word 2007 the mail merge has already taken place and the letters
are already completed and ready for me to view/edit. This is what is
currently happening. When I saved the document as 3Q09cert I assume I saved
the links to the database as well so that when I open the document it appears
I am in edit mode and I can view all of the letters generated from the
database. Only the first letter has the specified date changes, the other
following letters have the June 30 date and the second quarter specified in
the body of the letter. The dates are not mail merge fields. I just assumed
when I updated the dates and resaved the file under a new name that the link
to the database would be broken and I could go back through the mail merge
process as if it was a new mail merge. This is not the case. I went on-line
to Microsoft and if I break the link to the database excel file the main
document will become a normal Word document and the information from the
first letter will be permanently in the letter mail merge fields. According
to what I read the mail merge field link information will be lost. Maybe you
understand and can explain to me how this is suppose to work. Thanks.

 

[Peter Jamieson]

My guess is that the original main
document has a prespecified link to the data base such that when I open
the
document in Word 2007 the mail merge has already taken place and the
letters
are already completed and ready for me to view/edit. This is what is
currently happening.

Although a typical Mail Merge Main Document would have a data source
attached, for the merge to be performed there would need to be an "AutoOpen"
macro that executed automatically, and that would typically create a new
document containing all your letters. That document would not be linked to
the data source and would not have any { MERGEFIELD } fields in it (although
there may well be other field types. If you modified /every/ June to
September in that document and saved/closed it, I would expect that document
to be the same when you re-opened it.

Which makes me wonder whether this is a "typical mail merge main document".
It might be a document with a more complex VBA macro that does something
else altogether, or it could even be Word document with some .NET/VSTO code
in it. However, f the document is being transformed into a mail merge
"output" document as you open it, it may be hard to discover. The easiest
way to find out is probably to ask someone in your organisation.

However, when you open it, can you see any fields at all, e.g. using Alt-F9
to show field codes rather than results? Or maybe there are some Content
Controls in there. If a merge occurs automatically, maybe you could prevent
that happening by
a. opening a new blank document
b. using Insert->Object->Text from file (sorry, I don't have the precise
option name in front of me) to insert 2Q09cert.doc or .docx. If it's a
traditional document with VBA macros, the macros should not run in that case
and you might be able to see what is going on.

Peter Jamieson

 

[wendysuy]

Peter,

So maybe if I open a blank document and then copy my 3Q09 doc into it that
the system might not automatically link the data source to the letter and
generate the letters? I will open the file and use the option to see the
fields and see what I get. Thanks for your assistance.