Mailmerge question

Doug,

I did see it. I tried to consolidate my thoughts into one thead but I
haven't been so successful! If I can't do this with field codes as you
surmised, then I will brute force it by faking picture files. I'm chasing
down macropod's approach to see if it get me there; seems so close but yet
so far.

Thanks for your help.

Hello, Doug!
You wrote on Sat, 8 Aug 2009 21:00:43 +1000:

DRW Have you seen my response in the other thread?

DRW --
DRW Hope this helps.

DRW Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
DRW services on a paid consulting basis.

DRW Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com
DRW "colblip" colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com wrote in message
DRW ...
?? Macropod,
??
?? Thanks for the fieldtotxt item link. Here is my converted code,
?? including the bold formatting code:
??
?? { INCLUDEPICTURE "O:\\Pictures\\2009 Original Church
?? Pictures\\{ IF { MERGEFIELD "Full_Name" }= ""
?? "NoPicture" { MERGEFIELD "Full_Name" }}.JPG"
?? }
??
?? Maybe this will help point out my error.
??
?? Thanks.
??
?? Colblip
??
?? Macropod,
??
?? Yes, I double checked to make sure and it is there with that name
?? and is the 'picture' I want to add.
??
?? macropod,
??
?? Tried the code and result was correct picture for each record
?? that had a picture but for those that didn't rather than
?? NoPictureAvailable.jpg being used the picture from the previous
?? record is repeated.
?? Hello, All!
??
?? I have a directory I print for the church. In it I have
?? insert a picture of the family with the code
?? {INCLUDEPICTURE "O:\\Pictures\\2009 Original Church
?? Pictures\\{ Mergefield "Full_Name"}.JPG" }. I would like to
?? insert a standard NoPictureAvailable.jpg file if there is no
?? picture for the family in question. Is there a way to do
?? this? Thanks,
??
?? Colonel Blip
?? E-mail: colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com
??
?? With best regards, colblip. E-mail:
?? colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com
??
?? Hello, macropod!
?? You wrote on Thu, 6 Aug 2009 11:26:13 +1000:
??
m You could use:
m {INCLUDEPICTURE "O:\\Pictures\\2009 Original Church
m Pictures\\{IF{ Mergefield "Full_Name"}= ""
?? "NoPictureAvailable"
?? { m Mergefield "Full_Name"}}.JPG" }
??
m --
m Cheers
m macropod
m [Microsoft MVP - Word]
??
?? With best regards, colblip. E-mail: colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com
??
?? Hello, macropod!
?? You wrote on Fri, 7 Aug 2009 09:35:14 +1000:
??
m Do do actually have a jpg file named 'NoPictureAvailable.jpg'
in m O:\Pictures\2009 Original Church Pictures\?
??
m --
m Cheers
m macropod
m [Microsoft MVP - Word]
??
?? With best regards, colblip. E-mail: colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com
??
?? Hello, macropod!
?? You wrote on Fri, 7 Aug 2009 21:06:27 -0500:
??
m I checked, double checked, re-entered and checked again. Code is as
you m recommended. I then did a mail merge and alt-F9. The photos
?? that exist m for each record show up correctly. However those records
?? for which there m is no photo, instead of the NoPictureAvailable.jpg
?? showing in the code m it is the Full_Name.jpg that is called for
?? (which of course doesn't m exist).
??
m So for some reason the IF test is not responding correctly. Is
?? there a m way I can post a picture of the code for you (since I've
?? yet to figure m out how to copy the code exactly as entered and paste
?? it here)?
??
m OK, select the whole output file (Ctrl-A) then press F9 to update
all m the images. If the image that is supposed to be represented by
m 'NoPictureAvailable.jpg' now shows, the only problem was with the
field m updates
??
m If the image that is supposed to be represented by
m 'NoPictureAvailable.jpg' doesn't now show the correct image, the
next m step is to examine the output field code. To do that, press
?? Alt-F9 to m toggle the field display. Then check what's displayed in
?? the field that m is supposed to show your 'NoPictureAvailable.jpg'
?? image. If it's not m there, there's a problem in the way you've
?? coded the IF test - you need m to pay careful attention to the use
?? of spaces and double quote m characters. If it is there, you need to
?? re-check the name in the field m code against the file's name.
??
m --
m Cheers
m macropod
m [Microsoft MVP - Word]
??
m "colblip" colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com wrote in message
??

With best regards, colblip. E-mail: colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com

The simplest solution, where you do not wish to change the data source, is
to create 25 blank images named after the 25 records for which you have no
image, and then merge normally.

