Hello -

I need to create a merge letter that includes a drop down form field. The
merge letter is a pretty typical one and I do not have trouble setting it up,
except that there is one item that needs to be included in the letter that
has 3 possible fill-ins. This is a sentence that needs to be worded exactly
the same way each time it is used. I would like to add this as a drop down
field to my merge letter in either the letter itself or, preferably, the data
source. I'm encountering two problems:

1. Each of the three sentence options are longer than the drop down form
field allows - I'm not sure what the character limitation is, but I'm running
into it.
2. When I set up the data source as a form, the data does not merge to my
letter correctly. Is it even possible for a merge letter to contain form
fields, or for the data source to contain form fields? If not, is there
another way to have a drop down list of options in a merge letter?

Thanks!

You cannot use formfields in conjunction with mailmerge. What you could do
is store the text in separate files and use an IncludeText field in the
mailmerge main document that included a mergefield as the source of the text
to be inserted with the actual source in that field in the datasource.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

"Sarah" wrote in message
...
Hello -

I need to create a merge letter that includes a drop down form field. The
merge letter is a pretty typical one and I do not have trouble setting it
up,
except that there is one item that needs to be included in the letter that
has 3 possible fill-ins. This is a sentence that needs to be worded
exactly
the same way each time it is used. I would like to add this as a drop
down
field to my merge letter in either the letter itself or, preferably, the
data
source. I'm encountering two problems:

1. Each of the three sentence options are longer than the drop down form
field allows - I'm not sure what the character limitation is, but I'm
running
into it.
2. When I set up the data source as a form, the data does not merge to my
letter correctly. Is it even possible for a merge letter to contain form
fields, or for the data source to contain form fields? If not, is there
another way to have a drop down list of options in a merge letter?

Thanks!

Thanks for the reponse - between when sent my post and read yours, I solved
the problem by creating an AutoText List. It worked perfectly. But I
appreciate your help!

"Doug Robbins - Word MVP" wrote:

You cannot use formfields in conjunction with mailmerge. What you could do
is store the text in separate files and use an IncludeText field in the
mailmerge main document that included a mergefield as the source of the text
to be inserted with the actual source in that field in the datasource.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

"Sarah" wrote in message
...
Hello -

I need to create a merge letter that includes a drop down form field. The
merge letter is a pretty typical one and I do not have trouble setting it
up,
except that there is one item that needs to be included in the letter that
has 3 possible fill-ins. This is a sentence that needs to be worded
exactly
the same way each time it is used. I would like to add this as a drop
down
field to my merge letter in either the letter itself or, preferably, the
data
source. I'm encountering two problems:

1. Each of the three sentence options are longer than the drop down form
field allows - I'm not sure what the character limitation is, but I'm
running
into it.
2. When I set up the data source as a form, the data does not merge to my
letter correctly. Is it even possible for a merge letter to contain form
fields, or for the data source to contain form fields? If not, is there
another way to have a drop down list of options in a merge letter?

Thanks!