[SLUG] Mailmerge, debate

[john at johnallsopp.co.uk]

> john at johnallsopp.co.uk wrote:
>> I'm trying to do a mailmerge of a letter with data in a spreadsheet.
>> Open Office 2.0 Writer is so difficult to use I haven't managed it.
>> Well, I kinda have but not in the format I want, and now it just
>> crashes.
>
> The Mail Merge Wizard also works OK (you can put an -ish after that,
> if
> you want), but it's a very unsophisticated beast, and you have to do
> everything in a prescribed manner.  (Don't expect it to do anything
> but
> put in some kind of salutation and an address block.  That's all it
> does.  That's all it's designed to do.  I think half the problem with
> it
> is that one has higher expectations.)  For a start, I could only get
> the
> salutation to work satisfactorily if the Calc Spreadsheet was set up
> "right", and included a field called Gender, with entries like M and
> F,
> or male and female.  The Address Block seems to work OK more or less
> whatever you do.
> The Wizard seems as limited and naff as the manual method, illustrated
> in previous postings, is versatile and powerful - but it does work, if
> you do exactly what it expects.
> For my money, use the manual method every time.  It's cool.

I'm looking forward to trying it. If it works, all is forgiven. I must
admit it's thrown me, I really just expected it to work. I didn't read
the manual for that though, did you, or did you chance upon your
method?

Cheers
J