To comment on the following update, log in, then open the issue: http://www.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=70875 Issue #|70875 Summary|Mail Merge system unusable Component|Word processor Version|OOo 2.0.4 Platform|All URL| OS/Version|Windows 2000 Status|UNCONFIRMED Status whiteboard| Keywords| Resolution| Issue type|DEFECT Priority|P3 Subcomponent|ui Assigned to|mru Reported by|wedgetail
------- Additional comments from [EMAIL PROTECTED] Wed Oct 25 18:21:53 -0700 2006 ------- To the development team, I work in a small engineering firm who currently use Microsoft Office 2000. We are currently having to migrate to Ms Office 2003. Due to the cost of this migration, and the additional cost of having to migrate other software as well, I have been looking to OpenOffice to see if it could be a viable alternative. Whilst I am supportive of the OpenSource community and use many of the programs [dg. FireFox, Filezilla, Thunderbird etc.] the system of the Mail Merge in Open Office is not usable from a Office point of view and I will explain the reasons as follows. Whilst the current Mail Merge system is probably quite practical from a "Mass Mailing" perspective, from my limited trials in the Writer progam I could not get the system to work the way that is practical from the way we use Mail Merge. In our situation, we have a series of 'Projects' with all the data associated with a project contained in its own sub-folder on our server [P drive]. The directory structure is something like P:\ProjectYear\ProjectNumber. The contacts who we require to send letters to are stored in a Comma Seperated Values [.csv] file within this structure in a data file uner the ProjectNumber. We have a series of Templates set up for our various letters and correspondence that contain the contact information [Name, Company, address etc.] and some basic introductory and conclusion text. In Ms Word, we connect the template file to the datafile [which always has the same name] by a macro. >From this point we use record Navigation buttons that show the values of the fields in the document until we determine the correct record and then merge the record to a new file. From this point we save the document where the user wants to save the document, and using a filename that is chosen according to our companies naming procedures. After this we edit the document extensively to put the information into the letter. Ultimatley this letter/report would be sent to the client. The mailmerge letter/report may start out with the tempate being 2 or 3 pages and ending up at 3 - 100 pages long. Problems with the Writer System/Interface: - whilst the 'database' list that is saved with writer may be useful in many situations, for us that is a hopeless system as there would be a 'database' for each job which will be unmanageable; - after importing the 'database' file, it is saved in one location and all the database files seem to need to be saved to the one location. We have a project structure where individual project databases are saved in individual locations; - I could not find how to display the records in the fields as oposed to the field name; - when I merged the document, the fields remained and were not converted to text; - I have to go through two dialogs before I can merge the document, then I have to open the document before I can edit it. Suggested Changes to make the system better: - Have the option of saving the database with Writer or not, that way we would not have the issue of multiple databases to worry about. - Create a mailmerge toolber that contains: - a field navigation button [First, Last, Next, Previous] and record number; - a Merge button that brings up the mail merge dialog box directly [ie without going through the dialog box that asks you to select either From this Document or From a Template]; - when the dialog box comes up, if the selection arrows have been used the 'Selected Records' option is checked; - add an option to the dialog box that allows you to merge to a new document that does not have to be saved; - convert the mail merge fields [and only the mailmerge fields] to text [it might already do this and I was doing something wrong]. - if there are mail merge field in the document, the toolber should automatically appear. If these changes were made, the system would be greatly improved for an office environment where you use the mailmerge system several times daily and only send letters to one contact. If you have any questions on my comments, please contact me. Regards, Wedgetail --------------------------------------------------------------------- Please do not reply to this automatically generated notification from Issue Tracker. Please log onto the website and enter your comments. http://qa.openoffice.org/issue_handling/project_issues.html#notification --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
