WD98: Using Mail Merge to Create a List Sorted by Category

You can use the Mail Merge feature in Word to create a list of data sorted and separated by a category. This article contains instructions and a sample you can use to create such a list.

Setting Up the Data File

Sort your data file so that all records with the same value for the key field (category--the field upon which you base the sort) are together, as shown in the following sample data file. The following sample list is sorted by the CITY field (CITY is the key field in this example):

Setting Up the Main Document

NOTE: A Paragraph Mark in the following example is designated as <P>. Do not type the <P>, instead press RETURN.

To set up your main document as a catalog, follow these steps:

1. From a new blank document, click Mail Merge on the Tools menu.
2. In the Mail Merge Helper, click the Create button and then click Catalog.
3. Click New Main Document when prompted.
4. In the Mail Merge Helper, click Get Data and then click "Open Data Source" to attach the file you created in the "Setting up the data file" section of this article.
5. Insert the following fields to compare the contents of each key field record with the contents of the next key field record to determine whether the key field contents change from one data record to the next.
   
   NOTE: This example uses the sample data from the "Setting Up the Data File" section of this article.

         {If{MergeSeq} = "1" "{Mergefield City}<P>
         " ""}{Set Place1 {Mergefield City}}<P>
         {If{Place2}<>{Place1}"<P>
         {Mergefield City}<P>
         <P>
         {Mergefield Employee}{Mergefield Sales}" "{Mergefield
         Employee}{Mergefield Sales}"}{Set Place2{Mergefield City}}<P>
   						

   The fields laid out in this example will produce a catalog listing on the same page as follows:
   Atlanta
   
   Smith $3,000
   Gates $50,000
   Henderson $10,000
   
   Houston
   
   Jones $8,000
   Kelley $9,000
   Peterson $0

Forcing Each New Category to a New Page

The key field in this example is {Mergefield City}. When the value of City changes in the data file to a different city, then a new page is added to the merged results and the merge is continued at the top of the next page. NOTE: A page break is inserted either by pressing SHIFT+RETURN or clicking Break on the Insert menu, select Page Break and then click OK.

The fields laid out in this example will produce a catalog listing on separate pages as follows:

Formatting the Key Field

The key field in this example is {Mergefield City}. To format the results of the {Mergefield City} as all capital letters, you can use the formatting switch of \* Upper. The fields laid out in this example will produce a catalog listing on the same page with the City in all capital letters as follows: For more information about general field formatting, click Contents And Index on the Help menu (or on the Balloon Help menu if you are using a version of the Macintosh operating system earlier than 8.0), click the Index button in MS Word Help, type the following text and then click Show Topics. Select the "Apply formatting to information inserted by fields" topic, and click Go To. If you are unable to find the information you need, ask the Office Assistant.

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: