Merge recipient multiple times

[Laser Apparel]

I'm printing identification numbers to place on product. I might have to
print a label with size small 10 times and a label that has size medium 20
times. I usually enter 10 records of small and 20 records of medium in excel
and then mail merge.

Can I enter the record once with one of the fields being a qty and have that
record merged into a word label doc the number of times specified in the qty
field?

 

[Peter Jamieson]

Not directly. But there are various ways you might do this, e.g. write an
Excel macro that takes the rows and quantities and generates a new sheet (or
perhaps a Word document) that contains the correct number of rows per
identification number, then use that as the data source.

As long as your quantity field(s) never exceed a certain maximum (let's say
5) you could do the following:

Create a directory (catalog) merge

Put the following fields in it

{ IF { MERGEFIELD QUANTITY } > 0 "{ MERGEFIELD IDNUMBER }
" }{ IF { MERGEFIELD QUANTITY } > 1 "{ MERGEFIELD IDNUMBER }
" }{ IF { MERGEFIELD QUANTITY } > 2 "{ MERGEFIELD IDNUMBER }
" }{ IF { MERGEFIELD QUANTITY } > 3 "{ MERGEFIELD IDNUMBER }
" }{ IF { MERGEFIELD QUANTITY } > 4 "{ MERGEFIELD IDNUMBER }
" }

Merge to a new document. You should have one column containing the right
number of IDNUMBERS. Manually insert the column header IDNUMBER, then use
that file as the data source for your merge.

NB, all the {} need to be the special field code braces you can enter using
ctrl-F9

 

[Laser Apparel]

Peter,
Thanks for the help, but unfortunately I'm not quite that technical. I'm a
beginner when it comes to macro's and such. I can however follow
instructions to the letter if you want to give me a step by step walk through
if it's not too much trouble for you.
William

 

[Peter Jamieson]

Well, the second technique I suggested does not use macros, just Word
fields. So if you want to try that, you can start as follows:
a. create a new blank mail merge main document and connect it to your data
source.

b. in that document, use ctrl-F9 to insert a pair of the special field code
braces. In the following instructions, use Alt-F9 as necessary to redisplay
all the braces and field codes if they disappear
{ }

c. click between the { } and type IF > 0 "" to give you
{ IF > 0 "" }

d. click after "IF " and use ctrl-F9 to insert another pair of braces:
{ IF { } > 0 "" }

e. click between the "" and use ctrl-F9 to insert another pair of braces:
{ IF { } > 0 "{ }" }

f. type MERGEFIELD Quantity between the first inner pair of braces (but use
whatever field name you need, rather than "Quantity")
{ IF { MERGEFIELD Quantity } > 0 "{ }" }

g. type MERGEFIELD IDNumber between the second inner pair of braces (but
use whatever field name you need, rather than "IDNumber")
{ IF { MERGEFIELD Quantity } > 0 "{ MERGEFIELD IDNumber }" }

h. Click immediately before that final double-quote ", and press the Enter
key (i.e. the one that would normally give you a new paragraph in Word:
{ IF { MERGEFIELD Quantity } > 0 "{ MERGEFIELD IDNumber }
" }

i. Select that bunch of fields, Edit|Copy, click after the closing brace,
and Edit|Paste:
{ IF { MERGEFIELD Quantity } > 0 "{ MERGEFIELD IDNumber }
" }{ IF { MERGEFIELD Quantity } > 0 "{ MERGEFIELD IDNumber }
" }

j. Repeat that as many times as you need to cope with the maximum number of
copies you are considering. e.g. if it's 4 you need
{ IF { MERGEFIELD Quantity } > 0 "{ MERGEFIELD IDNumber }
" }{ IF { MERGEFIELD Quantity } > 0 "{ MERGEFIELD IDNumber }
" }{ IF { MERGEFIELD Quantity } > 0 "{ MERGEFIELD IDNumber }
" }{ IF { MERGEFIELD Quantity } > 0 "{ MERGEFIELD IDNumber }
" }

k. modify those 0s so you have 0,1,2,3 (etc.)

{ IF { MERGEFIELD Quantity } > 0 "{ MERGEFIELD IDNumber }
" }{ IF { MERGEFIELD Quantity } > 1 "{ MERGEFIELD IDNumber }
" }{ IF { MERGEFIELD Quantity } > 2 "{ MERGEFIELD IDNumber }
" }{ IF { MERGEFIELD Quantity } > 3 "{ MERGEFIELD IDNumber }
" }

Merge to a new document...