[blackX]

I have a total of 8 different letters that needs to merged with a single data
source. Using include text I was able to do this. My first problem is that
4 of the letters need to be printed using the paper in tray 1 and the other 4
need to use the paper in tray 2. My second problem is that some of the
letters use a .5" margin and the rest use a .3" margin. Can I conditionally
set the margins in the Main.doc so the letter margins are correct? Thanks

[blackX]

any ideas on either of these? Again, any help is much appreciated.

"blackX" wrote:

I have a total of 8 different letters that needs to merged with a single data
source. Using include text I was able to do this. My first problem is that
4 of the letters need to be printed using the paper in tray 1 and the other 4
need to use the paper in tray 2. My second problem is that some of the
letters use a .5" margin and the rest use a .3" margin. Can I conditionally
set the margins in the Main.doc so the letter margins are correct? Thanks

[Peter Jamieson]

My personal opinion is that you will find it extremely difficult to solve
either of the two problems you mention using a single merge in Word, and it
is likely to be much simpler and more maintainable to create a number of
mrges, each of which selects the records it needs, uses a single layout, and
specifies a particular paper source.

If you want to attack the problem of several layouts in a single merge,
you're in luck, because there is a current discussion on this subject - look
for the conversation titled "Mergefields, IF statements and section breaks"
started by JAnderson on 16 July 2008. I cannot say that it will solve your
margin problems - in the past, I have not been able to come up with a merge
that will do that, but that does not mean that it cannot be done.

As for the paper tray problem, if you base a solution on the results of the
discussion I mentioned above, then you have also to work out how to
associate each output section with a different tray. IMO that is another
good reason to find a different approach:-)

On the specific subject of the margins, if you are the author of all the
layouts you are using, you may be able to make things slightly easier for
yourself by keeping to a fixed set of Word page layouts, but e.g. modifying
all your paragraph layouts so that the documents that need a 0.5in margin
use a 0.3in margin but al have indents of 0.2in.

--
Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

"blackX" wrote in message
...
any ideas on either of these? Again, any help is much appreciated.

"blackX" wrote:

I have a total of 8 different letters that needs to merged with a single
data
source. Using include text I was able to do this. My first problem is
that
4 of the letters need to be printed using the paper in tray 1 and the
other 4
need to use the paper in tray 2. My second problem is that some of the
letters use a .5" margin and the rest use a .3" margin. Can I
conditionally
set the margins in the Main.doc so the letter margins are correct?
Thanks

[blackX]

I figured so. I like your idea on for the margins and I think that will
work. I am trying to automate as much of this as I can. I started with 16
different letters and 16 data sources and I have got it down to 8 letters and
1 data source. If I can solve the tray selection problem that I will have
this whole process down to a few clicks. If not then she will just have to
filter the query inside of word and do the seperate projects individually.
Logically you would think that it could be as simple as
lettercode1,2,3,4=tray1, lettercode5,6=tray2, lettercode7,8=tray3 but I guess
I am just wishing. I will check out the link you provided and I appreciate
your help.

"Peter Jamieson" wrote:

My personal opinion is that you will find it extremely difficult to solve
either of the two problems you mention using a single merge in Word, and it
is likely to be much simpler and more maintainable to create a number of
mrges, each of which selects the records it needs, uses a single layout, and
specifies a particular paper source.

If you want to attack the problem of several layouts in a single merge,
you're in luck, because there is a current discussion on this subject - look
for the conversation titled "Mergefields, IF statements and section breaks"
started by JAnderson on 16 July 2008. I cannot say that it will solve your
margin problems - in the past, I have not been able to come up with a merge
that will do that, but that does not mean that it cannot be done.

As for the paper tray problem, if you base a solution on the results of the
discussion I mentioned above, then you have also to work out how to
associate each output section with a different tray. IMO that is another
good reason to find a different approach:-)

On the specific subject of the margins, if you are the author of all the
layouts you are using, you may be able to make things slightly easier for
yourself by keeping to a fixed set of Word page layouts, but e.g. modifying
all your paragraph layouts so that the documents that need a 0.5in margin
use a 0.3in margin but al have indents of 0.2in.

