Publish Directory, Data from Access

I am preparing our neighborhood directory, hoping to use Publisher instead of
cutting and pasting documents from Access, Excel, and Word. I have Office
2007 Pro. The data itself requires an Access report of 70 pages. Not all
data fields resist for all residents (some are null). The report requires a
subreport listing the children if they exist.

I tried to export the report from Access to an Adobe Acrobat 7 document
(standard in Office 2007) and import it as an object in Publisher. I get the
1st page, but cannot get it to flow through to additional pages. Exporting
one page at a time from Access and then importing one page at a time into
Publisher for 70 pages seems a bit time consuming.

I tried using catalog merge. The merge works except for 2 things:
1. I cannot get the children (the equivalent of a sub report).
2. I cannot make a merge field shrink it the contents are null or make a
merge field grow if the data takes more than one line.

Am I using the right software? I have never used Publisher before, and have
been teaching myself. Hopefully, I just missed something and there is an
easy answer.

--
Mary T

Charles
Sun Jan 20 13:50:48 CST 2008

Mary,

Publisher and Access is the correct combination. Forget Adobe Acrobat.

Go to Publisher Help. Search for "catalog merge" (without the quotes).
Scroll down to "Insert merge fields into a catalog merge publication. When
preparing the merge there should be an option to ignore null fields (I
haven't looked at it for a while)

Good luck... It takes a few times to get it right.
"Mary T" <MaryT@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:DC412AB7-0559-4952-9F34-615321E67B98@microsoft.com...
>I am preparing our neighborhood directory, hoping to use Publisher instead
>of
> cutting and pasting documents from Access, Excel, and Word. I have Office
> 2007 Pro. The data itself requires an Access report of 70 pages. Not all
> data fields resist for all residents (some are null). The report requires
> a
> subreport listing the children if they exist.
>
> I tried to export the report from Access to an Adobe Acrobat 7 document
> (standard in Office 2007) and import it as an object in Publisher. I get
> the
> 1st page, but cannot get it to flow through to additional pages.
> Exporting
> one page at a time from Access and then importing one page at a time into
> Publisher for 70 pages seems a bit time consuming.
>
> I tried using catalog merge. The merge works except for 2 things:
> 1. I cannot get the children (the equivalent of a sub report).
> 2. I cannot make a merge field shrink it the contents are null or make a
> merge field grow if the data takes more than one line.
>
> Am I using the right software? I have never used Publisher before, and
> have
> been teaching myself. Hopefully, I just missed something and there is an
> easy answer.
>
> --
> Mary T

MaryT
Sun Jan 20 17:59:01 CST 2008

Thanks Charles,

I have just found the option I think you were talking about. At the top of
each field in the source description there is an arrow with a drop-down menu.
One of the choices is "Nonblanks". What it does is filter out any row with
a blank in that field, not just shrink the field so it takes no space. Did I
miss something else?
I tried "Auto-fit" on the text in the text box for the merged field, but it
didn't work.
--
Mary T


"Charles W Davis" wrote:

> Mary,
>
> Publisher and Access is the correct combination. Forget Adobe Acrobat.
>
> Go to Publisher Help. Search for "catalog merge" (without the quotes).
> Scroll down to "Insert merge fields into a catalog merge publication. When
> preparing the merge there should be an option to ignore null fields (I
> haven't looked at it for a while)
>
> Good luck... It takes a few times to get it right.
> "Mary T" <MaryT@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:DC412AB7-0559-4952-9F34-615321E67B98@microsoft.com...
> >I am preparing our neighborhood directory, hoping to use Publisher instead
> >of
> > cutting and pasting documents from Access, Excel, and Word. I have Office
> > 2007 Pro. The data itself requires an Access report of 70 pages. Not all
> > data fields resist for all residents (some are null). The report requires
> > a
> > subreport listing the children if they exist.
> >
> > I tried to export the report from Access to an Adobe Acrobat 7 document
> > (standard in Office 2007) and import it as an object in Publisher. I get
> > the
> > 1st page, but cannot get it to flow through to additional pages.
> > Exporting
> > one page at a time from Access and then importing one page at a time into
> > Publisher for 70 pages seems a bit time consuming.
> >
> > I tried using catalog merge. The merge works except for 2 things:
> > 1. I cannot get the children (the equivalent of a sub report).
> > 2. I cannot make a merge field shrink it the contents are null or make a
> > merge field grow if the data takes more than one line.
> >
> > Am I using the right software? I have never used Publisher before, and
> > have
> > been teaching myself. Hopefully, I just missed something and there is an
> > easy answer.
> >
> > --
> > Mary T
>

Charles
Sun Jan 20 18:44:49 CST 2008

Mary T,

My last experience was a couple of years ago. I never attempted an
"Auto-fit" routine, but did have much smaller font for selected insertions.

