Multiple data mail merge, HELP!!

[nicole327]

Ok, so I am trying to send out letters to students showing them how many missing assignments they have. I want to transfer this information using a mail merge. Is this possible? Some students have 2 some have 4 or 5. I want to transfer what assignments they are missing. Here is an example.

[TABLE="class: grid, width: 778"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD]Student Name[/TD]
[TD] Course[/TD]
[TD]Period[/TD]
[TD] Assignment[/TD]
[TD]Due Date[/TD]
[TD]Score[/TD]
[TD]Teacher[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Smith,John [/TD]
[TD]J6319B - 2 SPAN 1B[/TD]
[TD]8 [/TD]
[TD]Stem Change Practice Packet[/TD]
[TD]Jan 9, 2018 12:00:00 AM[/TD]
[TD]0.00[/TD]
[TD]Montalvo[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Smith, John[/TD]
[TD]J811 - 3 Math 8[/TD]
[TD]5b [/TD]
[TD]Volume of Cones [/TD]
[TD]Jan 8, 2018 12:00:00 AM[/TD]
[TD]0.00[/TD]
[TD]Dasilva[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]White, Nicole[/TD]
[TD]J0211B - 3 ALG 1B[/TD]
[TD]4b [/TD]
[TD]4-1 HW Graphing Ineq # 1-10[/TD]
[TD]Jan 4, 2018 12:00:00 AM[/TD]
[TD]0.00[/TD]
[TD]Sloan[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]White, Nicole[/TD]
[TD]J804 - 2 English 8 PreAP[/TD]
[TD]3 [/TD]
[TD]Independent Reading Intro Page #![/TD]
[TD]Jan 4, 2018 12:00:00 AM[/TD]
[TD]M[/TD]
[TD]Hannam[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Doe, Jane[/TD]
[TD]J802E - 4 English 8[/TD]
[TD]2 [/TD]
[TD]"Landlady" Questions[/TD]
[TD]Jan 5, 2018 12:00:00 AM[/TD]
[TD]0.00[/TD]
[TD]Walls[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Doe, Jane[/TD]
[TD]J832 - 9 Science 8 PreAP[/TD]
[TD]4b [/TD]
[TD]Pressure and Hurricanes Canvas HW[/TD]
[TD]Jan 8, 2018 12:00:00 AM[/TD]
[TD]0.00[/TD]
[TD]Niedens[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Smith, Kevin[/TD]
[TD]J832 - 1 Science 8 PreAP[/TD]
[TD]8 [/TD]
[TD]Pressure and Hurricanes Canvas HW[/TD]
[TD]Jan 8, 2018 12:00:00 AM[/TD]
[TD]0.00[/TD]
[TD]Niedens[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Smith, Kevin[/TD]
[TD]J811 - 9 Math 8[/TD]
[TD]5b [/TD]
[TD]ThrowBack Thursday HW[/TD]
[TD]Jan 8, 2018 12:00:00 AM[/TD]
[TD]M[/TD]
[TD]Snyder[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Smith, Kevin[/TD]
[TD]J811 - 9 Math 8[/TD]
[TD]5b [/TD]
[TD]Volume of Cones HW[/TD]
[TD]Jan 8, 2018 12:00:00 AM[/TD]
[TD]M[/TD]
[TD]Snyder[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody><colgroup><col><col><col><col><col><col><col></colgroup>[/TABLE]

 

[nicole327]

Can any one help with this?????

 

[John_w]

It sounds like you need a 'directory' merge - see these pages for help:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb...e-to-create-a-list-sorted-by-category-in-word
https://windowssecrets.com/forums/s...t-Word-Catalogue-Directory-Mailmerge-Tutorial
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...-to-word/faf881a0-718b-4b40-80a1-efca588df290

Sort the data first on the field that you want to arrange the merge by (column A, in your case).

 

[nicole327]

I have tried the tutorials but no luck! Is there someone that can walk me through it or help me with the formulas?

 

[Macropod]

My post at https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...-to-word/faf881a0-718b-4b40-80a1-efca588df290 describes multiple ways of doing what you want. It even provides links to working examples from my tutorial. As my post in the link says:

most of the hard work has already been done for you - you should be able to do little more than copy/paste the relevant field codes into your own mailmerge main document, substitute/insert your own field names and adjust the formatting to get the results you desire.

The link also refers to alternative methods using the DATABASE field. I've more recently added yet another approach using a DATABASE field. In this case, if your workbook has a separate sheet with just a single instance of each of the grouping criteria, a DATABASE field in a normal ‘letter’ mailmerge main document could be used without the need for a macro. An outline of this approach can be found at:
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...gle-page/4edb4654-27e0-47d2-bd5f-8642e46fa103
For a working example, see:
http://www.msofficeforums.com/mail-merge/37844-mail-merge-using-one-excel-file-multiple.html

 

[John_w]

I have tried the tutorials but no luck! Is there someone that can walk me through it or help me with the formulas?

Typical Microsoft, but the first page I linked to doesn't show the crucial field codes (MERGESEQ, MERGEFIELD, etc.) so is completely useless.

Instead, I followed the steps at https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb...create-a-list-sorted-by-category-in-word-2000, which produced the following field codes for your data:

{ IF { MERGESEQ } = "1" "{ MERGEFIELD Student_Name \* Upper }" ""}{ SET Name1 { MERGEFIELD Student_Name } }<Enter>
{ IF { Name1 } <> { Name2 }"
------ Page Break ------
{ MERGEFIELD Student_Name \* Upper }<Enter>
{ MERGEFIELD Course } { MERGEFIELD Period } { MERGEFIELD Assignment }" "{ MERGEFIELD Course } { MERGEFIELD Period } { MERGEFIELD Assignment }" }{ SET Name2 { MERGEFIELD Student_Name } }<Enter>

Note: The column A heading in your Excel data is "Student Name" and this must be typed as Student_Name when typing in the field code 'script'. Also, the first name in the data is missing a space between "Smith," and "John". I've only used 3 of your data columns above.

The mail merge worked perfectly for me. You have to be very careful when typing in the text and field codes. Start by typing Ctrl+F9 to get the opening and closing field braces, then type IF space, then Ctrl+F9, then MERGESEQ, then move the cursor after the first closing brace, then type space = space "1", etc. Good luck!