I've followed several threads and learned how to use mail merge to create labels, but I cannot seem to get the labels to advance when I print to a file. Show In my Writer labels, I have the following fields: <filename>.Sheet1.Last Name , <filename>.Sheet1.First Name Next record:<filename>.Sheet1 where <filename> is the name of my data source - a spreadsheet containing a list of first and last names in titled columns. I get an entire page of just the first record when I try to print to a file. Please help! Last edited by liquidcool123 on Mon Dec 20, 2010 12:09 am, edited 1 time in total. Using 3.2 on OSX 10.5 and 3.3 on Windows 7 thomasjk Volunteer Posts: 4451 Joined: Tue Dec 25, 2007 4:52 pm Location: North Carolina by thomasjk » Sun Nov 28, 2010 9:21 pm If you use the File-->New labels wizard make sure the synchronize button is checked on the Options tab, otherwise the next record field will not propagate to all the labels. Tom K. Windows 11 23H2 LibreOffice liquidcool123 Posts: 35 Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2010 8:07 pm by liquidcool123 » Wed Dec 01, 2010 4:31 am Tried that too. No luck. I'm hoping to try from a PC later this week. Is there any chance it could be a Mac issue? I confirmed that all the field codes are updating properly with the synchronize button and I even tried adding an extra next record code - no luck. Interestingly, if I hit print (not print to file) and save the output as a .pdf, I do get some other records, but it only give me the first 4 of 20, then a bunch of blank records and then only the 5th record alone on another page. Curious. Using 3.2 on OSX 10.5 and 3.3 on Windows 7 liquidcool123 Posts: 35 Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2010 8:07 pm by liquidcool123 » Wed Dec 01, 2010 6:34 pm I tired both ways: choosing print all and selecting records (hold shift) and print selected records. Both - no luck. I followed the same steps for creating labels from my PC and had the same results. There must be something I am doing wrong, but I can't figure it out! Using 3.2 on OSX 10.5 and 3.3 on Windows 7 glenstorm Posts: 1 Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2010 7:10 am by glenstorm » Sat Dec 04, 2010 7:16 am I am having the same exact problem. It is happening on my Work Computer Ubuntu 10.10 (I am not sure what version of OO I am using there) and my home computer MacOS 10.6.5 OO version 3.2. One caveat I am noticing though is that the records progress in the first label of each page but the rest of the labels reflect data from the first record. OpenOffice 3.2 on MacOS 10.6.5 thomasjk Volunteer Posts: 4451 Joined: Tue Dec 25, 2007 4:52 pm Location: North Carolina by thomasjk » Thu Dec 09, 2010 8:06 pm You didn't post the spreadsheet that is linked to the database. I can't do anything without the spreadsheet. If you don't want to post it publicly attach it to a PM to me. Tom K. Windows 11 23H2 LibreOffice thomasjk Volunteer Posts: 4451 Joined: Tue Dec 25, 2007 4:52 pm Location: North Carolina by thomasjk » Fri Dec 10, 2010 4:36 pm Well that fix was simple. I created a merged document with all of your data and saved it as a file. When you open the file you are asked if you want to update the links. If you say yes you get a single record in all positions. If you say no you get all the records as expected. To correct this you can go to Tools->Options->Openoffice.org Writer--->General. Under update click Never and this will always produce the result you want or leave the setting as is and say no to the update request when opening the file. The attached file has all of your records. Attachments test.odt (11.13 KiB) Downloaded 883 times Tom K. Windows 11 23H2 LibreOffice  acknak Moderator Posts: 22756 Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:25 am Location: USA:NJ:E3 by acknak » Fri Dec 10, 2010 4:43 pm It works ok for me, using OOo 3.3rc7 on Linux. Ok in 3.2.1 also. If you're merging with output to a document, you must answer "NO" to the "Update all links?" prompt. The links in the merge output are left over from the "synchronize labels" feature. They cause the content in the first label to also appear in all the other labels on the sheet, so if you answer "YES", then every label on the sheet will display the same merged data as the first. Oops--sorry, Tom. I didn't see you had answered already. AOO4/LO5 • Linux • Fedora 23 liquidcool123 Posts: 35 Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2010 8:07 pm by liquidcool123 » Tue Dec 14, 2010 6:00 pm I must still be doing something wrong. I opened the file that has the fields (Labels with Fields), selected print to file, and then opened that file. I did not get a prompt to update the links. I verified that in the options under Writer/General I have "On request" for update links. I'm sure it's something simple I'm miss understanding, and I truly appreciate all the help and support! Using 3.2 on OSX 10.5 and 3.3 on Windows 7 acknak Moderator Posts: 22756 Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:25 am Location: USA:NJ:E3 by acknak » Tue Dec 14, 2010 8:13 pm I'm not sure that you intended to give a precise description, but in case you were, "print to file" won't give you the results described above. You must use the menu: File > Print. At that point, you should get a dialog window asking "... Do you want to print a form letter?" If you don't see that prompt, then something is wrong with your starting merge document. If you click "YES", then you get a new dialog window that allows you to configure the merge. There you can choose to send the merged output either to the printer, or to a new document. If you send the output to a new document, and you open that document in OOo Writer, then you should see the prompt for updating the fields--to which you must select "NO" to prevent OOo from making all the labels the same. AOO4/LO5 • Linux • Fedora 23 thomasjk Volunteer Posts: 4451 Joined: Tue Dec 25, 2007 4:52 pm Location: North Carolina by thomasjk » Tue Dec 14, 2010 9:10 pm The other option you can try is Tools-->Options->Openoffice.org Writer->General---->Update Links when loading and set it to Never in the merged output document. I just downloaded your files again and as long as I say no to updating the links in the merged output document I always get all of the fields filled in correctly when I open it. Tom K. Windows 11 23H2 LibreOffice liquidcool123 Posts: 35 Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2010 8:07 pm by liquidcool123 » Mon Dec 20, 2010 12:08 am That did it! Thank you so much! For others following this thread with similar problems, just click "No" when prompt on the printed labels file asks you if you want to update fields. Special thanks to acknak and thomasjk for your patience and help! Using 3.2 on OSX 10.5 and 3.3 on Windows 7 imenasol Posts: 6 Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2014 6:49 am by imenasol » Wed Apr 30, 2014 7:23 am I still have the same problem. I have tried everything that was suggested here. I still get one label per page... I get to the "... Do you want to print a form letter?" I get to the next page to configure the merge, then i go to save instead of print. The below doesn't seem like its an option for me. "There you can choose to send the merged output either to the printer, or to a new document. If you send the output to a new document, and you open that document in OOo Writer, then you should see the prompt for updating the fields--to which you must select "NO" to prevent OOo from making all the labels the same." |
