What does "compare to" mean in the "If...Then...Else" field featur

I am creating a directory for a high school band that includes the student
name, address, student email, parent phone, parent email, and parent name.
Some entries do not have a student email or parent email. I see the "
If...Then...Else" feature on the merge tool bar however I don't know how to
fill in the information so that it works.

I do understand that I choose the "field" with the drop down. I also
understand I can choose the "is blank" or "is not blank" in the Comparison
drop down.

What I don't know is what is suppose to go in the "Compare To:' box.

I have read every possible answer on this support board and can not figure
this out.

Thank you for any help you can share.

In the case of "is blank" and "is not blank" the "Compare To:" box is
meaningless and would ideally be greyed out (disabled so you couldn't
type in it). Word ignores what you put in there and generates an IF
field like this for "is blank"

{ IF { MERGEFIELD "the field" }= "" "insert text" "otherwise insert text" }

and like this for "is not blank"

{ IF { MERGEFIELD "the field" } "" "insert text" "otherwise insert text" }

If the comparison is not working how you expect, it is possible - but I
have to say unlikely - that it is because the mergefield is not
completely blank. With most types of data source, a field that contains
only spaces will actually have all those spaces removed, there are
expections. You can check by doing e.g.

a{ MERGEFIELD "the field" }b

and previewing the data - if any kind of "white space" is being left in,
you would see results like

a b
a b

etc.

Peter Jamieson

http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

Graphics Band Mom wrote:
I am creating a directory for a high school band that includes the student
name, address, student email, parent phone, parent email, and parent name.
Some entries do not have a student email or parent email. I see the "
If...Then...Else" feature on the merge tool bar however I don't know how to
fill in the information so that it works.

I do understand that I choose the "field" with the drop down. I also
understand I can choose the "is blank" or "is not blank" in the Comparison
drop down.

What I don't know is what is suppose to go in the "Compare To:' box.

I have read every possible answer on this support board and can not figure
this out.

Thank you for any help you can share.