Problem using text boxes

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tony.spalding@compass-group.co.uk - 19 Dec 2006 16:54 GMT

I'm trying to print a set of card labels using mail merge in Word 2003.
In order to get the text just where I want it I've put the merge
fields in text boxes. It all looks good, but when I come to merge the
document each label contains the same data and it's equivalent to the
values that should be in the last label on the page. That is if there
are 10 cards per page then each card on page 1 shows the data in the
10th record, each card on page 2 shows the data in the 20th record, and
so on.

It seems to be using the text boxes that causes the problem, but I need
to have some way of positioning the fields with some degree of control.
I've tried using a table, but I need more flexibility.

Can anyone suggest a work around or a fix for the problem.

Thanks,

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Doug Robbins - Word MVP - 19 Dec 2006 18:04 GMT

Use a table with fixed cell dimensions.

Also see the article "Mail Merge to Labels with Word XP" on fellow MVP
Graham Mayor's website at:

http://www.gmayor.com/mail_merge_labels_with_word_xp.htm

Signature

Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

> I'm trying to print a set of card labels using mail merge in Word 2003.
> In order to get the text just where I want it I've put the merge
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> Thanks,

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WebUrchin - 20 Dec 2006 09:56 GMT

Doug,

Thanks for your suggestion. I've tried using tables, but they don't
quite cut it for the effect that I'm looking for. What I need is an
L-shaped area for one piece of data and the other quarter of the box
for another. I can achieve this using text boxes as I can overlap
them.

I'm having to make do with tables for now, but the final output isn't
what I was after.

Does anyone know if this bug is known by Microsoft and on the knowledge
base?

Regards,

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Graham Mayor - 20 Dec 2006 10:34 GMT

It isn't a bug - it is by design. Text boxes are in the drawing layer of the
document and fields contained in them do not work predictably.
http://www.gmayor.com/graphics_on_labels.htm may give you some ideas, but
Word is a poor application for this type of work. Publisher would make
things much simpler.

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<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

> Doug,
>
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> Regards,

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Peter Jamieson - 20 Dec 2006 11:08 GMT

One approach (bearing in mind that text boxes and fields are not necessarily
a good mix) would be to create a new data source with one set of columns for
every field /on the page/. Then, suppose you have 21 labels and 3 fields per
label, you use

fielda1,fieldb1,fieldc1 in label 1
fielda2,fieldb2,fieldc2 in label 2

and so on.

Whether that is feasible and how easy it might be depend partly on your data
source and how you are hoping to use it. As long as the number of labels per
page is less than the maximum number of columns in a Word document, you
could consider performing a preliminary catalog/directory merge with a
one-row table, one cell for each label, e.g.

cell1:
<<fielda>>
<<fieldb>>
<<fieldc>>

cell2:
<<Next record>><<fielda>>
<<fieldb>>
<<fieldc>>

and so on. You would have to add a heading row at the end or use a separate
header record (not completely straightforward in Word 2002/2003). If you
need more than around 63 cells, a Word table won't work - in simple cases
you could probably output to a comma-delimited format, but many types of
data source have a maximum of 127 or 255 columns.

Just my 2c-worth.

Peter Jamieson

as long as you do not exceed a field count limit.

> Doug,
>
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> Regards,

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