--
Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

"blackX" wrote in message
...
any ideas on either of these? Again, any help is much appreciated.

"blackX" wrote:

I have a total of 8 different letters that needs to merged with a single
data
source. Using include text I was able to do this. My first problem is
that
4 of the letters need to be printed using the paper in tray 1 and the
other 4
need to use the paper in tray 2. My second problem is that some of the
letters use a .5" margin and the rest use a .3" margin. Can I
conditionally
set the margins in the Main.doc so the letter margins are correct?
Thanks

[Peter Jamieson]

Logically you would think that it could be as simple as
lettercode1,2,3,4=tray1, lettercode5,6=tray2, lettercode7,8=tray3 but I
guess
I am just wishing.

Yes, IMO ideally it would be as simple as you say. But if not, the next best
thing, assuming you can handle the formatting issues (left margin etc.)
/might be/ to output to a new mail merge main document, then run a macro
that specifies which Word sections should be printed to which printer tray.
And whether that works or not may depend on your printer driver.

Key question 1 is whether or not it is realistic for you to merge to an
output document, e.g. if you have 100 documents, maybe it's do-able, but
with 10,000, maybe the output is just too large?

Key question 2 is: let's suppose you experiment with a very small subset of
your data - say, 5 documents. Can we create a macro to help print those
documents to the correct ouytput trays?

--
Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

"blackX" wrote in message
...
I figured so. I like your idea on for the margins and I think that will
work. I am trying to automate as much of this as I can. I started with
16
different letters and 16 data sources and I have got it down to 8 letters
and
1 data source. If I can solve the tray selection problem that I will have
this whole process down to a few clicks. If not then she will just have
to
filter the query inside of word and do the seperate projects individually.
Logically you would think that it could be as simple as
lettercode1,2,3,4=tray1, lettercode5,6=tray2, lettercode7,8=tray3 but I
guess
I am just wishing. I will check out the link you provided and I
appreciate
your help.

"Peter Jamieson" wrote:

My personal opinion is that you will find it extremely difficult to solve
either of the two problems you mention using a single merge in Word, and
it
is likely to be much simpler and more maintainable to create a number of
mrges, each of which selects the records it needs, uses a single layout,
and
specifies a particular paper source.

If you want to attack the problem of several layouts in a single merge,
you're in luck, because there is a current discussion on this subject -
look
for the conversation titled "Mergefields, IF statements and section
breaks"
started by JAnderson on 16 July 2008. I cannot say that it will solve
your
margin problems - in the past, I have not been able to come up with a
merge
that will do that, but that does not mean that it cannot be done.

As for the paper tray problem, if you base a solution on the results of
the
discussion I mentioned above, then you have also to work out how to
associate each output section with a different tray. IMO that is another
good reason to find a different approach:-)

On the specific subject of the margins, if you are the author of all the
layouts you are using, you may be able to make things slightly easier for
yourself by keeping to a fixed set of Word page layouts, but e.g.
modifying
all your paragraph layouts so that the documents that need a 0.5in margin
use a 0.3in margin but al have indents of 0.2in.

--
Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

"blackX" wrote in message
...
any ideas on either of these? Again, any help is much appreciated.

"blackX" wrote:

I have a total of 8 different letters that needs to merged with a
single
data
source. Using include text I was able to do this. My first problem
is
that
4 of the letters need to be printed using the paper in tray 1 and the
other 4
need to use the paper in tray 2. My second problem is that some of
the
letters use a .5" margin and the rest use a .3" margin. Can I
conditionally
set the margins in the Main.doc so the letter margins are correct?
Thanks

[blackX]

I am confident that we can deal with the margin issues but the print tray
problem is still lingering. I would be open to try the Macro but I have
never worked with them so I dont know where to begin. Do you have any
suggestions. FYI: If I am able to get all of these issues resolved we would
be talking about 1000-1500 letters per merge. Currently this is considerably
lower but it is but she runs 16 seperate merges (one for each letter).
Thanks again

"Peter Jamieson" wrote:

Logically you would think that it could be as simple as
lettercode1,2,3,4=tray1, lettercode5,6=tray2, lettercode7,8=tray3 but I
guess
I am just wishing.

