| Before you can merge documents, you need to either specify an existing data source or create one. The data source consists of a matrix of rows and columns, with each row containing one record, such as the complete name and address of a customer, and each column containing a particular type of informationcalled a fieldsuch as the first name of a customer. Each field is identified in the data source by the column headingcalled a field namein the first row of the data source. Tip Because the field names are also used as the merge fields in the main document, they cannot contain spaces. To make the field names readable with no spaces, capitalize each word, as in PostalCode, or replace the spaces with underscores, as in Last_Name.
If the data source contains many records and it changes frequently, you might want to create it in a program designed for working with large amounts of data, such as Excel or Access. You can also use the contacts list from Outlook, Microsoft Windows Mail, or Microsoft Outlook Express (if your computer is running Microsoft Windows XP). If the data source contains only a few records and it won't be updated often, you can create it in Word, either as a table or as a list with each field separated by a tab. Or you can create it as part of the mail merge process. What if you want to create merge documents for only a subset of the data in the data source? For example, you might have mail-order customers from all over the United States, but want to target a bulk mailing about a store sale to only customers with addresses in your state. After you specify the data source and create the main document, you can do the following: Filter the data source to create merged documents for only some of its data. Create a query (a set of selection criteria) to extract only the information you are interested infor example, all the postal codes for your state. Sort the data sourcefor example, in postal code order for a bulk mailing.
When you use a filter or a query, all the data remains in the data source, but only the data that meets your specifications is used for the mail merge. In this exercise, you will open a main document and use the Mail Merge Wizard to select the data source. You will then add a record to the data source, sort it, and filter it. USE the 02_PreparingData document and 02_DataSource workbook. These practice files are located in the Chapter09 subfolder under SBS_Word2007. BE SURE TO start Word before beginning this exercise. OPEN the 02_PreparingData document. 1. | On the Mailings tab, in the Start Mail Merge group, click the Start Mail Merge button, and then click Step by Step Mail Merge Wizard. The Mail Merge task pane opens, showing Step 1 of the wizard's six steps. | 2. | In the Mail Merge task pane, with the Letters option selected, at the bottom of the pane, click Next: Starting document. Step 2 appears in the Mail Merge task pane. | 3. | In the Mail Merge task pane, with the Use the current document option selected, click Next: Select recipients. | 4. | In the Step 3 pane, with the Use an existing list option selected, click Browse. The Select Data Source dialog box opens so that you can navigate to and select the file in which your recipient information is stored. | 5. | In the Favorite Links list, click Documents, browse to the MSP\SBS_Word2007\Chapter09 folder, and double-click the 02_DataSource workbook. Then click OK in the Select Table dialog box. The Mail Merge Recipients dialog box opens, displaying the records contained in the data source.
| 6. | Below the list of recipients in the top half of the dialog box, in the Data Source box, click 02_DataSource.xlsx, and then click Edit. The Edit Data Source dialog box opens.
| 7. | Click New Entry, and then in the cell below John, type the following, pressing to move from box to box: FirstName | Heidi | LastName | Steen | Address1 | 678 Pine St. | City | Agriculture | State | WA | PostalCode | 10003 |
Tip You can add multiple records by clicking New Entry after you enter each record. | 8. | Click OK, and then click Yes to update the recipient list. The new record appears at the bottom of the list of recipients in the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box. | 9. | Under Refine recipient list, click Sort. The Filter And Sort dialog box opens, showing the Sort Records tab.
| 10. | Click the Sort by arrow, click PostalCode in the list, and then click OK. Tip You can also sort data by clicking the arrow to the right of the field you want to sort on, and then clicking Sort Ascending or Sort Descending. | 11. | Scroll the recipient list to the right, and verify that the records are sorted in ascending order by the PostalCode field. Then under Refine recipient list, click Filter. The Filter And Sort dialog box opens, showing the Filter Records tab.
Tip You can also open the Filter And Sort dialog box by clicking the arrow to the right of any field name and then clicking Advanced. | 12. | Click the Field arrow, and then in the list, click State. The Comparison box displays the default Equal To criterion. | 13. | In the Compare to box, type WA, and then click OK. The Filter And Sort dialog box closes, and the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box is updated to show only Washington State residents in ascending PostalCode order. The other records are hidden and will be excluded from the merge process. | 14. | Click OK to close the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box. |
CLOSE the 02_PreparingData document without saving your changes to the document or to the data source. Using an Outlook Contacts List as a Data Source Using information from an Outlook contacts list as the data source for the merge process requires a few extra steps in the Mail Merge Wizard. To use Outlook information as the data source for a form letter: 1. | On the Mailings tab, in the Start Mail Merge group, click Start Mail Merge, and then click Step by Step Mail Merge Wizard. | 2. | In the Mail Merge task pane, select the Letters option, and then click Next: Starting document. | 3. | In Step 2 of the wizard, select the Use the current document option, and then click Next: Select recipients. | 4. | In Step 3, select the Select from Outlook contacts option, and then click Choose Contacts Folder. | 5. | If you are prompted to select your Outlook profile, select the one you want to use, and then click OK. The Select Contacts dialog box opens. | 6. | Click a contacts list, and then click OK. | 7. | In the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box displaying your Outlook contacts, clear the check boxes of any contacts you want to exclude from the merge process. Then click OK. | 8. | In the Mail Merge task pane, click Next: Write your letter. |
You can then continue with the next steps in the merge process, as explained in later topics in this chapter. |
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