Most InterAction Web Client pages that display a list of contacts in a grid include a command for creating letters, envelopes, and labels. This option starts a mail merge on a set of contacts.
This gives users an easy way to create labels, envelopes, and form letters in Microsoft® Word®. Users can run a mail merge for an individual contact or for several contacts at once.
When users choose to create letters, envelopes, or labels, they choose a mail merge template. This is a Word document installed on the Application Server that is set up for merging InterAction contacts. Out of the box, InterAction includes sample templates for creating envelopes, address labels, and letters. You can configure additional templates as needed. End users can also browse to their own templates on their machines.
After the user selects the template to use, the Web Client submits the mail merge request to the InterAction Application Server. which runs the mail merge using the data source and the specified template. The template is considered the main document in Word; it contains merge fields for the data fields. The process returns two Word documents, the template and the output (merged) document.
The mail merge feature in Word uses the terms data source, main document, and merge fields. If you are unfamiliar with how to do mail merges in Word, refer to Word help.
Since both the main document and the merged document remain open, the end user can review the results, make any changes, and re-run the merge.
Creating Letters, Envelopes, or Labels from the Web Client
[A] Select the contacts in the list and choose Actions > Create Letters, Envelopes, or Labels.
[B] Select the merge template to use.
[C] Word opens, performs the merge, and displays the merged document.
The Mail Merge Document in Word
[A] This is a template. Word uses it as the main document for the merge. The main document contains merge fields for the InterAction contact fields.
[B] This is the merged document. The merge fields are replaced with the exported InterAction data.
Requirements to Use the Web Client Mail Merge Feature
The Web Client mail merge feature requires the following:
- The InterAction Windows Client and the Desktop Integration components must be installed on the Application Server. You can select these components when installing the InterAction Desktop Applications.
- The machine must have a supported version of Microsoft Word. Other word processors are not supported.
Mail Merge Template Location
Mail merge templates are stored on the Application Server in the following location:
C:\Program Files\LexisNexis\InterAction\AppServer\iahome\templates
Note that the above example assumes the default installation directory for the Application Server:
C:\Program Files\LexisNexis\InterAction\AppServer
Any new templates you create must be placed in this same location. You can save your templates as *.docx documents or as *.doc files.