Mailmerge printing with field names

[Jvallee]

Brand new to this.
Can successfully mail merge but always get one page with just fieldnames instead of data.


How do I turn that off?

[macropod]

That suggests there's a dummy record in your data source with just the field names.

[Jvallee]

Originally Posted by macropod

That suggests there's a dummy record in your data source with just the field names.

I have a header record so Word will know the names of the fields. No other dummy record.

My test file has the header record and 1 real record.

[macropod]

And are you using the header row field names as the mergefield names, or do they have names like «F1», «F2», etc?

[Jvallee]

Originally Posted by macropod

And are you using the header row field names as the mergefield names, or do they have names like «F1», «F2», etc?

Yes they are merge field names, ie. CompName, CompAddr, etc.

[macropod]

Mailmerges don't ordinarily output the headers as separate records. Can you attach the mailmerge main document and Excel worksheet to a post with some representative data (delete anything sensitive)? I only need the document with mergefields and the workbook with a few records. You do this via the paperclip symbol on the 'Go Advanced' tab at the bottom of this screen.

[Jvallee]

Originally Posted by macropod

Mailmerges don't ordinarily output the headers as separate records. Can you attach the mailmerge main document and Excel worksheet to a post with some representative data (delete anything sensitive)? I only need the document with mergefields and the workbook with a few records. You do this via the paperclip symbol on the 'Go Advanced' tab at the bottom of this screen.

I am not using Excel. The data file is plain text. I've attached the doc but this forum won't let me upload the csv file.
This is its contents:

"Company","Physical Address","Physical City State","Owner","SIC Code","Rate Class","Mailing Address","Mailing City State"
"BYRD'S BARGAINS & WOODWORK","762 HIGHWAY 15 S","ST. GEORGE, SC","","5999","2","140 WHITE OAK LN","HARLEYVILLE, SC 29448"

Could it be you cannot have spaces in the mergefield names?

[macropod]

OK, the issue you're having has nothing to do with mailmerge, but with the macro in your mailmerge main document.

The first executable line in your macro is:
Dialogs(wdDialogFilePrint).Show
Unless you cancel out of that, it prints your mailmerge main document. That explains why you're getting a file with the fieldnames being printed. In any event, you don't need that line, because the rest of the macro sends the actual mailmerge output to the printer.

Finally, given that you're using a macro to drive the process, there's no need for your mailmerge main document to be anything other than a normal document (i.e. one that wouldn't give the SQL prompt when you open it).

[Jvallee]

Originally Posted by macropod

OK, the issue you're having has nothing to do with mailmerge, but with the macro in your mailmerge main document.

The first executable line in your macro is:
Dialogs(wdDialogFilePrint).Show
Unless you cancel out of that, it prints your mailmerge main document. That explains why you're getting a file with the fieldnames being printed. In any event, you don't need that line, because the rest of the macro sends the actual mailmerge output to the printer.

Finally, given that you're using a macro to drive the process, there's no need for your mailmerge main document to be anything other than a normal document (i.e. one that wouldn't give the SQL prompt when you open it).

I need to be able to ask the user which printer they want to use.. that is why I added the printer dialog.
The macro that merges just has sendtoprinter and I do not know how to specify their choice.
I'm not sure why you think this should be a normal doc. If I don't attach a data file, how will the doc know what the field names are?

[macropod]

Try it with the attached. Note that the revised code uses the PrintSetup dialogue, rather than the FilePrint dialogue. You also won't get the SQL prompt, but the mailmerge will work anyway.