Re: [libreoffice-users] using fields in a text document: mailmerge

Cor Nouws <oolst@nouenoff.nl> writes:

> lee wrote (24-06-11 20:36)
>
> > So mailmerge is unfortunately broken, at least when using an LO
> > spreadsheet as a data source. I haven't tried to use something else
> > yet.
>
> No, it works fine. At least in the way I use it ;-)
>
> File > New > Database. Use the .ods as source.
> Now you have a new Datasource.

> From there, when I select "Open an existing database file" and click on
the "Open ..." button and choose my spreadsheet ("mm-testdata.ods"), a
window pops up that says "Please choose 'Connect to an existing
database' to connect to an existing database instead." The pop-up has an
Ok button, and when I click that button, the pop-up disappears and in
the "Database Wizard" window, my selection changed from "Open an
existing database file" to "Connect to an existing database".

That's pretty confusing. There's a drop-down list, apparently listing a
number of ways to connect to a database and databases, among them
"Spreadsheet". In the following steps, I can finally select my
spreadsheet. When I click "Finish", I'm presented with a file selector.

That's very confusing. I already do have a file I want to use. I didn't
want to create a new database, which apparently is what I'm doing.

> (Also look at Tools > Options > Base .)
>
> Type F4, open the datasource you created.

Nothing happens when I press F4.

> Drag fields (column headers) in your document (or use the window Ctrl-F2)

That's basically the same what I've already done by creating a new
database, filling in some test-data and inserting the fields into my
document in writer through Insert->Fields->Other. The result is a writer
document that has fields in it which refer to fields of a database.

> Now start Tools > Mail merge, and ... go immediately to step 8.

That sometimes refuses to send mails, the window says "0 of 0 messages
sent" even when there are two mails to be sent. Sometimes it does send
mails. I checked the resulting PDF when it did send the emails, and it's
messed up:

The writer document includes some scans of documents I otherwise only
have on paper. When I export the document as PDF via the File menu,
everything is fine. When the mailmerge tool sends the PDF as email, some
of the scanned documents on the last page have moved up one page and sit
on top of the scanned document which is on that page. --- This is not
because the contents of the fields or the fields themselves would result
in the scanned documents moving to different pages. I can export the
document with the fields as PDF via the File menu, and the resulting PDF
is ok.

That's one bug turning up after another. Now I better check each PDF I
create page by page before mailing it out to see if it's messed up
because of some bug.

My next step will probably be to try to switch to LaTeX. And I have been
thinking that WYSIWYG word processing software has become more reliable
over the last 15 years because it doesn't crash as often as it used
to. Obviously, I am mistaken.

> Close window F4, open and update your spreadsheet, F4 again ...

??

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