Setting Up And Running Merges With Ms Word For Windows; Importing Data - Pitney Bowes DocuMatch Integrated Mail System Application Notes

Setting Up and Running Merges with MS Word for Windows

Importing Data

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Word supports a variety of file formats for merge data,
including the following:
• Access, dBase, Foxpro, and Paradox data base for-
mats
• Lotus 1-2-3 and Excel Spreadsheets
• A variety of word processors
• Delimited ASCII text
The converters are not always installed when you install
Word, so if the one you need is missing, rerun the Word or
Microsoft Office Install program. It will tell you what is
installed and what other options are available. You can also
get other converters from Microsoft's Web site or through
online services like America Online.
The internal error handling in the converters is sometimes
not very good. For example, if your machine does not have
the dBase converter installed and you try to open a docu-
ment that was created on another machine to merge with a
dBase file, Word may exit with a General Protection Fault
or other error message and offer no further explanation.
In the Office 97 Small Business Edition, Word Stand-alone
version, Microsoft Home Essentials, and perhaps other
versions of Office 97, the Data Access options are in the
Value Pack section of the Install. See Microsoft Knowledge
Base article Q180120 for further details.
If your merge data is in an ASCII file from another system
or application which is not supported directly by Word, you
must define the format of the file so Word can tell where
the fields and records begin and end.
• The first step is to find out exactly what character(s) are
used to mark field and record boundaries in your data
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