Mail Merge Tables

Walk Through

Download the following 3 demo files to your device (or prepare your own).

• ExampleTemplate.docx - a standard Word mail merge template
• InvoiceHeader.csv - the datasource for the template above
• InvoiceLines.csv - the csv file that will form the rows of the table associated with each letter

The first row of the InvoiceHeader and InvoiceLines data files is the field names, or headers. One of these fields must be present in both files. This field is referred to as the linking field. This field tells the Add-in which lines belong with each letter. In this case it is InvoiceNumber:

When you open the document you will need to relink it to the InvoiceHeader.csv file you downloaded.
Insert the merge field that the Add-in will use to link the two sets of data. It must be present in both csv files. In this example it is the Invoice Number. Position the linking field where you want your table to be located. In the demo document you downloaded the field is already inserted for you.

On the word menu go to Insert > My Add-ins > Mail Merge Tables

Select the linking field using your mouse or the shift and arrow keys. It is not enough to simply click on the field.

The easiest way to properly select it is to left-click on the right of the field, and drag across to the left.

This will open a browse box allowing you to browse to the location of the InvoiceLines.csv file. The Add-in will then insert a table for you. The structure of the table will be based on the columns in the csv file.

Now format the table as you wish. You can design the Mail Merge Table in exactly the same way as you would a normal Word table. See the relevant FAQ for more details.

You can save the Mail Merge Table template, to re-use it another time (Word menu: File / Save).
Now run the normal Word mail merge as you usually would, this will fill your document with header data from InvoiceHeader.csv

Re-open Mail Merge Tables. Office Add-ins are attached to a document. Because the Word mail merge has just created a new document (the Word mail merge result) it is necessary to re-open the Add-in.

Before you click the 'Fill Table...' button, make sure you have selected the entire document (Word menu: Home > Select > Select All). When you click the button you will be asked to browse to the InvoiceLines.csv file. This time the Add-in uses the file to fill the tables with data.

Files used in Demo

The files used in the demo can be downloaded here:

• ExampleTemplate.docx
• InvoiceHeader.csv
• InvoiceLines.csv

FAQ

Yes. This happens automatically based on your lines data. In the example above one coffee shop has 2 invoice lines, and another 4.

The table can be styled and formatted as any other table in Word can be.
You can -

• Edit the column names.
• Delete one or more columns.
• Delete the header row. If you don't want headers in your table, just delete it.
• Add a row. You can add one or more rows to the table as long as you do not split the two rows containing the hashes (##). The Add-in needs these 2 rows.
• Add a formula to a totals row.
• Apply formatting to rows, columns and fields.

• You cannot delete the rows filled with hashes (##). These are place holders for the data that will eventually fill the table. They are needed by the Add-in.
• You cannot add a column. If you need another column, then add it to your source csv file.

Yes, simply add the formula, e.g.: a total. Once the tables are populated with data you need to deselect and reselect the entire document and press F9 to allow Word to re-calculate the formula.

Your header data can use any file format that Word supports (Excel, csv, txt, etc). The lines data (that fills the tables) must be in csv file format.

Csv stands for Comma Seperated Values. They are text files that most software can use to import or export data. You can create and edit csv files using Excel spreadhseets: File / Save As / Save as type CSV (MS-DOS) .*csv

The hashes get replaced with your data in the Fill Tables step. They are used as placeholders and indicate approximate column widths. Please do not delete them.

Yes, you can have as many tables as you like.
Each table must be powered by it's own csv file. Each table must have a unique field name that is also in the header data. For example, you may wish to display invoice lines in one table and special offers in another.

To achieve this you need three csv files:

• InvoiceHeader.csv
• InvoiceLines.csv - the linking field is InvoiceNumber (this is present in InvoiceHeader.csv as well)
• SpecialOffers.csv - the linking field is SpecialOfferCategory (this is present in InvoiceHeader.csv as well)

Then simply insert two tables into your mail merge template (one based on InvoiceLines.csv and one based on SpecialOffers.csv) Finally, when you have completed the Word merge you will need to run the fill tables process twice (once for each csv file).

No, not currently. Please use the Edit Individual Documents merge option. In order to populate the tables with data Mail Merge Tables needs to edit your merge document after it is created. It cannot do this if they have beens sent direct to emails.

Mail Merge Tables is an Add-in for Office. Like all the Add-ins in the Office Store, it needs Word 2013 or above. It cannot be run in Word 2010 or an earlier version.

You can re-use it with new csv files that have the same fields, but updated data. You cannot re-use it with csv files that have a different structure.

Privacy

The Add-in never collects, stores, or transmits any data. All data is processed on your device.