Mail Merge Recipient Problems

[Bec]

Currently using Word 2002 I created my mail merge and data source. For some
reason it keeps moving my current recipients that I have finished entering to
the beginning of the recipient list. My recipient was up to 4000 so I created
a new one it was working fine then started to do this. I have sorted the
records so the appear how and where I want. But as soon as I go out of the
file and then back in again it's all jumbled. Please HELP!!!

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

One thing that you could do is use the data source with a Directory type
mailmerge main document in which you set up the merge fields in the cells of
a one row table. When you execute that merge to a new document, that
document will contain a row of data for each record in the data source. You
can then insert a row at the top of that table into which you insert the
names of the merge fields and then use the Table>Sort facility in Word to
get it into the order that you want.

--
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

 

[Bec]

Thanks Doug,

Whilst this may solve the problem in the short term it won't help me in the
long term. I use mail merge everyday and it's part of my normal duties so
will be a pain to have to do this everytime I use it. I have opened the data
source in Access and sorted it the way it needs to be but when I save it and
then go back to word to open the data source it's not the saved file. Is
there anyway for this to work and how?

 

[Peter Jamieson]

Sorting your data source in Access probably isn't going to be enough,
because Access tables have no "natural" sequence.

What is more likely to work is...
1. to create an Access query that
a. selects all the records from the table you want to use
b. specifies the sort sequence you want

and

2. to use that query as your data source.

If that doesn't work, sorry...

Peter Jamieson