How do I use a Word merge list in Publisher

[microeng]

I have compiled a large address list for use with Word mail merges. Publisher
does not recognize the .doc format in a merge address list - even though both
are Microsoft products that do roughly the same thing. Can I use my Word list
with Publisher?

 

[Brian Kvalheim [MSFT MVP]]

Hi microeng ([email protected]),
in the newsgroups
you posted:

|| I have compiled a large address list for use with Word mail merges.
|| Publisher does not recognize the .doc format in a merge address list
|| - even though both are Microsoft products that do roughly the same
|| thing. Can I use my Word list with Publisher?

Save your word file as at *.txt text file. I don't know which version of
Publisher you are using, but I know that Publisher 2003 does indeed support
*.doc merge files.
--
Brian Kvalheim
Microsoft Publisher MVP
http://www.publishermvps.com
~pay it forward~

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and
confers no rights.

 

[microeng]

Thanks for that Brian. You just made my life a whole lot easier.

Brian Biss
Micro Engineering Ltd

 

[Mary Sauer]

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HP030713461033.aspx

 

[Alcide]

Hello Mary et al.,

We've tried everything to integrate Publisher 2003 into our mailing
software. Word 2003 has worked perfectly.

I looked at your link below and it seems to confirm that Publisher 2003 does
not support Word Merge Field Codes; that is, the {mailmerge \s} kind of stuff
in Word. While Publisher seems adequate for basic addresses, it does not do
thinks like format currency or other custom formats that one could do in Word.

It is odd that this isn't in Publisher. What if I wanted to send out coupons
from a data list and have a calculated floating point field display as US
currency? In order to do this I need to export to a text file and then import
into publisher. But this is a problem if you are starting an event via a VBA
macro, or even from a .NET program.

It seems settled that Publisher's mail merge capabilities are far inferior
to that of Word's. This is a major oversight on Microsoft's part.

 

[Mary Sauer]

Publisher does exactly for what it was designed to do. As you have discovered there
are limits. I format currency fields as text, it solves the decimal problem.