I am having trouble figuring out how to do this. I can't seem to figure it out, and I can't seem to find anything that is quite like it anywhere either.
I have an excel document with people names, addresses and amounts of money. These people are attached to groups that vary in size. They are numbered like:

• 1 john stamos blah blah info info info
• 2 jan cool blah blah info info info
• 3 steve somthing blah blah info info info
• 1 josh juan blah blah info info info
• 2 lindsey di blah blah info info info

etc....

The numbers are column A.

What I am trying to do is have a mail merge that executes so that, for example: first page is entries 1,2, and 3. second page is just entries 4 and 5....etc. Continuing down the line somehow separating the groups starting with number 1 for each page and then all rows after it till another number one is reached.
Each entry has to be on the page twice in two different locations.


I know its possible because the person who worked here before me had it all set up to work, however, its been years and the file no longer works. I've tried reverse engineering it to no avail and could really use some pointers.


Thanks to all!

This is a many to one mail merge -
See http://www.gmayor.com/ManyToOne.htm (sort the data on the number field and use that as the key field).


Paul Edstein has prepared a tutorial employing a different method based on the Microsoft support link (below), with working field codes and a sample Excel data source which you can also download from my website http://www.gmayor.com/Zips/Catalogue%20Mailmerge.zip
Microsoft's approach is at "How to use mail merge to create a list sorted by category" - http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=294686

__________________
Graham Mayor - MS MVP (Word) (2002-2019)
Visit my web site for more programming tips and ready made processes www.gmayor.com

Neither Graham's many to one mail merge utility nor the field coding in my tutorial is designed to duplicate records - both are designed solely for grouping records. Depending on your needs, you may be able to get the desired results via the use of DATABASE fields and it's possible that, or macro processing, is what your non-working document used.

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

Thanks for responding guys.

I think database fields is how it was done before. In the word document that "worked before" the names anddresses are named like:

«First_Name_Defendant_1» «Last_Name_Defendant_1»
«Address_Line»
«City», «State» «ZIP_Code»

«First_Name_Defendant_2» «Last_Name_Defendant_2»
«Address_Line_2»
«City_2», «State_2» «ZIP_Code_2»

«First_Name_Defendant_3» «Last_Name_Defendant_3»
«Address_Line_3»
«City_3», «State_3» «ZIP_Code_3»

and the list goes on up till number 10.



Using the database fields, I'm still not sure how to make word start a new document for each group. Am I missing something....or is just not that simple and I need to dig in and learn the whole shebang?

I don't know if it helps or not, but if anyone is willing to look, I'm sure that looking at the file will help with understanding what I'm trying to explain a great deal.

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resi...int=file%2cdoc

OK. I know I am being a little incessant with my posting here...but I had a bit of a break through with understanding how the last person got this to work.


I'm not sure if I can explain this properly....

It looks like "something" is organizing the rows into groups, and then adding the data from the columns that aren't #1 into that column somehow.

Does that make sense?

Somehow, the fields that are number 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 are being created and populated with the data.




So....just to try and clarify one more time.

In excel their is a list

1
2
1
2
3
1
2
1
2
3
4

like that. Every row has a name, address...etc

Now, when I go to Word and open the "Edit Recipients" tool their are all these extra fields that don't exist in the excel document, and all of the number 1's now have data from 2,3, and 4 attached to them as "Last Name 2", "Last Name 3"...etc. Now, all of the rows from the excel sheet are listed, but only the ones that are labelled Number 1 have data in 2,3, and 4 sections, so I can simply include only the rows that have any data in "Last Name 2" and boom...all my documents are populated correctly.




Does this make any sense, how is this being accomplished? It seems the only thing that broke somehow is that the data is no longer being grouped and then added to 'Number 1'.

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here...lol.

Your attachment contains mergefields and is set up to be used as a mailmerge main document for a letter-type merge with a data source where the fields for each page are all part of the same record (i.e. the same row in an Excel workbook, not on separate rows). The Excel workbook column headings for this would be:
First_Name_Defendant_1 Last_Name_Defendant_1 Address_Line City State ZIP_Code First_Name_Defendant_2 Last_Name_Defendant_2 Address_Line_2 City_2 State_2 ZIP_Code_2 First_Name_Defendant_3 Last_Name_Defendant_3 Address_Line_3 City_3 State_3 ZIP_Code_3
and so on. Using a letter-type merge with that arrangement, the mailmerge would automatically generate a new page for each record.

Your problem description, particularly the part about 'all these extra fields that don't exist in the excel document', suggests you're no longer using the Excel workbook the document was designed for and the new workbook doesn't have the same structure.

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

Cross-posted at: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/o...3-3e3770bf6beb
For cross-posting etiquette, please read: http://www.excelguru.ca/content.php?184

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

Sorry about that, I was in a bit of a tizzy while I was trying to figure this out.


Just in case someone happens along with the same problem, I have managed to figure it out and solve the issue.

It was as you said earlier, just a letter type mail merge. However, through the use of a ton of if-statements and checks and balances the previous person managed to take the data for persons 2-10 and add them onto the row for person 1 in columns that are appropriately named.

This was not immediately evident to me because the rows that had all this data were hidden. I am really kicking myself because I noticed that the rows went from A to F and then later from M to BP...and never gave it a second thought

Anyway, problem solved. And I accidentally learned a good bit about mail merges on the way, so I'm gonna call it a win.