Forum Discussion
Code to hide lines where the MergeField is Zero, using IF
helens63 Can you show a screen shot of the mail merge main document with the field codes displayed, or better, upload a copy of that document and the data source.
Thanks Doug. I've attached the template and also made a quick video of within the software so you can see more - I hope that helps. Here's the link to the video
- Aug 22, 2024
helens63 If you can export the data to Excel, you could use the Many to One facility on my Merge Tools Add-in that is contained in the MERGE TOOLS ADD-IN.zip file that you can download from:
Extract the files from the archive and read the:
“READ ME – Setting up and using the Merge Tools Add-in.pdf
to see how to install and use the various tools.
Using those tools, it is possible to perform the following types of merge that cannot be done with Mail Merge “out-of-the-box”:
- Merge to e-mail messages either with or without attachments, with the documents created by the merge being sent as either Word or PDF attachments or as the body of the e-mail message . The email messages can, if necessary, also be sent to CC and BCC addresses and the subject of the message can include data from a field in the data source.
- Merge to individual documents in either Word or PDF format with the filenames being supplied by the data in one of the fields in the data source
- Many to One type merges, which can be used for creating documents such as invoices where there are multiple records in the data source that have common data in one of the fields
- Merging to a document that will include a chart that is unique to each record in the data source
- Merging a document with Content Controls
- Merging a document that contains Legacy FormFields
- Duplex Merges
- Merging to a printer that will collate and staple the output created from each record in the data source.
The requirements for using the system are:
- The mail merge main document must be of the Letters type, though that does not mean that the output cannot be sent as an e-mail message where relevant.
- For the Many To One, Merge with Attachments and Merge to Individual Docs utilities, the data source may be either a table or query in an Access database, or in the form of an Excel worksheet. For the Chart Merge utility, see the Mail Merging with Charts document that is included in the Merge Tools Add-in Zip file for additional requirements for the data source for use with that utility
- For a data source in the form of an Excel worksheet, the field names must be in the first row of the worksheet and there must be a field name in all of the cells in that row that are within the range of columns that contain the data.
- For both types of data source, the field names must contain only alphanumeric characters (No @,#,$,%,&,(,), etc) and the field names must not start with a numeric character (0-9). The number of characters in the field names, including spaces, must not be more than 40.
The MergeTools Add-in will NOT work with the “New Outlook”, which is just a re-badged version of Windows Mail and like its predecessor, it does not support automation and hence will not send the messages created by the MergeTools Add-in.
Be aware, that any messages that you had tried to send with the “New Outlook” will have been placed in the Outbox of the original Outlook and they will be sent as soon as you revert to that version of Outlook. If you do not want that to happen, you should put Outlook Off-line, or disconnect your computer from the Internet.
- helens63Aug 22, 2024Copper ContributorThanks Doug. Unfortunately it's still not working. I feel like I'm just going to leave it for the moment - it may be that it's just not technically possible. Luckily there is a work around where the invoice can be exported to MSWord and any blank lines deleted before resaving as a PDF - not ideal but at least it's an option.
- Aug 20, 2024
helens63 I have uploaded a document in which I have corrected the field coding in the first table.
- helens63Aug 20, 2024Copper Contributor
Doug_Robbins_Word_MVP Thanks Doug. I've always done it that same way, but I found the field code and checked - perhaps I have not understood that part?
- Aug 20, 2024
helens63 You must either use the Insert MergeField facility or CTRL+F9 to insert the field delimiters and type the fieldname inside them. You cannot use the { and } characters that can be inserted using those keys on the keyboard.