WD98: How to Use Nested IF Fields in a Mail Merge Document

MORE INFORMATION

The IF field syntax is as follows

{IF Exp Op Exp TrueResult [FalseResult]}
				

where TrueResult and FalseResult can be either text or a nested IF field. If you do not include the FalseResult argument, Word returns nothing if the result is false.

Conditional Mail Merge Results Using IF Field

In the following example, each form letter requests that its recipient attend a meeting on a different date, based on the city field.

Data Document:

   NAME, ADDRESS, CITY, STATE, ZIP
   Bill Brown, 123 Acorn St., Seattle, WA, 98035
   Sandy Sill, 234 Ash St., Los Angeles, CA, 99888
   Fred Turner, 345 Birch Ave., San Francisco, CA, 45555
   Lynne Lowe, 456 Walnut St., Boise, ID, 83240
				

Main Document:

   Please attend the Windows meeting on {if {city}= "Seattle"
   "Tuesday, March 21." "{if {city}= "Los Angeles" "Wednesday, March
   22." {if {city}= "San Francisco" "Thursday, March 23." "Friday,
   March 24."}"}"}.
				

Merged Results:

   (for Mr. Brown)
   Please attend the Windows meeting on Tuesday, March 21.

   (for Ms. Sill)
   Please attend the Windows meeting on Wednesday, March 22.

   (for Mr. Turner)
   Please attend the Windows meeting on Thursday, March 23.

   (for Ms. Lowe)
   Please attend the Windows meeting on Friday, March 24.
				

Using IF Field to Perform Boolean AND and OR Operations

The IF field does not directly support Boolean AND and OR operations in a mail merge. However, the logical AND and OR operators are actually just abbreviations of nested IF statements; therefore, you can construct the equivalent of Boolean AND and OR operations by using the following syntax:

• OR: Position the second test inside the second set of quotation marks.

  {IF test1 "TrueResult" "{IF test2 "TrueResult" "FalseResult"}"}
  					

• AND: Position the second test inside the first set of quotation marks.

  {IF test1 "{IF test2 "TrueResult" "FalseResult"}" "FalseResult"}
  					

Constructing a Boolean AND Statement

This AND statement

   IF (field <> "A") AND (field <> "B") THEN
      "TrueResult"
   ELSE
      "FalseResult"
   END IF
				

can be translated to an IF statement for use in a mail merge as follows:

   {IF field <> "A" "{IF field <> "B" "TrueResult" "FalseResult"}"
    "FalseResult"}
				

Constructing a Boolean OR Statement

This OR statement

   IF (field = "A") OR (field = "B") THEN
      "TrueResult"
   ELSE
      "FalseResult"
   END IF
				

can be translated to an IF statement for use in a mail merge as follows:

   {IF field = "A" "result" "{IF field = "B" "TrueResult"
   "FalseResult"}"}