Microsoft KB Archive/49312

Word: Merge Multiple Lines, Paragraphs as One Field

PSS ID Number: Q49312 Article last modified on 03-07-1997

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========================================================= 3.00 3.01 3.02 4.00 5.00 MACINTOSH kbprint ———————————————————————- The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, versions 3.0, 3.01, 3.02, 4.0, 5.0 ———————————————————————- SUMMARY =======

When you use the Print Merge command in version 3.x, 4.0, or 5.0 of Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, you can merge multiple lines and/or paragraphs of text as a single merge field. To do this, press SHIFT+RETURN wherever you want a new line within the text instead of pressing only RETURN as you would normally to start a new line. The series of lines is seen as one field during the print merge and therefore can be merged as such.

Another way to merge multiple lines and/or paragraphs as a single field is to press RETURN at the end of each line while enclosing the entire group of lines inside double quotation marks (&quot; &quot;). The quotation marks prevent the paragraph returns within the text from being recognized by the print merge as the end of the record. The whole body of text is seen as a single field.

The only known drawback to using this second method is that paragraph formats applied to this multiple-line merge field are accepted only by the last line. It is recommended that you use the latter of the two above methods only if you do NOT need to apply paragraph formatting to the merge field. You also cannot extract specific information from this field in the future. For example, if you want to obtain only the first name of an individual, but that information is embedded in a field that also includes the last name, address, and so forth, you must reconstruct your entire data document, placing the information into separate fields.

KBCategory: kbprint KBSubCategory: kbmerge Additional reference words: macword macword5 3.00 3.01 3.02 4.00 5.00 ====================================================================== ============================================================================= Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1997.