Yes, IMO ideally it would be as simple as you say. But if not, the next best
thing, assuming you can handle the formatting issues (left margin etc.)
/might be/ to output to a new mail merge main document, then run a macro
that specifies which Word sections should be printed to which printer tray.
And whether that works or not may depend on your printer driver.

Key question 1 is whether or not it is realistic for you to merge to an
output document, e.g. if you have 100 documents, maybe it's do-able, but
with 10,000, maybe the output is just too large?

Key question 2 is: let's suppose you experiment with a very small subset of
your data - say, 5 documents. Can we create a macro to help print those
documents to the correct ouytput trays?

--
Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

"blackX" wrote in message
...
I figured so. I like your idea on for the margins and I think that will
work. I am trying to automate as much of this as I can. I started with
16
different letters and 16 data sources and I have got it down to 8 letters
and
1 data source. If I can solve the tray selection problem that I will have
this whole process down to a few clicks. If not then she will just have
to
filter the query inside of word and do the seperate projects individually.
Logically you would think that it could be as simple as
lettercode1,2,3,4=tray1, lettercode5,6=tray2, lettercode7,8=tray3 but I
guess
I am just wishing. I will check out the link you provided and I
appreciate
your help.

"Peter Jamieson" wrote:

My personal opinion is that you will find it extremely difficult to solve
either of the two problems you mention using a single merge in Word, and
it
is likely to be much simpler and more maintainable to create a number of
mrges, each of which selects the records it needs, uses a single layout,
and
specifies a particular paper source.

If you want to attack the problem of several layouts in a single merge,
you're in luck, because there is a current discussion on this subject -
look
for the conversation titled "Mergefields, IF statements and section
breaks"
started by JAnderson on 16 July 2008. I cannot say that it will solve
your
margin problems - in the past, I have not been able to come up with a
merge
that will do that, but that does not mean that it cannot be done.

As for the paper tray problem, if you base a solution on the results of
the
discussion I mentioned above, then you have also to work out how to
associate each output section with a different tray. IMO that is another
good reason to find a different approach:-)

On the specific subject of the margins, if you are the author of all the
layouts you are using, you may be able to make things slightly easier for
yourself by keeping to a fixed set of Word page layouts, but e.g.
modifying
all your paragraph layouts so that the documents that need a 0.5in margin
use a 0.3in margin but al have indents of 0.2in.

--
Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

"blackX" wrote in message
...
any ideas on either of these? Again, any help is much appreciated.

"blackX" wrote:

I have a total of 8 different letters that needs to merged with a
single
data
source. Using include text I was able to do this. My first problem
is
that
4 of the letters need to be printed using the paper in tray 1 and the
other 4
need to use the paper in tray 2. My second problem is that some of
the
letters use a .5" margin and the rest use a .3" margin. Can I
conditionally
set the margins in the Main.doc so the letter margins are correct?
Thanks

[blackX]

I would like to try your MACRO idea but I know nothing about them. Do you
have any ideas to help with this?

"Peter Jamieson" wrote:

Logically you would think that it could be as simple as
lettercode1,2,3,4=tray1, lettercode5,6=tray2, lettercode7,8=tray3 but I
guess
I am just wishing.

Yes, IMO ideally it would be as simple as you say. But if not, the next best
thing, assuming you can handle the formatting issues (left margin etc.)
/might be/ to output to a new mail merge main document, then run a macro
that specifies which Word sections should be printed to which printer tray.
And whether that works or not may depend on your printer driver.

