Setting Up Data to Use in Mail Merge Documents and Business Cards

Setting Up Data to Use in Mail Merge Documents and Business Cards

Ya gotta have data to print, so here's how to make sure you've got it.

Setting Up Data for Your Mail Merge Documents

You'll probably need to do Just the Basics . To get fancy with a little more control over what data you bring out of the data source, see Restricting the Data Source Information to Use in a Document, Using Queries and Filters. And to control what fixed data like your name and address shows up in AutoPilot-generated documents, see Editing the "Fixed" Data Values That Show Up in Mail Merge AutoPilot Documents.

Just the Basics

To get your mailing list into a mail merge, you have to set up at least one data source; see Chapter 35, Creating and Modifying Data Sources , on page 871.

Editing the "Fixed" Data Values That Show Up in Mail Merge AutoPilot Documents

When you create a mail merge document from an AutoPilot or template, you'll often see something like the fields at right. These values are drawn from all over the program, including user properties, so how you edit them varies. Sometimes you can't edit them, but most of the time you can get to them by double-clicking, or selecting them and clicking Edit, as described in this procedure.

• Choose Tools > Options > StarOffice > User Data and enter the values there.

• Double-click the field in the document; the Edit Fields window will appear. Select the field and click Edit or double-click it. If it's editable, an editing window will appear.

Restricting the Data Source Information to Use in a Document, Using Queries and Filters

You might not always want to just base a document on all the records, with all the fields, in a table. See the following for instructions.

Limiting the Information in a Document Using Queries

Queries are subsets of a table, such as "give me the first name and last name of everyone in my address book in Colorado ." (Expressed in SQL or using the query design window; see Exporting Data Sources to Another Format on page 919 for more information.) You get to limit the number of fields the program uses, as well as the number of records.

You save that query, with a name like "colorado_names", and you can use that instead of a table as the source of the data the program sucks into your document.

Limiting the Information in a Document Using Filters

With filters, you can include and/or exclude specific records. Choose View > Data Sources and in the data source area, click the Default Filter icon in the object bar to bring up the Filter window. In the Filter window, set the filtering conditions.

Use Figure 10-3 for guidance.

Figure 10-3. Basic record filtering

Setting Up Fixed Data for Business Cards or Labels

Note

What's the simplest thing to do? Just choose File > AutoPilot > Business Cards and set up everything there.

How to Edit the Fixed Data Variables Used for Business Cards

There's fixed data for business cards all over the place; three different kinds of fixed data, in fact three different sources. We think this is kind of odd, and wanted to point it out since it's confusing to see all this information coming from all over the place. Sometimes you see exactly the same business card layout choices, but with different data than you get in another window.

These are your options; make life simpler by just picking one and ignoring everything else.

• Values in the Business Cards window (best for structured if lengthy business card creation and lots of card design choices) To edit the values for the Business Card window business cards, see Creating a Sheet of Business Cards on page 390. To create business cards, see the same procedure.

• Predefined AutoText entries (best for quick business card creation with one design choice) To edit the values for the standard business card AutoText entries, see Editing the Name and Address Information in Existing Business Card AutoText on page 364. To use the entries in general, see Inserting AutoText Entries in Your Document on page 184.

• Just plain label information (best for plain, quick cards based on data you might have already filled in) To edit the values for labels or business cards created by choosing File > New > Labels and selecting the Address option in the Labels tab, choose Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > User Data. You might have already entered this data. To create business cards or labels this way, see Creating Simple Labels or Business Cards by Choosing File > New on page 394.

Editing the Name and Address Information in Existing Business Card AutoText

Note

These are not the same values used for creating a sheet of business cards by choosing File > New > Business Cards. For more information, see How to Edit the Fixed Data Variables Used for Business Cards on page 363.

If you plan to use any of the business card AutoText or business correspondence templates, it's a good idea to edit the fields now that will show up in those templates. There's a lot of preformatted AutoText in business card format that's very convenient to use; just insert it by clicking on the AutoText icon in the main toolbar. However, since it's all business cards for someone named Frederick Fexample , you'll probably want to update the information.

Take a look at the business cards

Before you begin, get a sense of the business cards you'll be able to use. With Writer active, click the AutoText tool in the main toolbar. In the AutoText window (see Figure 10-4), expand the Business Cards categories. You'll need to edit the values for Personal cards and Business cards. Most of the designs simply reuse a basic set of information; however, there's a lot of information: personal and business names and addresses, slogans, and so on.

Figure 10-4. Business Card categories

Decoding the system

We have to admit, we spent some time struggling over how exactly this whole fields/AutoText thing works. You double-click on one thing, you get A; you double-click on it again and you get B. So expect to be confused . But stick to these steps, and you'll be able to change the values for standard fields used in templates and AutoText.

Here's the basics. There are a lot of fields to edit when you choose Insert > Fields > Other. Mostly, you can ignore them. Click on the Variables tab. Now you're closer to seeing the only things you need to worry about right now. How it works is laid out in Figure 10-5.

Figure 10-5. How the fields you insert with business card AutoText relate to the fields in the Fields window

Now that you know how it works, here's the procedure.

1. Choose Insert > Fields > Other.

2. Select the Variables tab, then select the User Fields type in the left column of the window.

3. Select the first item in the Select list. Its name and value will appear at the bottom of the window. Change the value to one appropriate for your business cards and click the green check mark.

4. Repeat the previous step for each item in the Selection list.

5. Click Close.

Creating Your Own Fixed Data for Business Cards and Correspondence Using AutoText

If there's a set of boilerplate text you use frequently that you don't want to retype every time you use it, such as an email signature, trademarked term , or company letterhead heading, create an AutoText entry for it in Writer. This is also used when you create business cards from the templates or use other business correspondence templates. When you do this, you can insert it quicklyeither with a keyboard shortcut or by selecting it from a list of AutoText items.

You can format AutoText entries and include graphics, tables, and fields.

For more information about AutoText generally , see Creating and Inserting AutoText on page 866.

Note

The fields window in Figure 10-6 gives you a great deal of control over how fields data prints. Press Ctrl + F2, or double-click a field in a template you create in this chapter, and you'll see the Fields window. You can define the static text for variables like the ones used in business cards, or set up conditional printing terms like the ones covered in Fixing Problems With Empty Fields and Lines on page 403. To learn more about using and defining these fields, see Creating and Inserting Predefined Information Using Fields on page 284. To learn the syntax for conditional fields, see the extensive online help.

Figure 10-6. The fields window, controlling static and function-based field conten