Information and Communication Technology

5.2.41 Mail Merging

Mail merging is an effective tool available in word processing packages. Using this feature, we can merge two files to form a single file. Main document and Data source are the two files needed for main merging. Main document has the matter which is common to all data. Data source has the data. During mail merging, both main document and data source are combined together and the result will be printed in printer or stored in another document. Using mail merge, we can prepare Form letter, Mailing labels, Envelopes, Catalogue etc.

1. Select mail merge option in Tools menu
2. Press Main Document button and select the type of main document. Form letter or Mailing labels or envelops or Catalogue. Then select Active document or New document button. Active document button create the main document in current document. New document button create the main document in a new document.
3. Select Edit main document option to edit the main document.
4. Type the matter in the document
5. Select Mail merge in Tools option and then select Data source
6. Choose Create Data source to create a new data source or Open Data source to open an already created data source.
7. If a new data source is created, give the name of the data file and specify the desired fields in the data file. A list has predefined fields and we can choose the fields from that list or add the fields into that list or delete the fields from the list
8. Choose Edit data source to give data to the data file
9. After giving the data values, the fields have to be inserted into the main document.
10. Open the main document, move the pointer to the desired location. Select Insert Merge Field button and choose the desired field to be inserted.
11. Choose Mail merge in Tools option and select Merge option
12. If the merged content is to be printed on printer, select Merge on Printer. If the merged content is to be stored in a file, select Merge on New document.