Key question 1 is whether or not it is realistic for you to merge to an
output document, e.g. if you have 100 documents, maybe it's do-able, but
with 10,000, maybe the output is just too large?

Key question 2 is: let's suppose you experiment with a very small subset of
your data - say, 5 documents. Can we create a macro to help print those
documents to the correct ouytput trays?

--
Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

"blackX" wrote in message
...
I figured so. I like your idea on for the margins and I think that will
work. I am trying to automate as much of this as I can. I started with
16
different letters and 16 data sources and I have got it down to 8 letters
and
1 data source. If I can solve the tray selection problem that I will have
this whole process down to a few clicks. If not then she will just have
to
filter the query inside of word and do the seperate projects individually.
Logically you would think that it could be as simple as
lettercode1,2,3,4=tray1, lettercode5,6=tray2, lettercode7,8=tray3 but I
guess
I am just wishing. I will check out the link you provided and I
appreciate
your help.

"Peter Jamieson" wrote:

My personal opinion is that you will find it extremely difficult to solve
either of the two problems you mention using a single merge in Word, and
it
is likely to be much simpler and more maintainable to create a number of
mrges, each of which selects the records it needs, uses a single layout,
and
specifies a particular paper source.

If you want to attack the problem of several layouts in a single merge,
you're in luck, because there is a current discussion on this subject -
look
for the conversation titled "Mergefields, IF statements and section
breaks"
started by JAnderson on 16 July 2008. I cannot say that it will solve
your
margin problems - in the past, I have not been able to come up with a
merge
that will do that, but that does not mean that it cannot be done.

As for the paper tray problem, if you base a solution on the results of
the
discussion I mentioned above, then you have also to work out how to
associate each output section with a different tray. IMO that is another
good reason to find a different approach:-)

On the specific subject of the margins, if you are the author of all the
layouts you are using, you may be able to make things slightly easier for
yourself by keeping to a fixed set of Word page layouts, but e.g.
modifying
all your paragraph layouts so that the documents that need a 0.5in margin
use a 0.3in margin but al have indents of 0.2in.

--
Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

"blackX" wrote in message
...
any ideas on either of these? Again, any help is much appreciated.

"blackX" wrote:

I have a total of 8 different letters that needs to merged with a
single
data
source. Using include text I was able to do this. My first problem
is
that
4 of the letters need to be printed using the paper in tray 1 and the
other 4
need to use the paper in tray 2. My second problem is that some of
the
letters use a .5" margin and the rest use a .3" margin. Can I
conditionally
set the margins in the Main.doc so the letter margins are correct?
Thanks

[Graham Mayor]

You *MAY* be able to address the paper tray issue with PRINT fields, if your
printer accepts PCL or Postscript commands. A PRINT field is simply a type
of field that allows you to send instructions directly to the printer.
e.g. for horizontal duplex (PCL) you would insert the following field :
{ PRINT 27"&l2S" }
Lookup the commands to select the trays in your printer manual.

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org




blackX wrote:
I figured so. I like your idea on for the margins and I think that
will work. I am trying to automate as much of this as I can. I
started with 16 different letters and 16 data sources and I have got
it down to 8 letters and 1 data source. If I can solve the tray
selection problem that I will have this whole process down to a few
clicks. If not then she will just have to filter the query inside of
word and do the seperate projects individually. Logically you would
think that it could be as simple as lettercode1,2,3,4=tray1,
lettercode5,6=tray2, lettercode7,8=tray3 but I guess I am just
wishing. I will check out the link you provided and I appreciate
your help.

"Peter Jamieson" wrote:

My personal opinion is that you will find it extremely difficult to
solve either of the two problems you mention using a single merge in
Word, and it is likely to be much simpler and more maintainable to
create a number of mrges, each of which selects the records it
needs, uses a single layout, and specifies a particular paper source.

