Make word leave spaces when fields are blank

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Not_A_Real_Programmer - 03 Oct 2007 23:43 GMT

Most of the time, it's great that Word eliminates the space when there is no
data, such as a line 2 of address. But I have a need for all of the field
spacing to be exactly as the Main document shows, whether there is data or
not. How do I turn make Word 2003 keep the same spacing when there is no
data?

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Peter Jamieson - 04 Oct 2007 08:46 GMT

If you are familiar with VBA, try

ActiveDocument.MailMerge.SuppressBlankLines = False

(which affects the current document only)

You can achieve the same thing via...
a. Tools|Customize|Commands, select category All Commands, then locate
MailMergeHelper and drag it to a toolbar (e.g. the Mail Merge toolbar!) or
menu
b. click the Mail Merge Helper, then Merge..., then select the appropriate
option.

If you are using ADDRESSBLOCK, you may also need to use individual fields
instead.

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Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

> Most of the time, it's great that Word eliminates the space when there is
> no
> data, such as a line 2 of address. But I have a need for all of the field
> spacing to be exactly as the Main document shows, whether there is data or
> not. How do I turn make Word 2003 keep the same spacing when there is no
> data?

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Not_A_Real_Programmer - 04 Oct 2007 17:32 GMT

Thanks! I'm not familiar with VBA, but the other option worked. After I
posted yesterday, I checked for further past questions and actually found the
information from you to another user about the same issue. I should have
checked more before posting, but I didn't know how much more time I had to
look. I really appreciate your input -- it was a life-saver for completing a
government form available only in PDF. I can now print the forms, put them
in the printer, and print the data onto them using a Word merge doc and an
Excel data doc. The last time we filled about 14 of these out manually, it
took us 4 hours. My 3 hours yesterday (and about 50 sheets of paper to make
the data line up with the blanks on the form) will be well worth the time.
Thanks again!

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