WD97: How to Force Text to Start at Same Line in Merged Letters (195994)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Word 97 for Windows
This article was previously published under Q195994

SUMMARY

This article describes how to set up a mail merge main document so that the body of the document does not change position when some merge records contain fewer lines than other merge records.

When you choose to suppress blank lines during a merge, Word automatically suppresses those fields that are empty. This feature causes the body text to move up when you perform the merge.

MORE INFORMATION

To set up your document so that the body text starts at the same location for each document, create a table with a row set to an exact height; place your mail merge field codes into that row; and place all body text below the table row.

The following example demonstrates steps for doing this.

Enter the following mail merge codes into the top of your document with the body text below this area, starting at the same place for all documents produced in the mail merge.

<<Title>> <<FirstName>> <<LastName>>
<<Address1>>
<<Address2>>
<<City>>, <<State>> <<PostalCode>>

There will be times that <<Address2>> is blank. You want that blank line to be suppressed. By default, it will be; however, in case it is not, you can set it by doing the following:

  1. On the Tools menu, click Mail Merge.
  2. Click the Merge button under number 3 "Merge the data with the document".

    NOTE: There must be at least one mail merge field in the document for the Merge button to be available.
  3. Under When Merging Records, select "Don't print blank line when data fields are empty".
If you suppress the <<Address2>> line if it is blank, the body text moves up one line. To prevent this from happening, you need to place the mail merge fields into a table row set to an exact height. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Move the insertion point to the place where you want the mail merge fields.
  2. On the Table menu, click Insert Table.
  3. In Number of Columns, type 1. In Number of Rows, type 1, and then click OK.
  4. On the Table menu, click Cell Height and Width, and then select the Row tab.
  5. Under Height of Row 1, select Exactly. In the At box, type a measurement for the height of the row, like 1", and then click OK.

    NOTE: If you type in the measurement as inches ("), Word converts this measurement to points (pt).
  6. Insert the merge field codes into the table cell, and type the body text below the table.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:11/14/2000
Keywords:kbhowto kbmerge KB195994
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