How Does Mail Merge Work?
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The Data Source File
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The data file for a mail merge can be created in the same software used to type the form letter, or it can come from other programs. Spreadsheets, address books and databases are often used to supply data for a mail merge. The data file must contain delimited data with fields separated by table cells, commas, tabs or other unique characters. A carriage return signals the ends of a record. If the word processing program includes a mail merge "wizard" to guide you through the merge process, the formatting of the data is done during the set-up and you won't have to do it by hand.
Data Format
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Data for a mail merge is formatted so that the fields are distinguishable from one another, and each record in the data has the same number of fields, even if some of the fields are empty. Data for a mail merge consisting of names and addresses for a form letter will look like: Jane Doe, 123 First Street, New York, NY, 10019, Ms. Doe [RETURN]. The information between the commas are the fields, and the string of fields before the return is a record. The data fields are also "named." So that the string "Jane Doe" is distinct from "123 First Street." This is done with a head record containing in the field names on the first line of the data file: Name, Address, City, State, Zip and Salutation.
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Data Fields in the Merge Document
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At the top of the form letter, a special command code is entered to tell the computer the name and location of the file containing the data to be merged with the letter, or the word processing software asks for the location of the file during the mail merge set-up. As noted in the previous section, each field in the data file has a name. In order for the computer to know how to place the data in the form letter, field name "tags" are inserted at the location in the letter where the imported data should appear. The tags appear in special brackets to distinguish them from the text of the letter.
Run the Merge
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The mail merge command is located in the menu of the word processing program. When the command is selected, the computer checks the name of the data source file at the top of the form letter, locates it, reads the string of field names from the first line and then starts substituting in the data from the first record for each of the fields names in the form letter. When the computer hits the end of a record, it starts a new form letter and uses the data from the next record in the source file to populate it. When the end of the source file is reached, the mail merge stops and a file containing all the merged letters appears on the screen waiting to be saved. Each letter is separate from the next by a hard page break. You can also merge directly to a printer, but if you bypass merging to the screen to proof the results, you may end up reprinting the letters if there is a mistake in your data.
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