Help Needed for Mail Merge From Several Access Tables (1 Viewer)

Hi Guys and Gals,

I am pretty new to the using of Microsoft Access. Part of my role at work is to mantain a register of contacts (Aprox 2000 records). When moving into my role there was already an Access Database in place that had been designed and created by another member of staff prior to leaving.

The database contains a wealth of information, however this is spread across MULTIPLE tables (23 to be exact)

I am trying to create a word document that is basically a mail merge in order for me to drag the contact information over to print. However all the information I require is not in one table. Word will only extract the data from one source.

I have been trying now for 2 weeks to complete this task with absolutely no success. Is there anyone who can help me.?

I live and work in the West Midlands if there is anyone local that would spare me some time.

Mitchell

You need to create a query which links all 23 tables together (or subsets thereof) which can then be used by word mailmerge

Do you do this by using Query wizard or Query Design.? A lot of the tables contain some of the same information and member records are all identified using a unique reference number can this still work?

A lot of the tables contain some of the same information

Click to expand...

Sounds like your data has not been normalised which can make the query much harder to create.

I can't see any reason why you should not be able to use the query designer - The wizard is for very simple situations. I would look at what is required in your word document and concentrate on creating a query for those fields only for now. Do a different query for each requirement or increment its development for the addition of new fields. Once you start picking up common elements you can start to merge them together.

I live not far from the West Midlands but I create dbs for a living so I would have to charge for any help provided outside of this forum.

Wonderfull......... I have now managed to do it. Thank you so much for your help. I'm glad it worked as unfortunately working within the public sector means we dont have funding to pursue tasks that make our life efficient and easier

I now have another problem. My query is bringing back over 800'000 entries. Where a lot of them are the same person just with different variations. Is there a way to merge these.

You either need to 'Select Distinct' or use 'Group By'. Initially I would try using Group By

To Select Distinct, in the query editor, if you cannot see the property window, right click in the top half of the window where the tables are and select properties. Change the Unique Values property to Yes.

To Group By (in which case do not use Distinct) click on the epsilon (totals) button (click again to ungroup)

There may be other solutions but without knowing your table details, the relationships, etc it is difficult to advise.

Suggest start with a single table (customer table?) to get the list you require then expand from there. For example you might have a separate table for addresses so link to that. Then you find you have duplicates again. This may be because the customer has several addresses or perhaps you keep a history of all of their addresses.

If the former, you need to find the identifer which is for the address you want to use, then you can set the criteria for this field to equal whatever value it may be.

If the latter you presumable would want the latest address so you would either set the criteria to match the latest date (for another post) or if grouping select Max

I really do appreciate your help but unfortunately you have lost me.... I think I need to sit down with someone so they can explain / see what I've got. Thank you again.

I understand, there is plenty of help on YouTube - here is a link which may help

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwaRAKBBci4

Good luck!