Microsoft KB Archive/181730

= WD97: How to Use Mail Merge to Create a List Sorted by Category =

Article ID: 181730

Article Last Modified on 8/29/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Word 97 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q181730





SUMMARY
You can use the Mail Merge feature in Word to create a list of data sorted and separated by a category. This article contains instructions and a sample you can use to create such a list.



Setting Up the Data File
Sort your data file so that all records with the same value for the key field (category, the field upon which you base the sort) are together, as shown in the sample data file below. The following sample list is sorted by the CITY field (CITY is the key field in this example):      CITY        EMPLOYEE      SALES Atlanta    Smith        $3,000 Atlanta    Gates       $50,000 Atlanta    Henderson   $10,000 Houston    Jones        $8,000 Houston    Kelley       $9,000 Houston    Peterson         $0

Setting Up the Main Document
NOTE: Paragraph marks in the following examples are designated as ¶. To type a paragraph mark, press ENTER. To show the paragraph marks in your Word document, click the Show/Hide button on the Standard toolbar.

To set up your main document as a catalog, follow these steps:  From a new blank document, click Mail Merge on the Tools menu. In the Mail Merge Helper, click the Create button and then click Catalog. Click New Main Document when prompted. In the Mail Merge Helper, click Get Data and then click Open Data Source to attach the data file (use the sample file you created in the "Setting Up the Data File" section of this article. In the main document, insert the following fields to compare the contents of each key field record with the contents of the next key field record, to determine whether the key field contents change from one data record to the next.

NOTE: This example uses the sample data from the "Setting Up the Data File" section of this article. To insert the field braces, press CTRL+F9.

{If {MergeSeq} = "1" "{Mergefield City}¶

" ""}{Set Place1 {Mergefield City}}¶

{If {Place2} <> {Place1}"¶

{Mergefield City}¶

¶

{Mergefield Employee}{Mergefield Sales}" "{Mergefield

Employee}{Mergefield Sales}"}{Set Place2 {Mergefield City}}¶

NOTE: To insert the {MergeSeq} field in the mail-merge main document, click Insert Word Field on the Mail Merge toolbar.

The fields laid out in this example produce a catalog listing on the same page as follows:

Atlanta

Smith $3,000

Gates $50,000

Henderson $10,000

Houston

Jones $8,000

Kelley $9,000

Peterson $0

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Forcing Each New Category to a New Page
The key field in this example is {Mergefield City}. When the value of City changes in the data file to a different city, then a new page is added to the merged results and the merge is continued at the top of the next page. To insert the field braces, press CTRL+F9.

{If {MergeSeq} = "1" "{Mergefield City}¶

" ""}{Set Place1 {Mergefield City}}¶

{If {Place2} <> {Place1}"

Page Break

{Mergefield City}¶

¶

{Mergefield Employee}{Mergefield Sales}" "{Mergefield

Employee}{Mergefield Sales}"}{Set Place2 {Mergefield City}}¶

NOTE: A page break is inserted either by pressing CTRL+ENTER or by clicking Break on the Insert menu, selecting Page Break, and then clicking OK.

The fields laid out in this example produce a catalog listing on separate pages as follows:

Atlanta

Smith $3,000

Gates $50,000

Henderson $10,000

Page Break

Houston

Jones $8,000

Kelley $9,000

Peterson $0

Formatting the Key Field
The key field in this example is {Mergefield City}. To format the results of the {Mergefield City} as all capital letters, you can use the formatting switch of \* Upper. To insert the field braces, press CTRL+F9.

{If {MergeSeq} = "1" "{Mergefield City \* Upper}¶

" ""}{Set Place1 {Mergefield City}}¶

{If {Place2} <> {Place1}"¶

{Mergefield City \* Upper}¶

¶

{Mergefield Employee}{Mergefield Sales}" "{Mergefield

Employee}{Mergefield Sales}"}{Set Place2 {Mergefield City}}¶

The fields laid out in this example produce a catalog listing on the same page with the city in all capital letters as follows:

ATLANTA

Smith $3,000

Gates $50,000

Henderson $10,000

HOUSTON

Jones $8,000

Kelley $9,000

Peterson $0

For more information about general field formatting switches, click Contents and Index on the Help menu, click the Index tab in Microsoft Word Help, type the following text

fields, formatting

and then double-click the selected text to go to the "Help Topics: Microsoft Word" topic. If you are unable to find the information you need, ask the Office Assistant.

NOTE: You can apply different formatting to the key field {Mergefield City} by selecting the entire field (including the field braces ({}) and formatting the field as you want. For example, to format the field, click Font on the Format menu.

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