Why did Publisher mailmerge lose text in many newsletter frames?

[Allan C]

I mailmerged a 10 page newsletter of about 5 MB with about 200 addresses. The
result lost text in many frames. The same text was lost in each iteration of
the newsletter. I'm using Publisher 2003.

 

[Allan C]

I just mail merged with only one address and Publisher lost the same text in
these frames as before. I wonder why it picks these frames to lose data and
not others.

 

[Mary Sauer]

What are you using as a database? Have you made the Publisher text box large enough
to fit long addresses?

 

[Allan C]

The list is in Excel 2003. The text box is much bigger than the addresses.
In the mailmerge with only one address, the address is comfortably inside the
box. The saved mailmerged document loses the contents of half the frames.
This newsletter is mostly 3 vertical frames per page, however, some larger
frames have columns of the same width with a title fram extending across the
columns or frames.

I haven't spent time trying to see what distinguishes the frames that drop
text from those that don't. They are spread throughout the ten pages.

The original document with one address inserted looks fine, saves, still
shows the address text block when re-opened and has all its frame contents. A
message appears that the data list will be accessed but the address doesn't
show. That, of course, is not my concern. The mailmerged document with half
the frames empty *is* my concern.

This is the only problem I've ever experienced with Publisher 2003. From
other emails here, I understand that saving a mailmerge as a file is a new
Publisher feature.

 

[DavidO]

Sounds like you are printing these directly to the printer. I have been
trying to do a similar type of merge of an 8-page newsletter with about 200
addresses to a newfile rather than going directly to the printer - but
everytime I do the merge Publisher crashes - it comes up with a message that
publisher did not end correctly and would you like to restart in safe mode.
This merge takes a long time and really maxes out the CPU usage - then crash.
Does your merge slow your PC to a crawl?
The other thing I did was print to a PDF file printer - and when I did that
I think I am having the same problem as you in that one of my merge fields is
not merging but is giving me the merge field text as it appears in the
template document. All other fields are merging ok. I need to make sure
that my fields are mapped ok.

 

[Allan C]

I haven't tried an actual print to my printer because the newsletter is
bookfold tabloid size 11x17 and I don't have a printer that handles that size.

As far as I can tell, Publisher handles the mail merge properly and added
all the addresses properly in the mail merged document. The problem is that
the text in half the frames of the newsletter itself is then missing.

If I do a print to a PDF file using PDF Creator, the resulting files all
seem to be addressed properly.

Since the nesletter is for a charitable organization, I haven't asked our
printer how much it would cost for him to use Publisher to print a mail merge
directly from the newsletter file and the addressses file. There, he would
have to do some manipulations in Publisher. I'm sure he wouldn't be averse to
printing from a CD containing a mail merged file.

Unfortunately, it's clear that this feature of mail merging to a file in
Publisher has not actually been debugged by Microsoft. It even failed when I
reduced the newsletter to four pages, still deleting the text in many of the
newsletter frames as before.

 

[Mary Sauer]

Have you installed a printer driver that will handle tabloid size paper? It could
make a difference.

You don't need the physical printer to install a driver.

 

[Allan C]

I have found the specific way Publisher2003 loses text in linked frames. If
text frames are linked from one page to another, Publisher drops all text
from the linked frames in a mail merge to a file. If frames are linked only
on a page, Publisher does not drop the text *unless* one of the frames is
linked to another page. In the latter case, all text in all linked frames in
that story is dropped.

I have tested this behavior over and over again and it's guaranteed.

Does Microsoft know the problem? Do I really have to expend my one free
email to tell Microsoft of their bug - or to find out if there's a patch?

 

[Mary Sauer]

I created a newsletter, created a merge, linked text boxes in odd places in the
newsletter and not one of them dropped the text when I printed. I've used Publisher
forever, never had this problem.
I don't know why you have this issue. A faulty printer driver?

 

[Allan C]

Why do you keep talking about dropping text during printing when I have
clearly pointed out, over and over again, that I'm talking about a mail merge
to a new merged publication which contains both the Publisher document and
the mailing list in one file. This a new feature in Publisher 2003, not
something that's been in Publisher forever.

I have pointed out several times that mail merge to a print works, but mail
merge to a *file* does not.

Did you follow the following procedure from the Publisher 2003 Help for
creating a new merged publication ( a new publication which contains the
Publisher document *and* all the addresses in one file, a file one can take
on a CD to a printer?):

Step 5 of 5: Complete the merge

In the Mail and Catalog Merge task pane (Step 5: Complete the merge), do one
of the following:

Print your merged publications
Under Merge, click Print.
In the Print Merge dialog box, select the options that you want, and then
click OK.

