Microsoft KB Archive/181731

= WD98: Using Mail Merge to Create a List Sorted by Category =

Article ID: 181731

Article Last Modified on 11/1/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Word 98 for Macintosh

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This article was previously published under Q181731





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 following sample data file. 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: A Paragraph Mark in the following example is designated as . Do not type the , instead press RETURN.

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 file you created in the "Setting up the data file" section of this article.  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. {If{MergeSeq} = "1" "{Mergefield City}<P>     " ""}{Set Place1 {Mergefield City}}<P> {If{Place2}<>{Place1}"<P>     {Mergefield City}<P>      <P>      {Mergefield Employee}{Mergefield Sales}" "{Mergefield      Employee}{Mergefield Sales}"}{Set Place2{Mergefield City}}<P> The fields laid out in this example will 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. {If{MergeSeq} = "1" "{Mergefield City}<P>  " ""}{Set Place1 {Mergefield City}}<P> {If{Place2}<>{Place1}"  Page Break   {Mergefield City}<P>   <P>   {Mergefield Employee}{Mergefield Sales}" "{Mergefield   Employee}{Mergefield Sales}"}{Set Place2{Mergefield City}}<P> NOTE: A page break is inserted either by pressing SHIFT+RETURN or clicking Break on the Insert menu, select Page Break and then click OK.

The fields laid out in this example will 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. {If{MergeSeq} = "1" "{Mergefield City \* Upper}<P>  " ""}{Set Place1 {Mergefield City}}<P> {If{Place2}<>{Place1}"<P>  {Mergefield City \* Upper}<P>   <P>   {Mergefield Employee}{Mergefield Sales}" "{Mergefield   Employee}{Mergefield Sales}"}{Set Place2{Mergefield City}}<P> The fields laid out in this example will 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, click Contents And Index on the Help menu (or on the Balloon Help menu if you are using a version of the Macintosh operating system earlier than 8.0), click the Index button in MS Word Help, type the following text

fields, formatting

and then click Show Topics. Select the "Apply formatting to information inserted by fields" topic, and click Go To. If you are unable to find the information you need, ask the Office Assistant.

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