EventPro Planner Manual

Multiple-Record Merge Field

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Multiple-Record Merge Field

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Multiple-Record Merge Field

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The simple merge method will only work for fields that have just one matching record. For example, if you pick the Attendee table and the <FirstName> merge field, only one record will match that field for each recipient of the communication (i.e. there is only one First Name for each attendee).

However, some fields will have more than one matching record.  For example, if you use the <TravelFrom> (Departure City) field from the AttendeeTravel table for an Attendee who has multiple travel reservations, EventPro Planner will only merge the city from the first record.

If you want to insert a merge field that has multiple records, you must use the Groups buttons.

1.Open the template in the Word Processor.
2.Place your cursor in the document where you want to insert the beginning of the merge field.
3.From the Word Processor’s main menu, select View | Mail Merge Dialog.
4.The Merge Fields/Bands dialog will appear.

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5.From the Merge Fields drop-down list, select the table you want to use. The fields related to the table will appear in the list below.
6.Still in the Merge Fields/Bands dialog, click the Advanced>> button to open the right side of the dialog.  For multiple merge fields, we will be using the buttons under Groups.

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7.Under Groups, click the Insert Start button. In the document, the Group Start will appear.

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8.If the Group name is not correct for the merge fields you want to use, simply click on the line, select the correct table from the drop-down list and click Set DataSet.  You can now choose fields from the correct table.
9.The cursor will be bumped to the line below the Group Start.  Double-click the field or drag-and-drop it to insert the desired merge field.

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10.Place the cursor behind or below the merge field(s) you just added, and click the Insert End button. The Group End appears.  

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11.The Group Start and End mark the start and finish of the multiple-entry merge field. All records that match the field will merge into the document as a vertical list at that point.  You can leave the list as is or add bullets, if you want.
12.To create a more detailed merge field, you can select multiple fields from the same table.  In our example, we used the Attendee Travel table and inserted the Carrier name, Departure City <TravelFrom>, Arrival City <TravelTo>, Arrival Time <TimeArrive> and Arrival Date <DateArrive>. See below for the example and result:

Template Example:

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Result Example: 

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13.To preview the document and ensure that the spacing and formatting are correct, click the Merged Text tab or select File | Print Preview.  If you are in the Merged Text tab, you can show or hide the preview panels along the left side by clicking View | Preview Panel.
14.Note that the preview text will be pulled from your database, so if some of the fields are incomplete, no text will appear in the preview fields.  If the preview is blank, but you want to ensure that the template works correctly, try creating a test communication for a recipient with all of the required information.