Mail Merge solutions and OpenOffice


Subject: Mail Merge solutions and OpenOffice
From: Mike Barsalou (mbarsalou@aidea.org)
Date: Mon Dec 09 2002 - 07:51:52 AKST


I was trying to figure out how to use the MySQL server with OpenOffice. I
have found the information I was looking for.....

With Windows and Word, you create a file that contains the letter and the
different fields you want. You then merge that with the data source.

In OpenOffice it is a bit different. Realize that I am new at this and this
has been the only way I have been successful in creating a list of names
from my MySQL database. I am open for other ideas.

I first followed the same technique that I used in Word...that is inserting
each of the fields that I wanted in the document. While inserting fields I
notice that you could also insert a next record marker. Inserting this
marker at the end of the line is the key to getting my list to work.

I then copied this line over and over again. So it looked something like
this:

<Firstname> <Lastname> <phonenumber>!
<Firstname> <Lastname> <phonenumber>!
<Firstname> <Lastname> <phonenumber>!
<Firstname> <Lastname> <phonenumber>!

The exclamation point is just a visual marker...when you insert the next
record marker, nothing is actually displayed.
I then pressed the "insert to fields" button on the datasources window and
VIOLA! Four of the records I had selected were inserted.

In order to get all 90 records that I had, I had to have 90 lines like the
ones above.

I could have used the mail merge feature of OpenOffice, but it created a new
page for every record. Mail Merge might work for doing labels or a form
letter.

Additionally, for some reason, if I didn't go to the very end of the
database on the datasources screen, it only merged the first 12 or
so....which seemed to correlate to what was currently being displayed on the
screen. After I went to the end of the database, everything seemed to merge
just fine.

I hope that was clear enough to help someone.

Mike

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