Mail Merge Auto Numbering

[MaxBuck]

OK, what if I have no choice in a mail-merge but to use auto-numbering?

I use a report template in which I use mail-merge to input certain data that are different from project to project. After using mail-merge with my template doc, I cannot edit the section heading numbers; they all default to 1.0 (and obviously the subsections default to 1.1, 1.2, etc.). I can't change the numbers in the merged document to the proper section number, even by trying to force section 2 numbering to 2.0; Word forces the number back to 1. This problem just cropped up! (I have edited the template and associated input database to incorporate some new data entries, and after I did so is when the problem arose.)



Any ideas?

[macropod]

In a mailmerge, one would ordinarily want the 'section heading numbers' to re-start at 1 for each recipient. It would look rather odd to have the same content for each recipient numbered differently, with their first heading, for example, reflecting not its position in their letter but their position in the mailmerge sequence.

Given the above, why do you need the 'section heading numbers' to increment and what kind on mailmerge are you performing (eg letter, directory/catalog)?

[MaxBuck]

I'm using mail merge only to fill data fields within a report, and only one "record" is being used (in other words, it's a single-recipient mail merge with many mergefields). The problem is that the section numbering appears to be fouled up during the mail merge process.

I've fixed the problem, however, using the "List Styles" feature for section numbering. I had to switch some headers (toggle between, say, Heading 3 and Heading 4) to get the numbers to update properly, but that's a minor problem.

[macropod]

Originally Posted by MaxBuck

I'm using mail merge only to fill data fields within a report, and only one "record" is being used (in other words, it's a single-recipient mail merge with many mergefields). The problem is that the section numbering appears to be fouled up during the mail merge process.

In that case, mailmerge is unlikely to have been the cause of your problem.

That said, mailmerge might not be the best tool for this situation - employing a userform that retrieves the data from the appropriate record, then either updates the document directly or updates a set of document properties that are linked to DOCPROPERTY fields in the document might be a better approach.

[MaxBuck]

Given that I already have the mailmerge document as a template, it's unlikely I'll change horses at this point. But for a new report, if I need one, I'll look into this approach. Thanks for the feedback!

[macropod]

Just to tweak your interest: http://www.fontstuff.com/mailbag/qword02.htm