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



colblip wrote:
macropod,

I ran the {MERGEFIELD "Full_Name"} test and it returns a full name
for all of my records. But then that is what I would expect. I have
data records for say 100 people (names, address, etc) but pictures
for only 75. Therefore I have 75 "Full_Name".jpg files but no jpg
files for the other 25. When I look at the merged file using the code
- {INCLUDEPICTURE "O:\\Pictures\\2009 Original Church
Pictures\\{IF{MERGEFIELD "Full_Name"}= "" "NoPicture" {MERGEFIELD
"Full_Name"}}.JPG"} - then Alt-F9 on the merged file shows the
includepicture field for each of the 100 people with the Full_Name.jpg
called for (i.e. INCLUDEPICTURE "O:\\Pictures\\2009 Original Church
Pictures\\Full_Name.jpg} where Full_Name is that of the record in
question.
For whatever reason the IF test is not the one needed. I'm not sure
about the code but the logic should be "for each record "full_name"
check and see if there is a file "full_name".jpg. If not, use
"nopicture.jpg"; if there is use "full_name".jpg.

Is the if test testing for the photo or the data field as constructed?

Hi colblip,

The field code you're using, which reduces to:
{INCLUDEPICTURE "O:\\Pictures\\2009 Original Church
Pictures\\{IF{MERGEFIELD "Full_Name"}= "" "NoPicture" {MERGEFIELD
"Full_Name"}}.JPG"} is correct.

I've been doing further testing and have found that the symptoms
you've identified (ie the picture from the previous record being
inserted) occurs with Word 2007 if the file named 'NoPicture' does
not exist in the image folder. Although this seems to be a bug in
Word 2007, it also says the file named 'NoPicture.jpg' isn't in
that folder - either it has another name or it's in a different
folder. --
Cheers
macropod
[Microsoft MVP - Word]

"colblip" colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com wrote in message
...
Macropod,

Thanks for the fieldtotxt item link. Here is my converted code,
including the bold formatting code:

{ INCLUDEPICTURE "O:\\Pictures\\2009 Original Church
Pictures\\{ IF { MERGEFIELD "Full_Name" }=
"" "NoPicture" { MERGEFIELD "Full_Name"
}}.JPG" }

Maybe this will help point out my error.

Thanks.

Colblip

Macropod,

Yes, I double checked to make sure and it is there with that
name and is the 'picture' I want to add.

macropod,

Tried the code and result was correct picture for each
record that had a picture but for those that didn't rather
than NoPictureAvailable.jpg being used the picture from the
previous record is repeated.
Hello, All!

I have a directory I print for the church. In it I have
insert a picture of the family with the code
{INCLUDEPICTURE "O:\\Pictures\\2009 Original Church
Pictures\\{ Mergefield "Full_Name"}.JPG" }. I would like
to insert a standard NoPictureAvailable.jpg file if
there is no picture for the family in question. Is there
a way to do this? Thanks,

Colonel Blip
E-mail: colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com

With best regards, colblip. E-mail:
colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com

Hello, macropod!
You wrote on Thu, 6 Aug 2009 11:26:13 +1000:

m You could use:
m {INCLUDEPICTURE "O:\\Pictures\\2009 Original Church
m Pictures\\{IF{ Mergefield "Full_Name"}= ""
"NoPictureAvailable"
{ m Mergefield "Full_Name"}}.JPG" }

m --
m Cheers
m macropod
m [Microsoft MVP - Word]

With best regards, colblip. E-mail:
colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com

Hello, macropod!
You wrote on Fri, 7 Aug 2009 09:35:14 +1000:

m Do do actually have a jpg file named
'NoPictureAvailable.jpg' in m O:\Pictures\2009 Original
Church Pictures\?

m --
m Cheers
m macropod
m [Microsoft MVP - Word]

With best regards, colblip. E-mail: colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com

Hello, macropod!
You wrote on Fri, 7 Aug 2009 21:06:27 -0500:

m I checked, double checked, re-entered and checked again. Code
is as you m recommended. I then did a mail merge and alt-F9. The
photos
that exist m for each record show up correctly. However those
records for which there m is no photo, instead of the
NoPictureAvailable.jpg showing in the code m it is the
Full_Name.jpg that is called for (which of course doesn't m
exist).
m So for some reason the IF test is not responding correctly. Is
there a m way I can post a picture of the code for you (since
I've yet to figure m out how to copy the code exactly as entered
and paste it here)?

