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Mail merge

In this part of the tutorial you are going to use Merge to send reminders to several members of a golf club who have not yet paid their subscriptions.

You are going to learn how to:

The Data file

The Data file holds the variable information. It can be one of three types of file:

In this exercise you are going to use a CSV file. The file has been saved from a database and has this format:


"Firstname","Surname","Address"
"David","Rushden","16 Aintree Road"
"John","Chapell","23 Union Lane"
"Julian","Richardson","The Willows"

The information about each member is divided into fields which are separated with commas. The names of these fields have been saved in the first line of the file.

The Template

The Template document has the names of the fields inserted into it at the position you want the information to go:


«Firstname» «Surname»
«Address»

Date as postmark

Dear «Firstname»
I am writing to tell you that...

Opening Stationery

You are going to create the 'reminder' Template document from a Stationery pad that already has the styles you need for letter writing (similar to the one created in Exercise eight).

  1. Start EasiWriter.
  2. Open the 'Tutorial' directory which you will find in the 'Merge' folder.
  3. Double-click on the EasiWriter Stationery pad called 'Letterhead'.

A new 'Untitled' document will be opened which is a copy of the Stationery pad used to create it.

It has the name of the golf club running across the top and has three additional paragraph styles - Date, Title and Address.

Attaching the Data file

Next you are going to show the Template document which Data file to use.

You do this by dragging the Data file into a merge dialogue.

  1. Adjust the position of the 'Tutorial' directory and the size of the document so that you can see both at the same time.
  2. Choose Merge from the Misc menu.

The Merge File dialogue will appear.

  1. Drag the 'NotPaid' file on to the Merge File dialogue.
  2. Click OK to confirm the choice.

The pathname of the file will be automatically entered into the File : writable icon.

If the Headings option icon is turned 'on', (the normal condition) the field names are taken from the first line in the data file and appended to the Merge submenu.

If EasiWriter finds a blank item in the list of field names it creates a name. The first field without a name would be called Field1 the next Field2 and so on.

Inserting the field names

Next you are going to insert some of the field names into the document to set up the address:

  1. Check that the caret is in the position it was when you opened the document.
    It should be beneath the heading in the left margin, the style should read 'Address'. If it is not, click in the white space beneath the heading.
  2. Using the Adjust (right hand) button choose Firstname from the Merge submenu.

Note: It is important to use Adjust so that the menu remains open after you make the choice.

The field name will be inserted into the document at the caret position. It will be enclosed in angle brackets « ».

  1. Type Space and choose Surname (again using Adjust).
  2. Press Return.
  3. Choose Address and press Return

The next three fields didn't have names so EasiWriter has called them Field6, Field7 and Field8.

  1. Choose Field6 and press Return.
  2. Add Field7 and Field8 in the same way.

Adding the date

Next you are going to add the date.

The date will be inserted at the caret position.

Changing a paragraph style

A style has already been created to control the format of the date.

The date will be reformatted to use the Date paragraph style which is right aligned, with 36 points additional space both above and below.

Next you are going to start a new line and use the normal paragraph style.

The style indicator will now show that you are using the default paragraph style.

  1. Type the following :
    Dear
    Next you are going insert the merge field Salutation.
    Salutation contains information such as Mr Smith, Fred , Madam, so you can customise the start of the letter.
  2. Type Space and choose Salutation from the Merge submenu.
  3. Press Return to start a new line.

The next part of the letter is a bold centred heading. A style called Title has been created which will format this for you automatically.

  1. Choose Title from the Paragraph styles submenu ( Ctrl-F11).
  2. Type the following and press Return:
    Overdue account
  3. Now press Ctrl-F9 to return to the default paragraph style and type the following.
    I am writing to you to ask you if you would please pay your subscription which became due on the
  4. Type Space and choose Date due from the Merge menu.
  5. Type a full stop and press Return. Now type the following:
    At the time of writing your account stands at £
  6. Insert the merge field Total due followed by a full stop.
  7. Press Return and type:
    I look forward to receiving your remittance by return post.
  8. Press Return and insert the merge field Sign off.
  9. Finish the document by pressing Return twice and typing:
    Membership secretary

The document is now ready to be merged with the Data file to produce the form letters.

Printing the form letters

The actual merging is done just before you print the letters.

  1. Make sure that you have a Printer driver loaded on the icon bar. (If you haven't the Print option will be unavailable).
  2. Click on the Print button (or press Print).

The Print dialogue will appear.

The print dialogue has two option icons Merge and Preview which control merging.

The first letter will be previewed on the screen and the Print dialogue will appear:

Note: It is possible to make changes to a form letter before it is printed, but take care as any changes made will be carried forward to the next letter. They can of course be edited out.

When you have merged all the letters the Print dialogue will disappear.

That completes this exercise. In it you have learnt how to:


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