# Mail Merge truncates text



## midhenry (May 4, 2011)

I am doing a mail merge - excel to word (Office 10)
I have three columns of text that I am merging labeled "Comments", "Comments_2" and "Comments_3"

"Comments" comes across fine for all records.
"Comments_2" is truncated (i.e. only the first line or two of text comes across, the rest of the cells contents are not displayed.
"Comments_3" displays only a "0" (w/o quotes)

There are 15 or 20 other fields and they all work fine, but they are mostly numbers or numbers and a few words of appended text.

Ideas?


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## macropod (Apr 11, 2008)

Hi midhenry,

When initializing a mailmerge, Word tests the contents of the first 10-15 records to determine the data types for each field. If a certain field has only short strings or lacks data for those records, Word may determine the field's type wrongly. To overcome this, you could create dummy first record with all fields filled with the 'worst case' scenario. That record can be ignored from the mailmerge. Conversely, it can be useful for ensuring the mailmerge main document is laid out in a way that appropriately handles all that you might throw at it.


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## midhenry (May 4, 2011)

Thanks Paul,

That seems to do the trick. Not exactly obvious though. 

Is there no way to directly tell word that this mergefield is text?

I've run into all sorts of formatting problems because mail merge does not directly read the formatting for the source cell, which is bad enough, but you have to have a real taste for the arcane to track down how to add the field formatting in the Word file (more leftover backslash # ?// crud, being sure to balance single and double quotes - and know the difference - all from the script guys who think all of this should be obvious to mere mortals)

Sorry, just venting. But, IMHO, Microsoft should just clean it up instead of slapping a prettier toolbar on it. 

Anyhow, thanks again.


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## macropod (Apr 11, 2008)

Hi midhenry,

There are various data connection methods Word can use for mailmerges, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. DDE, I believe, honours the source formatting better than some of the others.

I'm not sure if any of them is immune to the data type issues your post concerned. Whilst I know a fair bit about mailmerges, that's not something I've ever explored.

As for the formatting, if there's anything in particular you're having trouble with, post back and I'll see what I can do to help.


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