m OK, select the whole output file (Ctrl-A) then press F9 to
update all m the images. If the image that is supposed to be
represented by m 'NoPictureAvailable.jpg' now shows, the only
problem was with
the field m updates

m If the image that is supposed to be represented by
m 'NoPictureAvailable.jpg' doesn't now show the correct image,
the next m step is to examine the output field code. To do that,
press
Alt-F9 to m toggle the field display. Then check what's
displayed in the field that m is supposed to show your
'NoPictureAvailable.jpg' image. If it's not m there, there's a
problem in the way you've coded the IF test - you need m to pay
careful attention to the use of spaces and double quote m
characters. If it is there, you need to re-check the name in the
field m code against the file's name.

m --
m Cheers
m macropod
m [Microsoft MVP - Word]

m "colblip" colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com wrote in message


With best regards, colblip. E-mail: colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com

Hello, macropod!
You wrote on Sun, 9 Aug 2009 00:06:36 +1000:

m Another possibility has occurred to me: your 'empty' picture name
record m isn't really empty. You need to make the IF test test
against whatever m that field contains.

m Do a test with:
m *{MERGEFIELD "Full_Name"}*
m and see what happens for the empty records. Whatever appears
between the m asterisks is what needs to go between the empty pair of
double-quotes in m the IF test.

m --
m Cheers
m macropod
m [Microsoft MVP - Word]

Yep, that is my BF&A approach as well. Admittedly it would have been less
time consuming to do that but then I wouldn't have learned anything.
Further, I HATE problems that can't be solved thru automation. g

Thanks.

Hello, Graham!
You wrote on Sat, 8 Aug 2009 17:43:21 +0300:

GM The simplest solution, where you do not wish to change the data source,
GM is to create 25 blank images named after the 25 records for which you
GM have no image, and then merge normally.

GM --
GM
GM Graham Mayor - Word MVP

GM My web site www.gmayor.com
GM Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org
GM

