Paragraph formatting w/Mail Merge

[Asinger]

I'm using Word 2007. I've used Word for years for basic word processing. This
is the first time I've attempted to use the Mail Merge feature. I'm linked to
an Excel document as the data source. I'm trying to generate a directory of
names/addresses/phone/email sorted by last name. It works but I have a couple
questions about general formatting:

1. Is there a way to enter just one mergefield group then direct Word to
"repeat" it as many times as needed based on the merged data? Or do I
actually have to copy and paste that mergefield group over X number of pages?
Since the number of records in my datafile will vary, it doesn't seem logical
that I would have to know how many pages/records I need to accommodate ahead
of time. I set up several pages with the repeated mergefield group, but I end
up with a blank pages at the end because I set up more pages/mergefield
groups than I actually need. I'm sure this must be something basic that I'm
just overlooking.

2. My directory page format is 3 columns with a header and footer.
Everything looks great except that when the data is merged, the Paragraph
settings to Keep With Next that I applied to the mergefield groups are not
applied to the resulting merged data. This is because not all records contain
the same data (some don't have an email address, others have longer address
information), so not all records occupy the same number of lines. Therefore,
I end up with "records" being broken between columns or pages. What can I do
to get Word to keep the data for each record (mergefield group) together in
the same column and on the same page?

I'm scouring the online Help and articles, but Mail Merge seems to be an
extensive topic and finding specific answers has not been easy. I appreciate
any help.

Thanks!

 

[Asinger]

With regard to my question #2, I didn't mean to say that the reason the Keep
With Next formatting doesn't work is because the merged records occupy a
different number of lines. Because the merged record data can occupy a
different number of lines, I tried to use Keep With Next to assure that each
record remained "grouped" in the same column/page - but that didn't work.
Just clarifying.

 

[Peter Jamieson]

If you create your Mail Merge Main Document as a "Directory" type merge,
then you should only need one copy of the fields and any trim. If, however,
what you mean by a "group" is that your Excel records are grouped (e.g. you
have a main record for customer A, then 10 sales records for A, then a main
record for customer B, then 8 sales records for B, and so on) then you have
to work rather harder to see that grouping reflected in the output - one
approach is documented in http://support.microsoft.com/kb/211303 - in fact,
Word merge is not designed to do this type of "one-many" reporting and you
might be better off doing it another way.

I'd suggest that for the "keep with next" you define your group with a
single empty paragraph(either at the beginning or end of the group). If you
don't normally want a gap between each group, format the line so it's very
thin. Then mark every paragraph in the group excapt that empty paragraph as
"keep with next".

Peter Jamieson

 

[Asinger]

Peter - I did set up the merge doc as a Directory anticipating that I'd set
up one mergefield group and it would repeat as needed during the merge. It
doesn't. I've tried setting up 3 seperate merge docs, following the
step-by-step instructions in Help. I also read that when using the Directory
merge doc format I should not have to add the NextRecord command - but if I
don't, the same name/address is repeated over and over on a given page (1st
page is all Smith, 2nd page is Roberts, 3rd page is Carlisle, and so on - as
if I was printing a page of mailing labels for each name). So I'm not sure
what's up with this, but I am positive I am selecting Directory as my merge
do type.

To clarify - by "mergefield group" I mean the group of merge fields I insert
that form a single record. e.g.,

LastName
FirstName, Name1, Name2, Name3
Address1
Address2
City, State, Zip
Phone
Email

Note: I didn't include the brackets, but I think you see what I mean. Unless
I add NextRecord after Email, the copy this "group" of fields and paste not
only throughout the page but over many pages, the merge doesn't work right. I
don't doubt there is something I'm just not doing right, but it doesn't seem
like it should be this much of a mystery. Any other ideas? Thanks.

 

[Peter Jamieson]

It sounds like you're doing everything right to me. You should only insert
your group once, and you should not need a Next record.

If you make a really simple data source (say, a Word document with 2 columns
and 10 records) and a really simple Mail Merge Main document (say, 2 fields
followed by 10 blank lines) and do the merge, do you see the same thing? If
so, can you despam my email address (get rid of KillmapS) and email me that
document and the test data source and I'll have a look (if you're quick, I
can do it now - otherwise it will have to be tomorrow).

Peter Jamieson

 

[Asinger]

I have to shut down right now and make dinner - been working on the mail
merge all day. I will try what you said tomorrow afternoon though (when I'm
home from work) and if the results are the same and you're still up for it,
I'll email you my files. Will post first to see if you still want me to do
that. Thanks very much!

 

[Peter Jamieson]

I should be around in the evening, UK time.

Peter Jamieson

 

[Asinger]

Good evening, Peter. Boy do I feel dumb! I used your suggestion and created a
simple Directory merge. In doing that I realized that I've been previewing my
results all along, but never actually did the merge (Finish Merge). I
mistakenly assumed that what I saw in the preview was what I could expect in
the resulting merge file. And I'd done it so many times that I guess I simply
wasn't thinking anymore ) When I went back to my original files and
finished the merge, voila! It looked as it should (with the except of extra
commas that I'm still working on). Thanks so much for your quick response
yesterday. I have another question that I'll post later - after I make sure
I'm not doing some other dumb thing! Take care. April

 

[Peter Jamieson]

Glad you got it sorted.

Peter Jamieson

Good evening, Peter. Boy do I feel dumb! I used your suggestion and
created a
simple Directory merge. In doing that I realized that I've been previewing
my
results all along, but never actually did the merge (Finish Merge). I
mistakenly assumed that what I saw in the preview was what I could expect
in
the resulting merge file. And I'd done it so many times that I guess I
simply
wasn't thinking anymore ) When I went back to my original files and
finished the merge, voila! It looked as it should (with the except of
extra
commas that I'm still working on). Thanks so much for your quick response
yesterday. I have another question that I'll post later - after I make
sure
I'm not doing some other dumb thing! Take care. April