Mail Merge

Mail Merge is a means of merging data from an Excel spreadsheet or Access database into ADLForms. There are a number of steps to complete before forms can be merged successfully. Once the Mail Merge facility is setup correctly, it is then easy to merge your data into the forms.

A Merge Template must be configured for each form you wish to merge with.

For each form the steps to follow are:

Setup

1.	Create a Master Merge File for the appropriate form
2.	Create an ADLForms Merge Template for the merge file you have created

Once the an ADLForms Template is configured it can then be re-used as many times as you like.

Merging

1.	Open the appropriate Master Merge File
2.	Populate the Master Merge File with Merge Data
3.	Save the data to a Tab Delimited Text Merge File
4.	Merge the data with a form

Creating a Master Merge File

Open Microsoft Excel

Open an existing spreadsheet with data already populated into it OR

Create a new spreadsheet ready to accept data

1.	Add a Heading for each column you wish to input data into (eg. Landlord Name, Landlord Add 1, Landlord Add2, etc.)

Save the Master Merge File

1.	From the 'File' menu select 'Save'

2.	Navigate to the Folder you wish to save the Master Merge File into using the 'Save In' combo box and the Folder and File display window.

3.	In the 'File Name' combo box give the Master Merge File a suitable name (eg. "Management Agreement Merge.xls")

4.	Click the <Save> button

Creating a Merge Template

1.	From the ADLForms 'Main Menu' click on the 'Mail Merge' button. The following screen will appear:
2.	Click on the <....> button to the right of the 'Form Name' field.
3.	Select the form you wish to create a Merge Template for. The name of the form will appear in the 'Form Name' field and the table below it will be populated with all the field names for the select form in the first column of the table. The 'Use Format Already Saved for Another Form' and 'Save Settings' buttons will become enabled.
4.	Referring to your Master Merge File spreadsheet (Or Merge File, if directly exported from MS Access) enter the column numbers within the spreadsheet that correspond with the field names (You do not have to associate all fields with a column in the spreadsheet)
5.	Click on the <Save Settings> button. Your settings have now been saved for merging to this form.
	Note: The 'Use Format Already Saved for Another Form' button has been provided for situations where two or more forms are, for all intents and purposes, the same form. This will rarely occur. Using this facility can be fraught with danger of used incorrectly.

Creating a Tab Delimited Text Merge File

Open Microsoft Excel

Open the appropriate Master Merge File for the form you wish to merge with

Populate the Master Merge File with your data:

Manual Entry

1.	Type all the data you require into the appropriate columns of the spreadsheet, ensuring to enter one record per row

From Another Excel Spreadsheet

1.	Open the appropriate spreadsheet/s

2.	Select the cells you wish to paste into the Merge File and from the 'Edit' menu select 'Copy'

3.	Switch to the Master Merge File

4.	Select the cell where you wish the copied data to be pasted to

Note: Ensure that the columns in the data worksheet correspond with the Master Merge File columns

5.	From the 'Edit' menu select 'Paste'

From an Access Database

1.	Open Microsoft Access

2.	Open your Database

3.	Execute a Query that will produce the data you wish to Merge with your form.

Note: Ensure that the data is output in the same column order as setout in your Master Merge File

4.	Highlight all the rows within the query result that you wish to copy to your Merge File

5.	From the 'Edit' menu select 'Copy'

6.	Switch to your Master Merge File spreadsheet

7.	Select the cell where you wish the copied data to be pasted to

8.	From the 'Edit' menu select 'Paste'

Note: This action may paste the Access query headings into your spreadsheet. If this occurs be sure to delete this new heading row if you already have a heading row.

Note: Expert Access Database users can export queries directly to Tab Delimited Merge Files without the need to use Excel or the need to have a Master Merge File. For the purposes of this help topic we will assume that if you are an expert Access user, you already know how to do this.

Some types of fields require special formatting. By default these format requirements are:

•	Date Fields (dd/mm/yyyy)

•	Combo Boxes (The actual value {Case sensitive})

•	Check Boxes (1 = Ticked, Anything else = Unticked {The default value for signifying 'Ticked' may be changed in the 'Mail Merge' window})

•	Option Boxes (1 = Ticked, Anything else = Unticked {The default value for signifying 'Ticked' may be changed in the 'Mail Merge' window})

Save the Merge File

1.	From the 'File' menu select 'Save As'

2.	Navigate to the Folder you wish to save the Merge File into using the 'Save In' combo box and the Folder and File display window.

3.	In the 'Save as Type' combo box select 'Text (Tab Delimited) (*.Txt)'

4.	In the 'File Name' combo box give the Merge File a suitable name (eg. "Management Agreement Merge.txt")

5.	Click the <Save> button

Merging a Merge File with a Form

1.	From the ADLForms 'Main Menu' click on the 'Mail Merge' button
2.	Click on the <....> button to the right of the 'Form Name' field
3.	Select the form you wish to Merge to. If you have previously successfully saved a Merge Template for the selected form, all your settings will appear automatically.
4.	Click on the <....> button to the right of the 'Merge File' field
5.	Navigate to the Tab Delimited Text File which holds the data, in the correct format, that you wish to merge with this form
6.	Click on the <Open> button. The name of the Merge File will appear in the 'Merge File' field and the <Merge Print> button will become enabled.
7.	Click the <Merge Print> button The standard 'Print Options' dialog window will appear
8.	Adjust print options as required and click <Print>
9.	The 'Mail Merge Progress' bar will appear. You may click the <Cancel> button to stop progress at any time. Once progress has completed you will be return to the 'Mail Merge' window.

Additional Options

Header Row in Import File

If you don't have a header row in your Import File then you should untick the <Header Row in Import File> check box or the first record will not print during the merge process.

File Format

Under the <Header Row in Import File> check box is a combo box where you may select either 'Text (Tab Delimited)' or 'CSV (Test Comma Delimited)'. The default value is 'Text (Tab Delimited)' as this is the safest method. The 'CSV (Test Comma Delimited)' option is for expert users who know how to create such files.