Problem with Word Mail Merge from MS Access Query

[Deb]

Background: 2 tables linked (main table contains customer data, 2nd table
contains multiple conditions linked to that customer and they are linked by a
unique id # that Access assigns).

I've run a query in Access to use for my mail merge in MS Word. Everything
works great, EXCEPT....if one customer record has multiple conditions, only
the first condition shows up in the merge letter. Any additional conditions
show up as separate letters. I need to be able to have 1 letter that lists
all of the conditions that exist for that customer.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks.

 

[Doug Robbins]

What you are doing wrong is trying to use Word for something that is better
done entirely in Access with a report.

Word does not really have the ability to perform a "multiple items per
condition (=key field)" mailmerge.

See the "Group Multiple items for a single condition" item on fellow MVP
Cindy Meister's website at

http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister/mergfaq1.htm#DBPic

Or take a look at the following Knowledge Base Article

How to Work Around Duplicate Names in Mail Merge Data

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;302665


--
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

 

[JohnB]

Hi.

You need to group the multiple conditions together using a "concatenate"
function within Access. There are different ways of doing this but I use one
designed by Duane Hookom - he went to great effort to help me understand how
to use it. This consists of an Access Module and some code in the Access
query which calls the Module up and passes it paramaters - i.e. which ID to
group the child fields by and what type of separator to use between the child
records (comma, tab, new line etc). There is a sample A2000 mdb on the
following site. Look for "Generic Function to Concatenate Child Records"
under the name Duane Hookom.

http://www.rogersaccesslibrary.com/OtherLibraries.asp#Hookom,Duane

You could then post on the Access Discussion Group (Queries) if you need
help. Search for "Concatenate" in the Queries section to see similar
questions. You'll see replies from Duane and others there.

JohnB