Mail-merge Letters

Learn how to create and disconnect mail merges.

Mail-merge letters can be:

  • Generated as part of a marketing activity, see Executing Marketing Activities.
  • Generated directly from an info area, either individually or as a collection of records.

Creating a Mail-merge Letter

To transfer multiple records from a list, selection or condition to the word processor:

  1. Select Extras > Connection with Word Processor from the menu.
  2. Load a transfer format.
  3. Select Immediately after selection.
  4. Click on Connect.
  5. Click on Output All.
    Depending on your settings when you accessed the menu command, the following records are transferred to the word processor:
    • All records in the list starting from the currently selected record.
    • All records in a selection
    • The records that meet the conditions defined.
      Note: Not all conditions are applied, see Transfer Conditions.

      Word is started in the background. The following documents are created and opened:

    • The template entered in the File Name field.
    • The temporary control file nnmtmp.doc, which is stored in the user's directory and contains the field data. "nn" is replaced by the number of the level the transfer is initiated from.

    The merge fields in the template are replaced with data from Aurea.CRM.

    The number of records that have been processed is displayed on the Output All button. You can stop the process by pressing Esc.

    To output records that are not part of a selection or that fulfill a condition, you need to collect the field data in a temporary file and then transfer it to the word processor:

  1. Select Extras > Connection with Word Processor from the menu.
  2. Load a transfer format.
  3. Select Collect records.
  4. Click on Connect.
  5. Close the dialog box.
  6. Select the individual records for which the mail merge should be generated.
  7. Select Extras > Transfer to Word Processor for each of these records. The records are collected.
  8. Once you have selected all the records, select Extras > Connection with Word Processor from the menu.
  9. Click on the Output Collected button.

    All the collected data is now transferred to the word processor and the serial letter is generated.

    Note: Mail merges created with Microsoft Word cannot be printed using the Pages option in the print dialog box (e.g. pages 10-14).

Terminating the Connection

Once you no longer need the connection, you can disconnect from your word processor:

  1. Select Extras > Connection with Word Processor from the menu.
  2. Click on Disconnect.
  3. Close the dialog box.