Merging only "Print_Area" selection of data, Word/Excel 2000

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Peter - 07 May 2004 17:36 GMT

I am attempting to create labels using a Mailmerge template created in Word
2000 and an Excel 2000 datasource. I want to merge to a new document, but
only create labels for a limited subset of the Excel 2000 datasource. I am
under the impression that I should be able to do this using the "Print_Area"
named range.

What happens, though, when I try to select the "Print_Area" range and merge
from it, is that labels are created using the entire Excel 2000 spreadsheet.

What is the correct method for selecting a range of Excel cells from which
to print labels? Do I need to provide more information in order to clarify
my question?

Thanks very much.

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Doug Robbins - Word MVP - 07 May 2004 23:41 GMT

You should add another column to the datasource in which you insert a number
(say 1) for those records that you want to be printed and then in the Word
mailmerge application, apply a filter to that column.

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Hope this helps
Doug Robbins - Word MVP

> I am attempting to create labels using a Mailmerge template created in Word
> 2000 and an Excel 2000 datasource. I want to merge to a new document, but
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>
> Thanks very much.

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Cindy M -WordMVP- - 08 May 2004 10:42 GMT

Hi Peter,

Are you trying to do this using a DDE connection? That won't let you
set/choose from range names.

Try activating the "Select method" checkbox in the Open Data source dialog
box. You should get a list of connection methods; try ODBC.

> I am attempting to create labels using a Mailmerge template created in Word
> 2000 and an Excel 2000 datasource. I want to merge to a new document, but
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> to print labels? Do I need to provide more information in order to clarify
> my question?

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Sep 30 2003)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or
reply in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-)

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Peter - 10 May 2004 17:22 GMT

Thanks much, for both responses. I may fall back on the first suggestion, of
including a "flag" column, as I have tried the second route and received
back the error message "Word was unable to open the data source." I am
"Open"ing the data source via "Excel Files via ODBC (*.xls), selecting the
"System tables" option, then selecting 'my_spreadsheet'$Print_Area. When I
select 'my_spreadsheet' (without the range), it works fine.

I am on Win98. Is it possible this might work under XP?

Thanks again for the assistance...

Cindy M -WordMVP- wrote:

> Hi Peter,
>
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
> This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow
> question or reply in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-)

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Cindy M -WordMVP- - 12 May 2004 09:56 GMT

Hi Peter,

Sorry for the somewhat delayed response; life got a bit busy...

Just tested here, and it seemed to work just fine. I can't imagine that
Win98 vs. WinXP should make a difference, here. But there are a number of
things that can cause the error message you quote. For example, might the
first row ("field names") contain invalid characters for field names?

> I have tried the second route and received
> back the error message "Word was unable to open the data source." I am
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> I am on Win98. Is it possible this might work under XP?

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Peter - 12 May 2004 19:13 GMT

Thanks very much, again! No joy, I'm afraid. I followed your hint and
removed whitespace from one of the field names (guessing that this was
illegal) , but I'm getting the same error message. I have examined the
tutorial at www.word.mvps.org, but I am still unsuccessful. Do you have a
moment to point me to a resource detailing some of the other possible causes
for this error condition? Am I perhaps constructing my named range
illegally? I am highlighting a contiguous range of rows (not necessarily
including the header row) and doing File -> Print Area -> Set Print Area.

Thanks again,

Peter

Cindy M -WordMVP- wrote:

> Hi Peter,
>
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
> Cindy Meister
> INTER-Solutions, Switzerland

Reply to this Message

Cindy M -WordMVP- - 13 May 2004 15:09 GMT

Hi Peter,

> Do you have a
> moment to point me to a resource detailing some of the other possible causes
> for this error condition? Am I perhaps constructing my named range
> illegally? I am highlighting a contiguous range of rows (not necessarily
> including the header row) and doing File -> Print Area -> Set Print Area.

I suspect it might be more a problem with the ODBC driver (or maybe the
version of Word, or combination) on your system than with what you're doing,
specifically.

Let's try attacking this from another angle; two possible approaches occur to
me:

1. Create a link to the named range at the top of the first sheet, so that the
data appears here, then do a "normal" (DDE) connection. See if that works?

2. Can the data you want to use be filtered, using Excel's autofilter? Or by
setting a criteria in Word's query options? Or sorted? (I'm thinking there
must be some way to select it "logically", since it's apparently contiguous?)

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Sep 30 2003)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or
reply in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-)

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