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Mail merge

Merging involves combining data from a Data file into fields in a Template to produce Merged documents.

Data files

The Data file is made up from records which are divided into fields. A field can have a maximum of 255 characters.

The data from one record is applied to one merge document. It can be one of three types:

CSV file

CSV (Comma Separated Value) files are a common way of saving data from a Database or Spreadsheet program.

Each record is separated by a comma and each record by a Return. They often have the field names as the first record.


"FirstName","LastName","Age"Return
"John","Smith",39Return
"Mavis","Green", 23Return


Tab separated text files

Tab separated files can also be saved by a Database or Spreadsheet program but can also be saved by applications such as Edit. EasiWriter creates a tab separated file when a table is selected and Selection chosen in the Save Text menu. Each field is separated by a Tab and each record by a Return.


JohnTabSmithTab39Return
MavisTabGreenTab23Return


EasiWriter tables

If an EasiWriter document starts with a table it can be used as a merge data file. Each row contains a record, with each column containing a field.

FirstName LastName Age
John Smith 39
Mavis Green 23

Mailmerging Pictures

Mailmerge will allow merging of pictures as well as text. One use for this might be in School reports or records to add a picture of the pupil.

  1. Create a table for the data. You may want to drag a CSV file containing the Text and number data into an EasiWriter window as an easy way of doing this.
  2. Add a column for the picture information. It may be useful to alter the Picture style to 10% to keep the table size down.

Templates

Templates are EasiWriter documents that contain Merge fields.

Merge fields are replaced by variables from the data file when printing takes place. They can be inserted into the document at the caret position in one of two ways.

Before fields can be entered into the Template document they must be inserted into the Merge menu.

The Merge menu

The Merge menu contains the names of the fields (variable information) that will be provided by the data file. It can be set up in one of two ways.

Automatically creating the Merge menu

Most database programs automatically save the field names as the first record. They can be included automatically in the Merge menu when the document is attached.

This option, normally 'on' is controlled by the Headings option icon in the Merge File dialogue.

If they have not been included you can:

If the field does not have a name EasiWriter will substitute the name 'Field' combined with the number of the field starting from '1' i.e. «Field6».

Adding field names manually

Field names can be added to the Merge menu by typing them into the Fields submenu.

Each field should be separated by a comma. Press Return or Enter to confirm the entry. A maximum of 200 characters can be added to the Fields submenu.

Inserting a field from the Merge menu

To insert a field from the Merge menu into the template:

  1. Open a document that is going to be the template.
  2. Set the caret where you want the field to be.
  3. Choose the field from the Merge menu.

The field name will be inserted into the document at the caret position. e.g. «Firstname»

Inserting a field from the keyboard

To insert a field from the keyboard:

  1. Set the caret where you want the field to be.
  2. Press Ctrl-F1 and type a field number.

The number of the field starts from one and corresponds to the left to right order of the fields in the data file and the order that they appear in the menu. For example if the Merge menu contained the fields as shown above Ctrl-F1 4 would give: «Surname»

Selecting a field

Fields can be selected by dragging, using Adjust or double-clicking.

Deleting a field

Fields can be deleted in one of three ways:

Moving and copying a field

A field can be selected and moved using Cut and Paste and Drag and Drop. It can be copied using Copy and Paste and Drag and Drop - even from one document to another.

Emphasis

Fields can be selected and given emphasis.

Printing

The Template document and the variable fields from the data file document are merged together when you choose Print from the Misc menu. The Print dialogue box appears:

It has two option icons to control Merging.

Merge

If a data file has been attached to the template document this option is automatically turned 'on'. If no data file has been attached to the template document the Merge option icon is unavailable.

Preview

The Preview dialogue will appear:

Note: You can edit the template document before printing. Any changes made will be retained and appear in the next document.


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