Click on Publisher's Help and search for "auto fit" (without the blanks).
Expand and read both "Fit text automatically" and "Fit text manually"

Best of luck to you! I'm out of ideas.

"Mary T" <MaryT@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:90C8BDEB-3F30-49A0-9742-6CAA825430FA@microsoft.com...
> Thanks Charles,
>
> I have just found the option I think you were talking about. At the top
> of
> each field in the source description there is an arrow with a drop-down
> menu.
> One of the choices is "Nonblanks". What it does is filter out any row
> with
> a blank in that field, not just shrink the field so it takes no space.
> Did I
> miss something else?
> I tried "Auto-fit" on the text in the text box for the merged field, but
> it
> didn't work.
> --
> Mary T
>
>
> "Charles W Davis" wrote:
>
>> Mary,
>>
>> Publisher and Access is the correct combination. Forget Adobe Acrobat.
>>
>> Go to Publisher Help. Search for "catalog merge" (without the quotes).
>> Scroll down to "Insert merge fields into a catalog merge publication.
>> When
>> preparing the merge there should be an option to ignore null fields (I
>> haven't looked at it for a while)
>>
>> Good luck... It takes a few times to get it right.
>> "Mary T" <MaryT@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:DC412AB7-0559-4952-9F34-615321E67B98@microsoft.com...
>> >I am preparing our neighborhood directory, hoping to use Publisher
>> >instead
>> >of
>> > cutting and pasting documents from Access, Excel, and Word. I have
>> > Office
>> > 2007 Pro. The data itself requires an Access report of 70 pages. Not
>> > all
>> > data fields resist for all residents (some are null). The report
>> > requires
>> > a
>> > subreport listing the children if they exist.
>> >
>> > I tried to export the report from Access to an Adobe Acrobat 7 document
>> > (standard in Office 2007) and import it as an object in Publisher. I
>> > get
>> > the
>> > 1st page, but cannot get it to flow through to additional pages.
>> > Exporting
>> > one page at a time from Access and then importing one page at a time
>> > into
>> > Publisher for 70 pages seems a bit time consuming.
>> >
>> > I tried using catalog merge. The merge works except for 2 things:
>> > 1. I cannot get the children (the equivalent of a sub report).
>> > 2. I cannot make a merge field shrink it the contents are null or make
>> > a
>> > merge field grow if the data takes more than one line.
>> >
>> > Am I using the right software? I have never used Publisher before, and
>> > have
>> > been teaching myself. Hopefully, I just missed something and there is
>> > an
>> > easy answer.
>> >
>> > --
>> > Mary T
>>

Brucels
Mon Jan 21 08:21:00 CST 2008

Mary,

I have had great success in setting up a directory for a 400-member
organization as an Access report. If you would like to see a few pages of it,
send me a message:
brucels AT roadrunner DOT com.

Bruce

"Mary T" wrote:

> I am preparing our neighborhood directory, hoping to use Publisher instead of
> cutting and pasting documents from Access, Excel, and Word. I have Office
> 2007 Pro. The data itself requires an Access report of 70 pages. Not all
> data fields resist for all residents (some are null). The report requires a
> subreport listing the children if they exist.
>
> I tried to export the report from Access to an Adobe Acrobat 7 document
> (standard in Office 2007) and import it as an object in Publisher. I get the
> 1st page, but cannot get it to flow through to additional pages. Exporting
> one page at a time from Access and then importing one page at a time into
> Publisher for 70 pages seems a bit time consuming.
>
> I tried using catalog merge. The merge works except for 2 things:
> 1. I cannot get the children (the equivalent of a sub report).
> 2. I cannot make a merge field shrink it the contents are null or make a
> merge field grow if the data takes more than one line.
>
> Am I using the right software? I have never used Publisher before, and have
> been teaching myself. Hopefully, I just missed something and there is an
> easy answer.
>
> --
> Mary T

MaryT
Tue Jan 22 19:48:15 CST 2008

Bruce,

Did you print your Access report so that it created a booklet 8.5" X 5 "? I
have done this twice before using Access, but the pages have to be cut and
pasted together in the correct order - very time consuming.
--
Mary T


"Brucels" wrote:

> Mary,
>
> I have had great success in setting up a directory for a 400-member
> organization as an Access report. If you would like to see a few pages of it,
> send me a message:
> brucels AT roadrunner DOT com.
>
> Bruce
>
> "Mary T" wrote:
>
> > I am preparing our neighborhood directory, hoping to use Publisher instead of
> > cutting and pasting documents from Access, Excel, and Word. I have Office
> > 2007 Pro. The data itself requires an Access report of 70 pages. Not all
> > data fields resist for all residents (some are null). The report requires a
> > subreport listing the children if they exist.
> >
> > I tried to export the report from Access to an Adobe Acrobat 7 document
> > (standard in Office 2007) and import it as an object in Publisher. I get the
> > 1st page, but cannot get it to flow through to additional pages. Exporting
> > one page at a time from Access and then importing one page at a time into
> > Publisher for 70 pages seems a bit time consuming.
> >
> > I tried using catalog merge. The merge works except for 2 things:
> > 1. I cannot get the children (the equivalent of a sub report).
> > 2. I cannot make a merge field shrink it the contents are null or make a
> > merge field grow if the data takes more than one line.
> >
> > Am I using the right software? I have never used Publisher before, and have
> > been teaching myself. Hopefully, I just missed something and there is an
> > easy answer.
> >
> > --
> > Mary T

Mary
Wed Jan 23 04:37:26 CST 2008

I have made numerous directories using Access and Publisher's catalog merge.
I've never had to cut and paste. Are you using 2003? How are you setting up the
pages?

--
Mary Sauer MSFT MVP
http://office.microsoft.com/
http://msauer.mvps.org/
news://msnews.microsoft.com

"Mary T" <MaryT@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:DE22469F-C69D-46C7-8519-9E0D51F1FDC1@microsoft.com...
> Bruce,
>
> Did you print your Access report so that it created a booklet 8.5" X 5 "? I
> have done this twice before using Access, but the pages have to be cut and
> pasted together in the correct order - very time consuming.
> --
> Mary T
>
>
> "Brucels" wrote:
>
>> Mary,
>>
>> I have had great success in setting up a directory for a 400-member
>> organization as an Access report. If you would like to see a few pages of it,
>> send me a message:
>> brucels AT roadrunner DOT com.
>>
>> Bruce
>>
>> "Mary T" wrote:
>>
>> > I am preparing our neighborhood directory, hoping to use Publisher instead
>> > of
>> > cutting and pasting documents from Access, Excel, and Word. I have Office
>> > 2007 Pro. The data itself requires an Access report of 70 pages. Not all
>> > data fields resist for all residents (some are null). The report requires
>> > a
>> > subreport listing the children if they exist.
>> >
>> > I tried to export the report from Access to an Adobe Acrobat 7 document
>> > (standard in Office 2007) and import it as an object in Publisher. I get
>> > the
>> > 1st page, but cannot get it to flow through to additional pages. Exporting
>> > one page at a time from Access and then importing one page at a time into
>> > Publisher for 70 pages seems a bit time consuming.
>> >
>> > I tried using catalog merge. The merge works except for 2 things:
>> > 1. I cannot get the children (the equivalent of a sub report).
>> > 2. I cannot make a merge field shrink it the contents are null or make a
>> > merge field grow if the data takes more than one line.
>> >
>> > Am I using the right software? I have never used Publisher before, and
>> > have
>> > been teaching myself. Hopefully, I just missed something and there is an
>> > easy answer.
>> >
>> > --
>> > Mary T

Brucels
Wed Jan 23 08:46:02 CST 2008

Mary,

I must admit that the furthest I go is printing to a PDF in landscape
orientation for electronic distribution. The PDF is also used to create a
printed directory. However, I do not handle the layout process, so I can't
speak to it.

"Mary T" wrote:

> Bruce,
>
> Did you print your Access report so that it created a booklet 8.5" X 5 "? I
> have done this twice before using Access, but the pages have to be cut and
> pasted together in the correct order - very time consuming.
> --
> Mary T
>
>
> "Brucels" wrote:
>
> > Mary,
> >
> > I have had great success in setting up a directory for a 400-member
> > organization as an Access report. If you would like to see a few pages of it,
> > send me a message:
> > brucels AT roadrunner DOT com.
> >
> > Bruce
> >
> > "Mary T" wrote:
> >
> > > I am preparing our neighborhood directory, hoping to use Publisher instead of
> > > cutting and pasting documents from Access, Excel, and Word. I have Office
> > > 2007 Pro. The data itself requires an Access report of 70 pages. Not all
> > > data fields resist for all residents (some are null). The report requires a
> > > subreport listing the children if they exist.
> > >
> > > I tried to export the report from Access to an Adobe Acrobat 7 document
> > > (standard in Office 2007) and import it as an object in Publisher. I get the
> > > 1st page, but cannot get it to flow through to additional pages. Exporting
> > > one page at a time from Access and then importing one page at a time into
> > > Publisher for 70 pages seems a bit time consuming.
> > >
> > > I tried using catalog merge. The merge works except for 2 things:
> > > 1. I cannot get the children (the equivalent of a sub report).
> > > 2. I cannot make a merge field shrink it the contents are null or make a
> > > merge field grow if the data takes more than one line.
> > >
> > > Am I using the right software? I have never used Publisher before, and have
> > > been teaching myself. Hopefully, I just missed something and there is an
> > > easy answer.
> > >
> > > --
> > > Mary T