GM colblip wrote:
?? macropod,
??
?? I ran the {MERGEFIELD "Full_Name"} test and it returns a full name
?? for all of my records. But then that is what I would expect. I have
?? data records for say 100 people (names, address, etc) but pictures
?? for only 75. Therefore I have 75 "Full_Name".jpg files but no jpg
?? files for the other 25. When I look at the merged file using the code
?? - {INCLUDEPICTURE "O:\\Pictures\\2009 Original Church
?? Pictures\\{IF{MERGEFIELD "Full_Name"}= "" "NoPicture" {MERGEFIELD
?? "Full_Name"}}.JPG"} - then Alt-F9 on the merged file shows the
?? includepicture field for each of the 100 people with the Full_Name.jpg
?? called for (i.e. INCLUDEPICTURE "O:\\Pictures\\2009 Original Church
?? Pictures\\Full_Name.jpg} where Full_Name is that of the record in
?? question.
?? For whatever reason the IF test is not the one needed. I'm not sure
?? about the code but the logic should be "for each record "full_name"
?? check and see if there is a file "full_name".jpg. If not, use
?? "nopicture.jpg"; if there is use "full_name".jpg.
??
?? Is the if test testing for the photo or the data field as constructed?
??
?? Hi colblip,
??
?? The field code you're using, which reduces to:
?? {INCLUDEPICTURE "O:\\Pictures\\2009 Original Church
?? Pictures\\{IF{MERGEFIELD "Full_Name"}= "" "NoPicture" {MERGEFIELD
?? "Full_Name"}}.JPG"} is correct.
??
?? I've been doing further testing and have found that the symptoms
?? you've identified (ie the picture from the previous record being
?? inserted) occurs with Word 2007 if the file named 'NoPicture' does
?? not exist in the image folder. Although this seems to be a bug in
?? Word 2007, it also says the file named 'NoPicture.jpg' isn't in
?? that folder - either it has another name or it's in a different
?? folder. --
?? Cheers
?? macropod
?? [Microsoft MVP - Word]
??
?? "colblip" colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com wrote in message
?? ...
?? Macropod,
??
?? Thanks for the fieldtotxt item link. Here is my converted code,
?? including the bold formatting code:
??
?? { INCLUDEPICTURE "O:\\Pictures\\2009 Original Church
?? Pictures\\{ IF { MERGEFIELD "Full_Name" }=
?? "" "NoPicture" { MERGEFIELD "Full_Name"
?? }}.JPG" }
??
?? Maybe this will help point out my error.
??
?? Thanks.
??
?? Colblip
??
?? Macropod,
??
?? Yes, I double checked to make sure and it is there with that
?? name and is the 'picture' I want to add.
??
?? macropod,
??
?? Tried the code and result was correct picture for each
?? record that had a picture but for those that didn't rather
?? than NoPictureAvailable.jpg being used the picture from the
?? previous record is repeated.
?? Hello, All!
??
?? I have a directory I print for the church. In it I have
?? insert a picture of the family with the code
?? {INCLUDEPICTURE "O:\\Pictures\\2009 Original Church
?? Pictures\\{ Mergefield "Full_Name"}.JPG" }. I would like
?? to insert a standard NoPictureAvailable.jpg file if
?? there is no picture for the family in question. Is there
?? a way to do this? Thanks,
??
?? Colonel Blip
?? E-mail: colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com
??
?? With best regards, colblip. E-mail:
?? colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com
??
?? Hello, macropod!
?? You wrote on Thu, 6 Aug 2009 11:26:13 +1000:
??
m You could use:
m {INCLUDEPICTURE "O:\\Pictures\\2009 Original Church
m Pictures\\{IF{ Mergefield "Full_Name"}= ""
?? "NoPictureAvailable"
?? { m Mergefield "Full_Name"}}.JPG" }
??
m --
m Cheers
m macropod
m [Microsoft MVP - Word]
??
?? With best regards, colblip. E-mail:
?? colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com
??
?? Hello, macropod!
?? You wrote on Fri, 7 Aug 2009 09:35:14 +1000:
??
m Do do actually have a jpg file named
?? 'NoPictureAvailable.jpg' in m O:\Pictures\2009 Original
?? Church Pictures\?
??
m --
m Cheers
m macropod
m [Microsoft MVP - Word]
??
?? With best regards, colblip. E-mail: colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com
??
?? Hello, macropod!
?? You wrote on Fri, 7 Aug 2009 21:06:27 -0500:
??
m I checked, double checked, re-entered and checked again. Code
?? is as you m recommended. I then did a mail merge and alt-F9. The
?? photos
?? that exist m for each record show up correctly. However those
?? records for which there m is no photo, instead of the
?? NoPictureAvailable.jpg showing in the code m it is the
?? Full_Name.jpg that is called for (which of course doesn't m
?? exist).
m So for some reason the IF test is not responding correctly. Is
?? there a m way I can post a picture of the code for you (since
?? I've yet to figure m out how to copy the code exactly as entered
?? and paste it here)?
??
m OK, select the whole output file (Ctrl-A) then press F9 to
?? update all m the images. If the image that is supposed to be
?? represented by m 'NoPictureAvailable.jpg' now shows, the only
?? problem was with
?? the field m updates
??
m If the image that is supposed to be represented by
m 'NoPictureAvailable.jpg' doesn't now show the correct image,
?? the next m step is to examine the output field code. To do that,
?? press
?? Alt-F9 to m toggle the field display. Then check what's
?? displayed in the field that m is supposed to show your
?? 'NoPictureAvailable.jpg' image. If it's not m there, there's a
?? problem in the way you've coded the IF test - you need m to pay
?? careful attention to the use of spaces and double quote m
?? characters. If it is there, you need to re-check the name in the
field m code against the file's name.
??
m --
m Cheers
m macropod
m [Microsoft MVP - Word]
??
m "colblip" colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com wrote in message
??
?? With best regards, colblip. E-mail: colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com
??
?? Hello, macropod!
?? You wrote on Sun, 9 Aug 2009 00:06:36 +1000:
??
m Another possibility has occurred to me: your 'empty' picture name
record m isn't really empty. You need to make the IF test test
?? against whatever m that field contains.
??
m Do a test with:
m *{MERGEFIELD "Full_Name"}*
m and see what happens for the empty records. Whatever appears
?? between the m asterisks is what needs to go between the empty pair of
?? double-quotes in m the IF test.
??
m --
m Cheers
m macropod
m [Microsoft MVP - Word]


With best regards, colblip. E-mail: colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com

Macropod,

Tried a different piece of code whose syntax is probably all wrong but
anyway:

{ INCLUDEPICTURE "O:\\Pictures\\2009 Original Church Pictures\\{ IF {
FILENAME "O:\\Pictures\\2009 Original Church Pictures\\{ MERGEFIELD
Full_Name}.jpg"}= "" "NoPicture" { MERGEFIELD "Full_Name" }}.JPG" }



Unfortunately this didn't work either. :-(



By the way, I have the NoPicture.jpg in both 2009 Original Church Pictures
folder and the folder in which all of my merge files are located. Made no
difference.



