Brother WP330MDS - Manual (Page 104)

Data Merge
The data merge function is useful when a similar letter is to be sent to numerous
addresses, each letter to be typed with a different name and address and different
contents. To save you from having to recall, edit, and print the same letter over and
over, the merge file function does the job automatically. The following steps
summarize the use of this function:
1.
2
.
3.
To use the data merge function, you must first create a file containing the data to
be inserted in the letters (the Address Book file). For details, see “Address Book"
on page 155, The data to be inserted into a single letter is called a record. A
record is made of different labels (label 1, label 2, label 3, etc.) that correspond to
the different pieces of information you need to insert in a single letter (name,
address, etc.). You must organize your Address Book file logically: the same
label of each record must contain the same type of information. For example,
label 1 will contain a name, label 2 an address, label 3 a phone number, etc.
Next, you must create a Word Processing file containing the text that will be
common to all letters (the master document). Wherever a piece of variable
information has to be inserted in that text, you insert a “merge symbol” and input
a label number.
When you print the master document, the text is printed until a merge symbol is
encountered. At that point, the word processor compares the number that you
have input with the merge symbol, and automatically replaces the merge symbol
with the data contained in the corresponding label of the first record. When the
whole document is printed, the word processor checks the Address Book file to
see if there are more records. If there are no more records, merge printing is
completed. Otherwise printing of the master document starts again, and this time,
the next record of the Address Book file is used. The process is repeated until all
records of the Address Book file have been used.
Creating the Address Book File
To use the Data Merge function, you must first create an Address Book file, which is a
file containing the names, addresses or other data to be inserted into the document.
You create that file using the Address Book program. For details, see “Address Book"
on page 155, and specifically, “Preparing the Record for Merge Printing” on
page 161.
You can create the Address Book file specifically for your merged document, or use
an existing Address Book file. If you are using an existing file and there are records in
the file that you do not want to include in merge printing, be sure to delete the asterisk
that appear to the left of such records.
Also be sure to remember which label numbers (columns) in the Address Book file
correspond to the different pieces of information you want to insert.
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