Hi all,

I have been trying for a while to find a solution to this and it is driving me mad. I have been tasked with emailing everybody on our access database with the list of training they have attended in order to request evaluation. Now there's no way I want to do that manually 800 times, so I figure they must me a more efficient way of doing this.

My query gives me a table something like this:
Name , email , training event
p1, e1, te1
p1, e1, te2
p1, e1, te3
p2, e2, te2
p2, e2, te3


p2, e2, te5
p3, e,3 te2
p3, e,3 te4
p3, e,3 te5

Now obviously I could do a standard mail / email merge, but that would mean each person receives an email for every event they attended, and as some have done 10+ this would irritating and inconvenient.

What I would like to be able to do is send, for example, all three events - te1, te2, te3 (either on one line or a vertical list would be fine, but preferably vertical list) that p1 has done in one email to e1.

Is this going to be possible??

Many thanks for any help or suggestions.

Mikey

You can use Word's Catalogue/Directory Mailmerge facility for this (the terminology depends on the Word version). To see how to do so with any mailmerge data source supported by Word, check out my Microsoft Word Catalogue/Directory Mailmerge Tutorial at:
http://windowssecrets.com/forums/sho...merge-Tutorial
or
http://www.gmayor.com/Zips/Catalogue%20Mailmerge.zip
Do read the tutorial before trying to use the mailmerge document included with it.

Alternatively, you may want to try one of the Many-to-One Mail Merge add-ins, from:
Graham Mayor at http://www.gmayor.com/ManyToOne.htm; or
Doug Robbins at https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=5aedc...615E886B%21566

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Hi Paul,

Many thanks for your response. I've been working with this tutorial and I think I'm getting there but I'm a little puzzled about a couple of things:
Do I have I have to use a table in my email merge as the RunMerge seems to demand?
Also, why do I have to use 2 separate merge documents (e‑mail mailmerge main and mailmerge main).

Many thanks for any help. Hopefully I'll crack this soon!

Mikey

The merge to email process actually executes two mailmerges - a Catalogue/Directory one from whatever data source you're using and an 'normal' one from the macro-reworked table created by the first one. So, yes, it actually uses two mailmerge main documents. The reason for doing it this way is that it can be made to work with any data source Word can use for mailmerges. The Addins I referred to only word with Excel data sources. The approach I've taken is perhaps also easier to implement (once you get your head around it!!).

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Ah, I get you. And I don't actually run the mailmerge for the first part, that is done as part of the macro?

And what about the use of tables in catalogue / directory? Is that essential for the first part to 'hold' the data for the email merge? I don't really need them otherwise as all I'm after is a short 'personalised' list at the end of each email (including the recipients name in the email would be nice, but 'Dear colleague' will do.)

Everything is done by the macro.

If you're referring to the tables described in the tutorial then, yes, it's essential. You can delete the 'EmailDataSource.doc' document produced by the process afterwards if you don't need it. It's that document that is generated by the Directory/Catalogue merge and serves as the data source for the actual email merge.

The process could be modified to allow for the recipient names, but right now I'm up to my eyeballs in Uni assignments, immediately after which I'll be away for 5 months.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Thanks for all your help Paul, I think I understand it a little more now.
One other small thing but I doubt there's an easy solution to this, I actually have 2 mailboxes in my outlook - my personal work one and a service wide 'no-reply' account. It would be ideal if I could send from my the no-reply account - any idea if there is a simple way to implement this?

Many thanks again, you're a star!
Good luck with the assignments!

Mikey

I don't know the answer to the last question, but I seem to recall it being discussed a few times recently at: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/o...page=1&tab=all

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Whoaa, I nearly have it working
One thing though, the list is just running together rather than having a new line for each item. Is that normal, or is there something I may be missing?

There should be a line-feed/paragraph break between the items. Check the 'EmailDataSource.doc' document to see if its table looks like the one in the tutorial - with a paragraph break between the items for each grouped record.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Got it... I had added a column for name to the directory merge file, even though I then realised I wouldn't be able to use this mergefield in the email where I would have liked. Removing it seemed to solve the line break issue.

I think I'm ready for the mailshot proper now! Fingers crossed...

Success
Thanks so much mate.
Just wish I'd remembered to change the subject in script from 'test email' to the correct one, haha, ah well, we live and learn... now to email them all again and say it wasn't actually a test and please do respond! :P

Cheers,
Mikey

This thread was very helpful, and I've learned a lot from the Catalogue Mailmerge Tutorial. I had a few things going wrong with my finished merge, however, and was hoping for some advice. I have text that's necessary before and after the repeated text. I followed the steps in "Inserting Content After the Repeated Data". Everything is fine before the repeated data, and the repeated data is also coming through perfectly. After the repeated data, on the other hand, I'm getting data from the next record.

What am I doing wrong? Thanks!

Hi Beeblebrox,

I've been OS for 3½ months, hence the delay in replying. Have you resolved the issue, or do you still need help? FWIW, without seeing your mailmerge main document and its field coding, I couldn't really say what you're doing wrong.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

I've resolved the issue. Thanks for replying.