(I am *not* doing the above, I *am* doing the following)

Save the merged publications for later use
If you want to edit your merged publications, save them for later use, or
print them at a later time, you can collect and save all of your merged
publications as a single new publication.
Under Merge, click Create new publication.
Publisher creates a new publication with the merged pages.
In your new publication, click Save as on the File menu. Type a name for
your new publication in the File name box, and then click Save.

Did you do the second option as described which has nothing to do with
printing or printer drivers?

 

[Mary Sauer]

If you read through all your messages, never once did you mention the catalog merge.
How large is your frame? Publisher will only merge 256 characters per field, any more
than that you have to use a new field for the overflow. Is this the text that is
dropping?

 

[Allan C]

I didn't mention catalog merge because I'm not talking about a catalog merge,
I'm talking about a mail merge to a file.

Here's a trivial experiment:

Make a new publication with two blank pages. Put a text box on each page and
link the two pages. Type something in the first page. Click the Mail and
Catalog wizard under Tools. Select a data source with several addresses and
go through all the oks. Clickt Next: Create your publication. Put an address
block on the second page.Click Next: preview your publication. An address
gets placed in the address block.
Click Next : Complete the merge. Click Create a new Publication. A new
publication gets created witha total number of pages equal to the original
number (2 in this case) times the number of addresses. Look in the text box
on the first page. At least when I look, the text has disappeared from that
text box..

Under Windows, two publications are listed, one the original with the two
pages. The other is the mailmerged document with pages equal to 2 times the
number of addresses. This is the one with the missing text, the one which in
the real world of the newsletter I would like our printer company to print
from this file, but can't.







..

 

[Mary Sauer]

You are right, the text does drop off. I tried numerous workarounds, nothing worked
except to break the link. It is definitely a bug and I will report it. I'm sorry it
took so long for this problem to penetrate my fuzzy brain.
Thanks for your patience...

 

[Allan C]

Thank you. That's all wanted.This will be a great feature when it works. I
do hope that Microsoft is already aware of the problem and that, fairly soon,
Microsoft Update or Office Update will apply a fix.

 

[Brian Kvalheim [MSFT MVP]]

Mary, did you report this to Rob and J.P.? If not, please do so. This is a
good bug, and I too was able to reproduce.

Thanks for mentioning/testing this Allan!

--
Brian Kvalheim
Microsoft Publisher MVP
http://www.publishermvps.com

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

 

[Jim]

This is quite OT, but I felt I should be sure - Ihope the group is
getting these messages with full headers, so they aren't confusing me
with the troll-posts coming from Don/Donny/Anne, etc. I'd hate to be
plonked for someone else's vitriol...

Blessed be, for sure...

 

[Mary Sauer]

I haven't reported it yet.
The reason it took so long for this to dawn on me... I tried the merge with a
newsletter wizard rather than creating my own. This bug does not appear with the
wizard. I can put the linked boxes all over the publication and the text does not
drop off with a merge. It wasn't until I created the pages the way Allen suggested
that the bug became clear.

 

[Brian Kvalheim [MSFT MVP]]

Thanks Mary.

--
Brian Kvalheim
Microsoft Publisher MVP
http://www.publishermvps.com

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

 

[Allan C]

I just used the first newsletter in the Publications for Print (Accent Box
Template), deleted the text in the first frame on the second page and linked
the third column on the first page (which is linked to the first two columns)
to that first frame on the second page.

When I went through making the merged publication, the text in the first
page frames disappeared as before.

What is the newsletter wizard? I'm intererested because I'm able to make our
newsletter work by breaking all links between pages and cutting and pasting
the succeeding material where it would go in the normal linking process. I
don't like this rather unhandy process, but will use it if I must.

If I can make the newsletter through some wizard and preserve the links
between pages and not have the text disappear, I'm quite willing to redo the
newsletter from scratch. Is that actually possible? My newsletter is 10 to 12
pages long and several stories, typically, are too long for a page.

 

[Mary Sauer]

Allen, I went back again and used the "Publications for Print" newsletter wizard. The
first time around I used the text that was already within the sample, this time I
used my own text. It dropped off after converting the merge to a new publication. So
it is a serious bug.
It is surprising no one has had this issue until now.

I did convert the publication to a PDF (I had 11 entries) it took awhile, but the
text did not drop off. It might be a solution for you if you are willing to read a
book while it converts.