MaryT
Wed Jan 23 08:52:00 CST 2008

Mary, I'm trying to avoid cutting and pasting. There would not be a problem
if our directory were 8.5" X 11". The problem is because it is 5.5" X 8".
For final printing, 2 pages must be side by side on a letter size paper, but
the page numbers are not continuous except for the middle page.

Publisher (2007) does this automatically, and if I were just printing name,
address, and phone number, I would have finished the catalog merge.
Unfortunately, I am printing occupations and employers for everyone in the
house as well as printing a list of children with birthdates. Since these
fields are null for many residents, they create a great deal of empty space
in the directory.

Any ideas would be much appreciated.
--
Mary T


"Mary Sauer" wrote:

> I have made numerous directories using Access and Publisher's catalog merge.
> I've never had to cut and paste. Are you using 2003? How are you setting up the
> pages?
>
> --
> Mary Sauer MSFT MVP
> http://office.microsoft.com/
> http://msauer.mvps.org/
> news://msnews.microsoft.com
>
> "Mary T" <MaryT@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:DE22469F-C69D-46C7-8519-9E0D51F1FDC1@microsoft.com...
> > Bruce,
> >
> > Did you print your Access report so that it created a booklet 8.5" X 5 "? I
> > have done this twice before using Access, but the pages have to be cut and
> > pasted together in the correct order - very time consuming.
> > --
> > Mary T
> >
> >
> > "Brucels" wrote:
> >
> >> Mary,
> >>
> >> I have had great success in setting up a directory for a 400-member
> >> organization as an Access report. If you would like to see a few pages of it,
> >> send me a message:
> >> brucels AT roadrunner DOT com.
> >>
> >> Bruce
> >>
> >> "Mary T" wrote:
> >>
> >> > I am preparing our neighborhood directory, hoping to use Publisher instead
> >> > of
> >> > cutting and pasting documents from Access, Excel, and Word. I have Office
> >> > 2007 Pro. The data itself requires an Access report of 70 pages. Not all
> >> > data fields resist for all residents (some are null). The report requires
> >> > a
> >> > subreport listing the children if they exist.
> >> >
> >> > I tried to export the report from Access to an Adobe Acrobat 7 document
> >> > (standard in Office 2007) and import it as an object in Publisher. I get
> >> > the
> >> > 1st page, but cannot get it to flow through to additional pages. Exporting
> >> > one page at a time from Access and then importing one page at a time into
> >> > Publisher for 70 pages seems a bit time consuming.
> >> >
> >> > I tried using catalog merge. The merge works except for 2 things:
> >> > 1. I cannot get the children (the equivalent of a sub report).
> >> > 2. I cannot make a merge field shrink it the contents are null or make a
> >> > merge field grow if the data takes more than one line.
> >> >
> >> > Am I using the right software? I have never used Publisher before, and
> >> > have
> >> > been teaching myself. Hopefully, I just missed something and there is an
> >> > easy answer.
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> > Mary T
>
>
>

Mary
Wed Jan 23 09:06:06 CST 2008

Have you looked at the articles concerning catalog merge on the Office web site?
You can put many different fields in a directory merge.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/publisher/CH010504381033.aspx
There is a demo here as well as help and troubleshooting.

--
Mary Sauer MSFT MVP
http://office.microsoft.com/
http://msauer.mvps.org/
news://msnews.microsoft.com

