Mail Merging ASCII Delimited Files

DocumentID: 652672
Revision Date: 29-Feb-96 8:29:17 PM

The information in this document applies to:
WordPerfect® 5.1 for DOS

Problem

Solutions: Where do these files come from? ASCII delimited files mostly come from database packages such as dBASE III or IV; however, they can also come from spreadsheet programs. To save a dBASE III or IV file in ASCII delimited format, do the following command at the Dot prompt in dBASE (the prompt is actually a small dot). USE (name of the database file) COPY TO (file to be saved in ASCII Delimited format) DELI. What ASCII delimited files look like? ASCII is simply DOS text or a general text format recognized by IBM compatible computers. Delimited means separated. If you were to look at an ASCII delimited file, it would look like normal text with a comma or other characters to separate the fields, and probably a new line to separate a record. The following is an example of an ASCII file without delimiters. John Doe 100 N. 200 W. Provo UT 84057 Tom Smith 100 N. 200 W. Provo UT 84057 Below is an ASCII file with delimiters, and it is called ASCII Delimited. "John","Doe","100 N. 200 W.","Provo","UT","84057" "Tom","Smith","100 N. 200 W.","Provo","UT","84057" |---- The comma is the field delimiter A new line (Carriage return and a line feed) indicate a new record. The quotation marks simply indicate that the information was a character field, and the quotations are stripped out since they are not needed. The field delimiter does not have to be a comma; it could be almost any character; however, commas are generally used. Similarly a new line (Carriage return and a line feed) indicates a new record. You can merge directly with an ASCII file without converting it to a secondary merge file if you have WP51. To do this you must be in WordPerfect, press Ctrl-F9, 1 and type the name of the primary file. When WP asks for secondary file, press F5 and change to the directory which contains the ASCII text file, highlight the ASCII text file, and press 1 for Retrieve. WordPerfect is able to detect that this is an ASCII delimited file and a menu appears which asks for the beginning and ending delimiters for the fields and records. In most cases, the beginning delimiter for a field will be a quotation mark ("), and the ending delimiter for a field will be a quotation mark with a comma ", and you should use a single " without the comma if it does not merge properly. There generally will not be a beginning record delimiter, but the ending delimiter will be a [CR] for carriage return which can be obtained by pressing Ctrl-M. When you are sure that you have entered the correct information, press Enter and the merge will be performed. If you desire to change the initial defaults for the delimiter characters, press Shift-F1,4, 1 and enter the delimiter character. This allows you alter initial settings permanently for the beginning and ending delimiter characters used for the fields and records.

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