Re: [libreoffice-users] Mail Merge - Labels

Stan Grigiski wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I noticed that when I try to mail merge a data base for labels, the program
> will not supress a field if there is no entry; it will create a space on
> the lable. For example, if I have the field "address 1" set for street
> number and street name and the field "address 2" set for apt#, if a person
> does not have an apt #, it will put a space between the address and city,
> state and zip code. The link below seems to be the only fix I can find.
>
> http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2007/05/suppressing_bla.html

I haven't used mail merge to produce labels, but have used it for 
envelopes and other one-page-per-recipient type documents. I'm pretty 
sure when I've needed to suppress empty lines I've used hidden 
paragraphs rather than sections. Insert > Fields > More Fields > 
Functions > Hidden Paragraph, and enter a condition (similar to what 
that tutorial used for sections). If View > Hidden Paragraphs is 
enabled, they'll still show on screen but not in print preview (or 
actual print).

Needing to change the line breaks ("soft returns" in your link) to 
paragraph breaks ("hard returns") seems to be specific to labels rather 
than mail merge fields. I'm not sure why they're done that way.

> Is there any way this issue can be addressed on the next update?

A few thoughts:

- There may be times when you want lines for blank fields left in, so it 
would need to be an option when creating the labels. Software can't 
(yet) read your mind ;o)

- Perhaps the wizard for labels should insert paragraph rather than line 
breaks between each field. At least then setting conditional paragraphs 
wouldn't involve first changing all the line breaks.

- As Mark Phillips pointed out, there is a tick box on the mail merge 
wizard (Tools > Mail Merge) when adding a standard address block to 
"suppress lines with just empty fields". Adding a similar option to the 
labels wizard may be a valid request. Possibly already filed at 
<https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35798> although the 
description appears to be confused between labels and mail merge.

Feature requests can be filed at <https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/>. 
Don't forget to do a quick search first in case someone else has already 
filed the same request. Select "Enhancement" for severity. It would be 
handy to post the bug numbers you find or file here so others reading 
this thread can find them easily. If you're not sure what to select for 
any of the other fields feel free to ask here.

Mark.


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