Mail merge is a software function describing the production of multiple (and potentially large numbers of) documents from a single template form (a Document on the Letters & Documents page) and a structured data source (Company and/or Contacts data).  This helps to create personalized letters for mass mailings from a document which contains fixed text, which will be the same in each output document, and variables, which act as placeholders that are replaced by text from the data source.

The data source can be field values from the Company table or from the Contacts table, depending on what type of document it is. When the mail merge is run, an output document is created for each record, using the fixed text exactly as it appears in the template, but substituting the data variables in the template with the values from the matching columns.

All documents marked "Active" are displayed in their respective Print Menus on the Company and All Contacts tabs.  You can disable a print option by unchecking the "Active" checkbox and saving the change.  There are two print options on the Print menus; one to merge the document with the currently selected Company or Contact record, and one to mail merge with all records displayed in the Company Navigator or the Contacts datagrid.  Use the search features on the form or datagrid to get only the records you want to merge.
 

Features
While the Letter Writer does NOT have all of the features of a standalone word processor, such as Microsoft Word, it does include all of these features:

• Rich Text Formatting - Fonts, font sizes, font colors, font styles (Normal, Italic, Bold, Underline), bullets, left-center-right justification, indent left, indent right, background colors, line spacing (single, 1-1/2 and double) and undo/redo functions.

• Find and Replace - Use the find and replace utility to update a value through an entire document.

• Mail Merge - Select fields from the Company or Contacts data in your application to merge into form letters (mail merge) or reports using live data.

• Adding Images - You can insert images (such as the company logo above) anywhere in your documents.

• Importing .RTF Files - You can open any rich text file (.rtf) and then save it as a WordWriter document for further editing.

• Exporting As .RTF Files - Any WordWriter document can be export as an .rtf file and then opened in any other word processor

Creating A New Letter Writer Document
Click "New" on the form toolbar to create a new document.  Enter the following information in the fields:

Document Title - Enter a unique, meaningful name.  This value will be displayed in the Navigator, so you should call it something that easily identifies it.

Company and/or Contacts - Choose which form this document will be available from (on the Print Menu).  Your choice also determines what merge fields are available for the document.  If you choose "Company", all the fields in the Company form will be listed in the Mail Merge list.  If you choose "Contacts", the essential company information, plus the Contacts fields will be available, as shown in the image below in the "Special Field Tags" section.  Please Note:  Choosing BOTH checkboxes are checked, only the Contacts fields will be available for the document; however the document will be available on the Print menu on both the Company and All Contacts forms.

Written By - By default, your login name is entered in this field, however this is editable.

Menu Display Order - This determines the order of the document in the Print Menu.  If the value is the same as another document record, the print options are displayed alphabetically.

The Word Processor

The word processing area, where you will create the actual document, fills most of the page, with the formatting toolbar on the top.  Click the "Full Page" button on the form's toolbar to expand the height of the word processor.

Now would be a good time to save your changes so far; click "Save" on the Letter Writer toolbar, then click "Edit" again to continue.

The Document Toolbar
 

The toolbar gives you easy access to all formatting options. A tooltip appears over each button when you hold your mouse over it as a quick reminder of what each does.  The descriptions below are in the same order as the buttons on the toolbar.

• Page Setup - This lets you set the margins and orientation of the printed page.  You can also change the default printer if you have more than one printer installed on your system.

• Print - Displays the current document in the Print Preview window.  Please note that this shows the document just as it's displayed, with all mail merge field tags.  The tags are ONLY replaced by data when you print this document from one of the Company or All Contacts Print Menu Mail Merge options.

• Import RTF File - This displays a Browse dialog where you can find a Rich Text Document (.rtf) created by Letter Writer or another word processor, and copy it directly in as the document.

• Export RTF File - Exports the current document out as a Rich Text Document, which can then be edited by another word processor, such as Microsoft Word.

• Font Selection - Choose the font style for the currently selected text on the document.

• Font Size - Choose the font size for the currently selected text on the document.

• Line Spacing - Select the text, then choose "Single", "1-1/2 Space" or "Double-Space" to set the line spacing.