If you want to attack the problem of several layouts in a single
merge, you're in luck, because there is a current discussion on this
subject - look for the conversation titled "Mergefields, IF
statements and section breaks" started by JAnderson on 16 July 2008.
I cannot say that it will solve your margin problems - in the past,
I have not been able to come up with a merge that will do that, but
that does not mean that it cannot be done.

As for the paper tray problem, if you base a solution on the
results of the discussion I mentioned above, then you have also to
work out how to associate each output section with a different tray.
IMO that is another good reason to find a different approach:-)

On the specific subject of the margins, if you are the author of all
the layouts you are using, you may be able to make things slightly
easier for yourself by keeping to a fixed set of Word page layouts,
but e.g. modifying all your paragraph layouts so that the documents
that need a 0.5in margin use a 0.3in margin but al have indents of
0.2in.

--
Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

"blackX" wrote in message
...
any ideas on either of these? Again, any help is much appreciated.

"blackX" wrote:

I have a total of 8 different letters that needs to merged with a
single data
source. Using include text I was able to do this. My first
problem is that
4 of the letters need to be printed using the paper in tray 1 and
the other 4
need to use the paper in tray 2. My second problem is that some
of the letters use a .5" margin and the rest use a .3" margin.
Can I conditionally
set the margins in the Main.doc so the letter margins are correct?
Thanks

[blackX]

Okay I will look into this. IF the print does accept PCL, then will it tell
the code in the book?

"Graham Mayor" wrote:

You *MAY* be able to address the paper tray issue with PRINT fields, if your
printer accepts PCL or Postscript commands. A PRINT field is simply a type
of field that allows you to send instructions directly to the printer.
e.g. for horizontal duplex (PCL) you would insert the following field :
{ PRINT 27"&l2S" }
Lookup the commands to select the trays in your printer manual.

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org




blackX wrote:
I figured so. I like your idea on for the margins and I think that
will work. I am trying to automate as much of this as I can. I
started with 16 different letters and 16 data sources and I have got
it down to 8 letters and 1 data source. If I can solve the tray
selection problem that I will have this whole process down to a few
clicks. If not then she will just have to filter the query inside of
word and do the seperate projects individually. Logically you would
think that it could be as simple as lettercode1,2,3,4=tray1,
lettercode5,6=tray2, lettercode7,8=tray3 but I guess I am just
wishing. I will check out the link you provided and I appreciate
your help.

"Peter Jamieson" wrote:

My personal opinion is that you will find it extremely difficult to
solve either of the two problems you mention using a single merge in
Word, and it is likely to be much simpler and more maintainable to
create a number of mrges, each of which selects the records it
needs, uses a single layout, and specifies a particular paper source.

If you want to attack the problem of several layouts in a single
merge, you're in luck, because there is a current discussion on this
subject - look for the conversation titled "Mergefields, IF
statements and section breaks" started by JAnderson on 16 July 2008.
I cannot say that it will solve your margin problems - in the past,
I have not been able to come up with a merge that will do that, but
that does not mean that it cannot be done.

As for the paper tray problem, if you base a solution on the
results of the discussion I mentioned above, then you have also to
work out how to associate each output section with a different tray.
IMO that is another good reason to find a different approach:-)

On the specific subject of the margins, if you are the author of all
the layouts you are using, you may be able to make things slightly
easier for yourself by keeping to a fixed set of Word page layouts,
but e.g. modifying all your paragraph layouts so that the documents
that need a 0.5in margin use a 0.3in margin but al have indents of
0.2in.

--
Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

"blackX" wrote in message
...
any ideas on either of these? Again, any help is much appreciated.

"blackX" wrote:

I have a total of 8 different letters that needs to merged with a
single data
source. Using include text I was able to do this. My first
problem is that
4 of the letters need to be printed using the paper in tray 1 and
the other 4
need to use the paper in tray 2. My second problem is that some
of the letters use a .5" margin and the rest use a .3" margin.
Can I conditionally
set the margins in the Main.doc so the letter margins are correct?
Thanks