"Mary T" <MaryT@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1D6BCE9A-D7A3-4E5E-BBD6-D7E6F01B7FED@microsoft.com...
> Mary, I'm trying to avoid cutting and pasting. There would not be a problem
> if our directory were 8.5" X 11". The problem is because it is 5.5" X 8".
> For final printing, 2 pages must be side by side on a letter size paper, but
> the page numbers are not continuous except for the middle page.
>
> Publisher (2007) does this automatically, and if I were just printing name,
> address, and phone number, I would have finished the catalog merge.
> Unfortunately, I am printing occupations and employers for everyone in the
> house as well as printing a list of children with birthdates. Since these
> fields are null for many residents, they create a great deal of empty space
> in the directory.
>
> Any ideas would be much appreciated.
> --
> Mary T
>
>
> "Mary Sauer" wrote:
>
>> I have made numerous directories using Access and Publisher's catalog merge.
>> I've never had to cut and paste. Are you using 2003? How are you setting up
>> the
>> pages?
>>
>> --
>> Mary Sauer MSFT MVP
>> http://office.microsoft.com/
>> http://msauer.mvps.org/
>> news://msnews.microsoft.com
>>
>> "Mary T" <MaryT@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:DE22469F-C69D-46C7-8519-9E0D51F1FDC1@microsoft.com...
>> > Bruce,
>> >
>> > Did you print your Access report so that it created a booklet 8.5" X 5 "?
>> > I
>> > have done this twice before using Access, but the pages have to be cut and
>> > pasted together in the correct order - very time consuming.
>> > --
>> > Mary T
>> >
>> >
>> > "Brucels" wrote:
>> >
>> >> Mary,
>> >>
>> >> I have had great success in setting up a directory for a 400-member
>> >> organization as an Access report. If you would like to see a few pages of
>> >> it,
>> >> send me a message:
>> >> brucels AT roadrunner DOT com.
>> >>
>> >> Bruce
>> >>
>> >> "Mary T" wrote:
>> >>
>> >> > I am preparing our neighborhood directory, hoping to use Publisher
>> >> > instead
>> >> > of
>> >> > cutting and pasting documents from Access, Excel, and Word. I have
>> >> > Office
>> >> > 2007 Pro. The data itself requires an Access report of 70 pages. Not
>> >> > all
>> >> > data fields resist for all residents (some are null). The report
>> >> > requires
>> >> > a
>> >> > subreport listing the children if they exist.
>> >> >
>> >> > I tried to export the report from Access to an Adobe Acrobat 7 document
>> >> > (standard in Office 2007) and import it as an object in Publisher. I
>> >> > get
>> >> > the
>> >> > 1st page, but cannot get it to flow through to additional pages.
>> >> > Exporting
>> >> > one page at a time from Access and then importing one page at a time
>> >> > into
>> >> > Publisher for 70 pages seems a bit time consuming.
>> >> >
>> >> > I tried using catalog merge. The merge works except for 2 things:
>> >> > 1. I cannot get the children (the equivalent of a sub report).
>> >> > 2. I cannot make a merge field shrink it the contents are null or make
>> >> > a
>> >> > merge field grow if the data takes more than one line.
>> >> >
>> >> > Am I using the right software? I have never used Publisher before, and
>> >> > have
>> >> > been teaching myself. Hopefully, I just missed something and there is
>> >> > an
>> >> > easy answer.
>> >> >
>> >> > --
>> >> > Mary T
>>
>>
>>

Sagit
Fri Jan 25 04:02:01 CST 2008

I'm not sure my first reply went thru, so here it is again. I create a
directory using Word Mail Merge and Publisher. Word 2000 and Word 2003 have
a directory option in the Mail Merge. Once the merge is completed, it results
in one long list of names. Word automatically omits any null fields in
Access.

I then create a Publisher booklet (size 8.5 x 5.5) with the number of pages
I think I will need. Each page has a blank text box with Autoflow, which
means that once the first page is filled up, Publisher will automatically go
to the next page, and so on. I go back to my Word directory, click on Edit,
Select All, Copy. Then I go back to my Publisher booklet, click at the top
of the first blank page, hit Edit, Paste. The names and addresses, etc. will
automatically flow from the first page thru the last. It's fun to watch. I
haven't experimented with Word to see if it expands a merge field if the data
takes more than one line. Hope this helps!
--
S Jan


"Mary T" wrote:

> I am preparing our neighborhood directory, hoping to use Publisher instead of
> cutting and pasting documents from Access, Excel, and Word. I have Office
> 2007 Pro. The data itself requires an Access report of 70 pages. Not all
> data fields resist for all residents (some are null). The report requires a
> subreport listing the children if they exist.
>
> I tried to export the report from Access to an Adobe Acrobat 7 document
> (standard in Office 2007) and import it as an object in Publisher. I get the
> 1st page, but cannot get it to flow through to additional pages. Exporting
> one page at a time from Access and then importing one page at a time into
> Publisher for 70 pages seems a bit time consuming.
>
> I tried using catalog merge. The merge works except for 2 things:
> 1. I cannot get the children (the equivalent of a sub report).
> 2. I cannot make a merge field shrink it the contents are null or make a
> merge field grow if the data takes more than one line.
>
> Am I using the right software? I have never used Publisher before, and have
> been teaching myself. Hopefully, I just missed something and there is an
> easy answer.
>
> --
> Mary T