For a school directory, Iwant to print the student's name in one column and parent's names in another. Fields are Parent1 and Parent2.

I want to print both if both are populated with the word "and" between them, and only Parent1 if Parent2 is blank. In other words:

If Parent2 is blank, print Parent1 else print "Parent1 and Parent2"

Example:

Student Parent

John Smith Chris and Debbie
Tina Jones Barbara



I can't figure out how to print both parent names if they are both populated in the else clause. Just listing them {MERGEFIELD Parent1} {MERGEFIELD Parent2} does not work -- it only prints Parent1.

Can anyone give the proper syntex?

Hi Officegirl,

Basically, the field construction would be something like:
{MERGEFIELD Student _First_Name } {MERGEFIELD Student _Last_Name } {IF{MERGEFIELD Parent1_Last_Name} = {MERGEFIELD Parent2_Last_Name} "{MERGEFIELD Parent1_First_Name} & {MERGEFIELD Parent2_First_Name} {MERGEFIELD Parent1_Last_Name}" "{MERGEFIELD Parent1_First_Name} {MERGEFIELD Parent1_Last_Name}{IF{MERGEFIELD Parent1_Last_Name} <> "" " & {MERGEFIELD Parent2_First_Name} {MERGEFIELD Parent2_Last_Name}"}}
or:
«Student _First_Name» «Student _Last_Name» {IF«Parent1_Last_Name» = «Parent2_Last_Name» "«Parent1_First_Name» & «Parent2_First_Name» «Parent1_Last_Name»" "«Parent1_First_Name» «Parent1_Last_Name»{IF«Parent1_Last_Name» <> "" " & «Parent2_First_Name» « Parent2_Last_Name»"}}

Note: The field brace pairs (ie '{ }') for the above example are created in the body of the document via Ctrl-F9 (Cmd-F9 on a Mac) - you can't simply type them or copy & paste them from this message. Likewise, you can't type or copy & paste the chevrons (ie '« »') - they're part of the actual mergefields, which you can insert from the mailmerge toolbar. Also, the test requires - at a minimum - that there be separate fields for the parents' last names.

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