insert mailmergefields in word 2007

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hans bisterfeld - 09 Oct 2007 15:42 GMT

Hi there,

I've got a problem concerning the "insert Mergefield"-button of WORD 2007 (Actually I don't know if this is the right caption of the button cause I'm using a German version of WORD. Here the button is named "Seriendruckfeld einfügen").

In earlier version of WORD you could associate a document to a file containing just the headers of datafile e.g. by using the mailmerge manager. After that the button "insert mergefield" got enabled and you could setup your mailmerge document by inserting all those fields you wanted to be used in an upcomming print process. So you had one draft document for different data files.

Trying this with WORD 2007 I can't get the "insert Mrtgefield"-button enabled :-( Having associated my document to the header-file the button still keeps disabled and I can't instert any mergefields...

Am I doing wrong? Ist this a WORD 2007 bug? Any workarounds available? What else can I try?

Thanks for your answers! :-)

Hans

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Peter Jamieson - 09 Oct 2007 18:25 GMT

1. Yes, it is "Insert Merge FIeld" in the English language version.

2. Support for header files has been gradually removed since Word 2000, when
it was still a standard part of the product.

3. In Word 2003, even if you set up a header file, you could not use the
Mail Merge Recipients dialog (or the wizard) to insert merge fields until
you also selected a data source (well, it may be possible to do it but if so
I cannot remember how). However, if you used Tools|Customize to drag the
command "Insert Merge FIeld" from the category "All Commands" to a toolbar,
you could click that button, see the list of fields, and insert them.

4. In Word 2007, even if you include that command in the QAT (Quick Access
Toolbar) it is greyed out until there is a data source. However, you can
create a macro such as the following, include that in the QAT, and it seems
to work - but I would verify that this approach still does what you need: I
do not use it now.

Sub mergefielddialog()
Dim dlgIMF As Word.Dialog
Set dlgIMF = Word.Dialogs(wdDialogInsertMergeField)
dlgIMF.Show
End Sub

Signature

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

Hi there,

I've got a problem concerning the "insert Mergefield"-button of WORD 2007
(Actually I don't know if this is the right caption of the button cause I'm
using a German version of WORD. Here the button is named "Seriendruckfeld
einfügen").

In earlier version of WORD you could associate a document to a file
containing just the headers of datafile e.g. by using the mailmerge manager.
After that the button "insert mergefield" got enabled and you could setup
your mailmerge document by inserting all those fields you wanted to be used
in an upcomming print process. So you had one draft document for different
data files.

Trying this with WORD 2007 I can't get the "insert Mrtgefield"-button
enabled :-( Having associated my document to the header-file the button
still keeps disabled and I can't instert any mergefields...

Am I doing wrong? Ist this a WORD 2007 bug? Any workarounds available? What
else can I try?

Thanks for your answers! :-)

Hans

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Hasibi - 10 Oct 2007 14:19 GMT

Hi Peter!

Thank U so much! I don't know how many websites I searched during the past
days to find an answer! :-))

Well, at least it is a partial answer and I can tell our customers what to
do...

What I still don't understandist why those guys at MS removed this
function!??? Is it a bug or do they call it a feature??

I guess lot of external software uses WORD for mailmerge processes, and how
can you setup a draft if you have no access to your mergefields?

Well, once again: Thanks for your answer!

Hans

> 1. Yes, it is "Insert Merge FIeld" in the English language version.
>
[quoted text clipped - 44 lines]
>
> Hans

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Peter Jamieson - 10 Oct 2007 14:33 GMT

Since I don't work for Microsoft it's impossible to tell why they made any
particular decision and I can only speculate. One possible reason why
MailMerge changed quite radically between the 2000 and 2002 versions was
because lots of ordinary users didn't really understand mailmerge or how to
use it - for them, having the ability to attach a header probably looks like
a complication rather than a desirable feature. From a programming/software
design point of view, there are other awkward questions, e.g. what to do if
the header fields don't match the fields in a data source attached later in
the process. Is this an opportunity to flag an error, or what?

I suspect that the simplest way to do "headers" now is probably to provide
the user with a "header source" that contains the header row and one row of
dummy data, but set it up as a data source. That way, the user gets to
insert the fields they want and to preview some sample data, and when they
want to attach real data they do that and the new data source simply
replaces the existing one.

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

> Hi Peter!
>
[quoted text clipped - 74 lines]
>>
>> Hans

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Hasibi - 10 Oct 2007 14:54 GMT

Well, I guess this might be a good alternative way.

The only problem is that we tried to teach our consultans and customers for
years now (and again and again) NOT to associate the documents to any data
file but ONLY to header files ;-))

Might be a hard way til everyone will have learned about the changes of the
procedure...

Thanks again!

Hans

> Since I don't work for Microsoft it's impossible to tell why they made any
> particular decision and I can only speculate. One possible reason why
[quoted text clipped - 95 lines]
> >>
> >> Hans

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