Macropod,

Thanks for the fieldtotxt item link. Here is my converted code,
including the bold formatting code:

{ INCLUDEPICTURE "O:\\Pictures\\2009 Original Church
Pictures\\{ IF { MERGEFIELD "Full_Name" }= ""
"NoPicture" { MERGEFIELD "Full_Name" }}.JPG"
}

Maybe this will help point out my error.

Thanks.

Colblip

Macropod,

Yes, I double checked to make sure and it is there with that
name and is the 'picture' I want to add.

macropod,

Tried the code and result was correct picture for each record
that had a picture but for those that didn't rather than
NoPictureAvailable.jpg being used the picture from the
previous record is repeated.
Hello, All!

I have a directory I print for the church. In it I have
insert a picture of the family with the code
{INCLUDEPICTURE "O:\\Pictures\\2009 Original Church
Pictures\\{ Mergefield "Full_Name"}.JPG" }. I would like
to insert a standard NoPictureAvailable.jpg file if there
is no picture for the family in question. Is there a way
to do this? Thanks,

Colonel Blip
E-mail: colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com

With best regards, colblip. E-mail:
colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com

Hello, macropod!
You wrote on Thu, 6 Aug 2009 11:26:13 +1000:

m You could use:
m {INCLUDEPICTURE "O:\\Pictures\\2009 Original Church
m Pictures\\{IF{ Mergefield "Full_Name"}= ""
"NoPictureAvailable"
{ m Mergefield "Full_Name"}}.JPG" }

m --
m Cheers
m macropod
m [Microsoft MVP - Word]

With best regards, colblip. E-mail:
colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com

Hello, macropod!
You wrote on Fri, 7 Aug 2009 09:35:14 +1000:

m Do do actually have a jpg file named
'NoPictureAvailable.jpg' in m O:\Pictures\2009 Original
Church Pictures\?

m --
m Cheers
m macropod
m [Microsoft MVP - Word]

With best regards, colblip. E-mail: colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com

Hello, macropod!
You wrote on Fri, 7 Aug 2009 21:06:27 -0500:

m I checked, double checked, re-entered and checked again. Code
is as you m recommended. I then did a mail merge and alt-F9. The
photos
that exist m for each record show up correctly. However those
records for which there m is no photo, instead of the
NoPictureAvailable.jpg showing in the code m it is the
Full_Name.jpg that is called for (which of course doesn't m exist).

m So for some reason the IF test is not responding correctly. Is
there a m way I can post a picture of the code for you (since I've
yet to figure m out how to copy the code exactly as entered and
paste it here)?

m OK, select the whole output file (Ctrl-A) then press F9 to
update all m the images. If the image that is supposed to be
represented by m 'NoPictureAvailable.jpg' now shows, the only
problem was with the field m updates

m If the image that is supposed to be represented by
m 'NoPictureAvailable.jpg' doesn't now show the correct image,
the next m step is to examine the output field code. To do that,
press
Alt-F9 to m toggle the field display. Then check what's displayed
in the field that m is supposed to show your
'NoPictureAvailable.jpg' image. If it's not m there, there's a
problem in the way you've coded the IF test - you need m to pay
careful attention to the use of spaces and double quote m
characters. If it is there, you need to re-check the name in the
field m code against the file's name.
m --
m Cheers
m macropod
m [Microsoft MVP - Word]

m "colblip" colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com wrote in message


With best regards, colblip. E-mail: colonel.blip.at.bigfoot.com

Hello, macropod!
You wrote on Sat, 8 Aug 2009 23:41:02 +1000:

m The field code you're using, which reduces to:
m {INCLUDEPICTURE "O:\\Pictures\\2009 Original Church
m Pictures\\{IF{MERGEFIELD "Full_Name"}= "" "NoPicture" {MERGEFIELD
m "Full_Name"}}.JPG"} is correct.

m I've been doing further testing and have found that the symptoms
you've m identified (ie the picture from the previous record being
inserted) m occurs with Word 2007 if the file named 'NoPicture' does
not exist in m the image folder. Although this seems to be a bug in
Word 2007, it also m says the file named 'NoPicture.jpg' isn't in
that folder - either it has m another name or it's in a different
folder.

m --
m Cheers
m macropod
m [Microsoft MVP - Word]