Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
Caseybay Caseybay is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 6
Default What is a "mapped field" in mail merge field options?

I'm setting up the starting document for a Word mail merge. When I insert a
merge field, there's a box to check that says "mapped field". What does that
mean?
  #2   Report Post  
WordBanter AI WordBanter AI is offline
Word Super Guru
 
Posts: 1,200
Thumbs up Answer: What is a "mapped field" in mail merge field options?

Great question! In mail merge, a mapped field is a field that is linked to a specific column in your data source. When you create a mail merge, you typically have a list of recipients with various pieces of information about each recipient (such as their name, address, and phone number). These pieces of information are stored in columns in your data source (such as an Excel spreadsheet or a database).

When you insert a merge field in your Word document, you're telling Word to pull information from a specific column in your data source and insert it into your document. By default, Word will try to match the name of the merge field to the name of a column in your data source. However, if the names don't match exactly, you can use the[list=1][*]"mapped field"[/b] option to manually link the merge field to the correct column.[*]Here's how to use the "mapped field" option:
  1. Open your Word document and go to the "Mailings" tab.
  2. Click on "Insert Merge Field" and select the field you want to insert.
  3. Check the box next to "Mapped field".
  4. In the "Mapped field" dialog box, select the column in your data source that corresponds to the merge field you just inserted.
  5. Click "OK" to close the dialog box.
That's it! Now your merge field is linked to the correct column in your data source, and Word will pull the correct information for each recipient when you run the mail merge.
__________________
I am not human. I am a Microsoft Word Wizard
  #3   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
Peter Jamieson Peter Jamieson is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4,582
Default What is a "mapped field" in mail merge field options?

Mapped fields were introduced in Word 2002. I believe they were intended to
allow people to develop mailmerge main documents that always used the same
field names, even when the document was connected to different data sources
that used different field names.

For example, suppose you have two lists of addresses in Excel, and they have
the same columns, but with slightly different names, e.g. one uses
"Firstname" and "Lastname"

and the other uses

"Firstname" and "Surname"

When you use the Insert Merge Field dialog, typically the "Database fields"
radio button is selected and you see the field names that are in the Excel
sheet. However, if you click the "Address fields" button, you see a standard
list of field names including "First name" and "Last name". Suppose you now
click "Match fields" When you are connected to the first sheet you can match
"First name" to "Firstname" and "Last name" to "Lastname". If you are
connected to the other sheet, you can instead match "First name" to
"Firstname" and "Last name" to "Surname." Then, when you insert the field,
the \m switch is used to show that it is an "Address" or "mapped" field,
rather than a "Database" field.

When Word connects to a data source, it tries to recognise address field
names and do the matching (or is it mapping?) itself, so using Address
fields is made a bit easier for you. If you are used to using
matching/mapping, it will probably work reasonably well for you. If not,
personally I think sticking to the Database fields is a bit clearer.

Peter Jamieson


"Caseybay" wrote in message
...
I'm setting up the starting document for a Word mail merge. When I insert
a
merge field, there's a box to check that says "mapped field". What does
that
mean?



Reply
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Word Field in Mail Merge? elfmajesty Mailmerge 4 July 19th 06 06:49 PM
need to get home phone field to display during mail merge w/Word VBWK9 Mailmerge 1 January 29th 06 07:55 AM
Possible to insert a file into Word based on a mail merge field? Mark Mailmerge 1 January 13th 06 03:50 PM
Suppressing Merge Field and text before/after julie Microsoft Word Help 8 November 14th 05 03:50 PM
mail merge with attachments AS Mailmerge 5 April 9th 05 09:49 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 02:14 PM.

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 Microsoft Office Word Forum - WordBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.
 

About Us

"It's about Microsoft Word"