Word 2004 Data Merge with Nested If-THEN-ELSE and arithmetic/logic operations

[ajbaum]

I have a fairly complex data merge document I've been using for years
with Word 98 and Word 2001.
I recently upgraded to Word 2004, for OS-X, mainly because Office 2001
crashed whenever I tried to cut&paste.

The new Word 2004 hangs when it tries to read the Word 2001 merge
template.
So, I tried to recreate it in Word 2004, and find that
- I can't see the merge commands that I've inserted; there seems to be
no menu item that makes them viewable (though you can make the results
of the merge viewable - I want the raw commands)
- I can't nest If-Then_Else inside another If-Then_Else. I use this a
lot, to make very customized letters
- I can't use arithmetic or logic operations in the If-Then_Else (i.e.
If (field1+field2 > 100), or if (field1 AND field2). that's another
capability that I use a lot.

So, has Microsoft gone totally backwards on features, or is there some
kind of wizard I need to turn off or on in some arcane way to do any of
this?

I've spent quite a bit of time searching the Microsoft web site, and
they mention how to do this for Word 98 o Word 2001, but there is
nothing but the most basic information available for Word 2004.

 

[ajbaum]

OK, I finally found the other magic button that exposes the raw merge
commands.
And, discovered it is also in the View preferences dialog as a checkbox
item that displays "field codes"- the little comment box that
describes it is completely misleading, which is why I missed it the
first time around

It isn't in any menu, like "reveal formatting" is.

In any case, once you reveal he "field codes", you can then cut and
paste the field codes to get them to nest, or drag an if-then-else
clause into the middle of another. and generaly edit stuff.
It's a bit harder to screw up than Word 2001 because it won't let you
mis-match the field begin-end backets, but now you're stuck making sure
the quotation marks are balanced instead.

I still can't figure out how to do arithmetic or logical operations on
fields, though.
The help menus are very, uh, unhelpful when it comes to data merg
operations.
It was much better in Word 2001

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hello,

I'm a bit surprised that you don't like mail merge better in 2004 than in
2001. Perhaps you haven't found all of the goodies yet.

From the View menu try Toolbars > Database

From the Tools menu try Data Merge Manager

You can use field codes to do arithmetic. Search for this help topic in
Word's help:
Total the numbers in a row or column

You can customize which tools are available to you on toolbars and menus.
From the View menu choose Customize Menus and Toolbars. When that dialog
box is open you can drag commands from the Commands tab of the dialog box to
any menu or toolbar. You can add and remove toolbar and menu items as you
please from any toolbar or menu while the Customize dialog box is open.

I hope you find some of these tips useful.

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

OK, I finally found the other magic button that exposes the raw merge
commands.
And, discovered it is also in the View preferences dialog as a checkbox
item that displays "field codes"- the little comment box that
describes it is completely misleading, which is why I missed it the
first time around

It isn't in any menu, like "reveal formatting" is.

In any case, once you reveal he "field codes", you can then cut and
paste the field codes to get them to nest, or drag an if-then-else
clause into the middle of another. and generaly edit stuff.
It's a bit harder to screw up than Word 2001 because it won't let you
mis-match the field begin-end backets, but now you're stuck making sure
the quotation marks are balanced instead.

I still can't figure out how to do arithmetic or logical operations on
fields, though.
The help menus are very, uh, unhelpful when it comes to data merg
operations.
It was much better in Word 2001

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP info