Using the Mail Merge function in Word

  1. Go into Word as you normally would.
  2. Click on "Tools" from the menu bar, and then click on "Mail Merge"
  3. The Mail Merge Helper window will appear, click on "Create" under the number 1 and select the item that you would like to create. Ex. Form Letters
  4. Click on "Active Window…"
  5. Under number 2, click "Get Data", and then click on "Open data source"
  6. In the "Files of Type" box, click on the down arrow and select "dbase" files
  7. In the "Look in" box, select the where the uncompressed file resides. Browse through the folders until you see the "absentee.dbf" file.  When this is found, highlight it, and click on OK.
  8. The "Confirm Data Source" dialog box will appear, click on "dBase files - Word via ODBC (*.dbf)"
  9. Click on "Edit Main Document"
  10. Type the form in the document area that appeared
  11. Any time you would like to insert a field that is contained in the ABSENTEE database, click on "Insert merge field" and then the field name. The fields that are contained in the database can be found on the Absentee Structure Report. **Be sure to include spaces between the merged fields.**
  12. After the document is typed, and is formatted the way you want it, click on "Tools", and then "Mail Merge"
  13. The Mail Merge Helper will be displayed again. Click on "Merge" in option 3.
  14. The Merge windows will appear. You can send the output of the merge to a New Document, Printer, or E mail. Select the option that you would like, by clicking on the down arrow in the "Merge to:" box.
  15. Click on the "Merge" button when you are ready.
  16. The Print menu will be displayed, select the correct printer, and then on OK.