I have an excel spreadsheet with a column that has a Y or N in it. If the column has a Y in the spreadsheet, I want a checkbox to be checked in my MS word 2007 document. But it doesn't seem that straight forward.



From the Mailings tab in Word, I open the 'Rules' item and select If..then..else. I get a box that wants field name (which shows properly), then it asks for Comparisonm I select Equal To. And in the Compare To field I can put Y but I am not sure how the box actually gets checked on the MS word document. My only choices are to insert some text, not take an action like check a box. Do I need to delete the existing checkbox that was created previously and add a new on?

Hi Rikil,

To insert check boxes (via the SYMBOL field) in a mail merge document use an IF test coded along the lines of:
{IF{MERGEFIELD Check1}= x YES NO}
where the "YES" and "NO" in the field code are replaced with the appropriate Windings characters, via Insert|Symbol

Alternatively, you could use:
{SYMBOL {IF{MERGEFIELD Check1}= x 254 168} \a \f Wingdings}

Note: The field brace pairs (ie '{ }') for the above example are created via Ctrl-F9 - you can't simply type them or copy & paste them from this message.

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

Hi Paul-

Thanks for the reply.

I like to think I am experienced with MS word as I have been using it and a lot of its features for a while but I am just not connecting the dots of what you are talking about.

I know how to insert a Symbol (from the Insert menu) but is there a specific one I need to choose? Do I just choose a box shaped symbol?

Also, as I mentioned in the original post, I am not sure where to put that formula. When I am on the Mailings tab, I select Rules | If...then...else I get a box that looks like this: http://imageshack.us/f/838/screenshot2277.jpg/

Not something I am thinking would take that formula. So that is why I am just not connecting the dots, would you elaborate a bit further?

Hi Rikil,
It really isn't all that hard - simply go to wherever you want the checkboxes to appear, press Ctrl-F9 twice to create a nested pair of field braces (ie '{{ }}') and fill in/around them as shown for the first field - or press Ctrl-F9 thrice to create a nested trio of field braces (ie '{{{ }}}') and fill in/around them as shown for the second field. Use whatever your mergefield's name is in place of the 'Check1'.

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

That has got me where I needed to be, thank you.

one more thing...I have been trying to use a nested if statement with this and can't seem to get it. I need something like this:

if field A = N and if field B = N, true, false

I just can't seem to get the syntax of this right in Word. Any help here?

Hi Rikil,

Try a field coded as:
{IF {MERGEFIELD A} = "N" {IF {MERGEFIELD B} = "N" "True" "False"} "False"}

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

OK, I think that worked...just need to do more testing.

Two follow up questions:

Does the value I am looking for need to be in double quotes?

Is there any way to make the formula NOT case sensitive? I have a field that will show up properly on my form if I have "Corporation" in my spreadsheet but not "COrporation". Any way to get around that?

Thanks

Hi Rikil,

If the expression being tested has spaces in it, then yes, you do need the docuble quotes. You also need them for any output expressions that have spaces in them.

As for case-insensitivity, use something along the lines of:
{IF {MERGEFIELD A \* Upper} = "CORPORATION" {IF {MERGEFIELD B \* Upper} = "N" "True" "False"} "False"}
Basically, the '\* Upper' switch converts the mergefield contents to upper-case, which alloes the comparison to be done on an all-caps basis.

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

I feel I am sufficiently knowledgeable about mail merge now...more so than when I started. Thank you.

Do you have any references to the help you provided here? I tried to find a web site with answers to these questions but I wasn't about to find ONE site with all this info.

Hi Rikil,

I'm not aware of any websites that cover all aspects - it's a pretty wide area once you start taking some of the more advanced issues into account. I've written a tutorial on Word's Catalogue/Directory Mailmerge facility for this (the terminology depends on the Word version):
http://windowssecrets.com/forums/sho...ngs-(2000-2010)
or
http://www.gmayor.com/Zips/Catalogue%20Mailmerge.zip
And that's just one small part of the mailmerge 'world'. Do read the tutorial before trying to use the mailmerge document included with it.

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