• Font Color - Choose the color for the currently selected text.

• Alignment Options (Left, Center, Right) - Select the text to align, then choose the type.

• 1-2-3 and "Dot" Bullets - Adds numbering or a standard "dot" bullet to the beginning of each line of text within the selected text.

• Indent Left / Indent Right - Increases (Indents) the left edge of the selected text 1/2 inch at a time, or decreases the left edge of the text.

• Bold, Italics, Underline, Normal (Text) - Applies the formatting to the selected text.

• Insert Image - Opens a Browse dialog where you can choose an image file to insert into the document.  Support Bitmaps (.bmp), JPEGS (.jpg) and GIF (.gif) files.

• Scanner - If you have a scanner connected to your computer, you can import the image from the scanner directly into your document.

• Undo / Redo - Self explanatory.  Can also use Ctrl+Z for "Undo".

• Find - Starts the search process by displaying a prompt for the text you want to find (not case-sensitive).  Enter the text and the first match will be displayed.  Use Ctrl+F to find the next, and so on, until no more matches are found.

• Find/Replace - Starts the find and replace process by prompting for the text to find (which IS case-sensitive), then prompts you for the replacement value.  The first match is replaced, then use Ctrl+H to find and replace the next match, and so on.

• Show Fields - This opens the list of available mail merge fields (see image below), based on the Company and/or Contacts options (see above).  As with all dialogs in the system, you can resize and move this dialog to any place on your desktop.

Special Field Tags

The first eight items in the Merge Fields list are special field tags:

• [[Short Date]] - Replaced by the current date in your computer's short date format.  Example: 05/10/2010.

• [[Long Date]] - Replaced by the current date in your computer's long date format.  Example: Monday, May 10, 2010

• [[NEW PAGE]] - Insert this in your document where you want a new page to start.  For example, if you're writing a letter, insert it AFTER your signature and any Enclosure notation on the page.  This guarantees that the next copy of your letter starts on a new page, even if the letter is more than one page long.

• [[Company Logo]] - This inserts the logo (the one shown on the Company Logo & Header Info tab).  PLEASE NOTE:  This logo option displays the logo on the left margin only, even if the field tag is centered or right-aligned.  If you want to put your logo in the center of the document or on the right side, use the "Copy To Clipboard" button on the Company Logo tab to copy the current log to the Windows Clipboard, then click in the document where you want to paste the logo and use "Ctrl+V" to paste it.  Then select it and use the alignment button to align it where you want it.

• [[Company Info Line 1 (and 2, 3, 4)]] - Each of these inserts the text in the first, second, third and fourth lines on the Company Heading Information.

The remaining fields will insert the data from that field for each record as it's printed.

Entering Text

Simply start typing your document, and when you get to a word that would be a value from a record, double-click on that value’s fieldname in the Mail Merge Fields dialog, and it will be put into the text in the document as a placeholder for the data when printing.  You can add fields anywhere at any time by putting your cursor wherever you want the field value to appear and double-clicking on the fieldname in the list.

Do not edit the field tag in any way! Letter Writer identifies a fieldname by the two brackets before [[ and after ]] the name of the field. Also, any spaces in the field are replaced by underscores _ and without them, Letter Writer will not find and replace the field tag with the values.

You might find it's easier to add formatting (font styles, sizes, bullets, line spacing, etc.) AFTER you've completely typed in the text.  Just highlight the text you want to change, then choose the formatting option.

When your document is complete, save it by clicking the "Save" button on the form's toolbar.  Saving an active document automatically adds it to the Print Menu on the Company and/or Contacts pages.

Printing A Mail Merge Document

To mail merge a single record with the document, select the record in the Company Navigator or All Contacts DataGrid, then click on the Print button on the toolbar and choose "Mail Merge Selected Record", then choose the name of the document. 

To print a mail merge with multiple Company or Contacts records, use the search options on the Company Form or in the All Contacts DataGrid to leave ONLY the records you want to merge displayed on the page, then choose the "Mail Merge All Displayed Records" option and the name of the document.

Both print options display the results in the Print Preview windows, where you can print or cancel the job if you like.