If you decide to use mail-merge renewal notices, QuickFill produces files that you can use with the mail-merge facility of your word processor
How to specify mail-merge renewal notices
You let QuickFill know you want mail-merge notices renewal package definition screen by selecting 'Mail-merge' in the 'Printed notice format' area and specifying a format in the 'Mail-merge format code' field. You should also make sure to fill in the 'Form set code' field on the package definition screen. QuickFill uses your entry in this field to identify the form set you intend to use. Because you make this choice on the package definition screen, you can use different form sets for different efforts in a renewal series (click here for details on the 'Form set code' field ).
Where to find the mail-merge renewal files
You'll see in the 'Renewal notices' update report a list of any mail-merge renewal notice files that QuickFill produced. You can use this list as a checklist when you print the mail-merge notices.
Delimited mail-merge notice files' names are in this format: Renewals_xxxxxx_nnnnnnn.txt, where xxxxxx is a publication code and nnnnnnn is a number. dBASE mail-merge files are named RENnnnnn.dbf. For the exact location of the mail-merge files, look at the mail-merge directory on the "About QuickFill" screen. The directory for mail-merge files may be specified on the preferences definition screen.
Format of the mail-merge renewal notice files
The data in the mail-merge notices are basically the same as the data in the standard notices. The major difference is that instead of QuickFill's producing them as a regular report file and printing them using the 'Print…' menu item, they are in a special format for use with your word processor's mail-merge facility.
In the mail-merge file, QuickFill places a field separator that marks the end of each field on the notice for your word processor. QuickFill also marks the end of the notice with a record separator. The default field and record separators are a comma and a carriage return/line feed respectively. You can specify other separators on the preferences definition screen (click here for details ).
Field list for mail-merge renewals and blanket renewals