[Solved] Address Labels

[robleyd]

Hi,

For some time i have been using Open Office to print address labels for my Christmas cards.

This year i needed to change a few addresses, but even though i changed them in the data base, they continued to print as the old address.

Any suggestions would be appreciated

Rob.

[UnklDonald418]

If the document you are printing shows the actual names and addresses then you will need to start over at File>New>Labels.
When you get to the point where you have a document showing a page full of database field names, that is the one you want to save and use in the future.

[crossy]

Thanks for the reply.

I have ODS files which are the actual database, and ODT files which is the field names showing how the labels print.

When I change the entries on the ODS file, then print by printing from the ODT file, the printed labels still show the old entries. So it looks like I am not printing from the ODS file database.

Are you saying I need to start again?

Rob.

[John_Ha]

I have ODS files which are the actual database, and ODT files which is the field names showing how the labels print.

You need three files for Mail Merge (what you are doing) to work:

1. A spreadsheet .ods file with the names and addresses
2. A database .odb file which acts as the interface to the .ods file. The database file must be registered.
3. A text document .odt file with the fields you need to fill.

You also need 32-bit Java installed if you use the wizard. See Chapter 11 - Using Mail Merge in the Writer Guide.

You should see this when you have your labels text document open and go File > Print. The fields are ready to accept the data from the spreadsheet.

Search this forum with labels or mail merge for countless posts.

[MrProgrammer]

When I change the entries on the ODS file, then print by printing from the ODT file, the printed labels still show the old entries. So it looks like I am not printing from the ODS file database.

Maybe the data source isn't your spreadsheet. That seems likely based on discussion in Can't Edit Spreadsheet. You will need to edit the data in the data source you have selected for the mail merge, whether it's a spreadsheet or somewhere else. If you're not sure where your data source for the merge is, right-click the data source name (Cur2018 in the picture) and select Edit Database File. If you need assistance updating your database, open a new topic because updating a database is not an appropriate topic for the Writer forum.

Open your Writer document and enable View → Field Shadings. Now, did that set a grey background for your data in the labels? If not, then your Writer document does not contain fields, and you will have to rebuild it (File → New → Labels). To prevent this situation in the future be sure to save the Writer document which contains field names.

If the entries in your Writer document do have a grey background you just need to repopulate the fields from the database after you've updated them there. Use View → Data Sources, select the records you want from the database, and use Data to fields. If you're going to select every record, click 1, 2, 3, as shown. Disable View → Field Names to see the data in your Writer document.

If this solved your problem please go to your first post use the Edit button and add [Solved] to the start of the title. You can select the green checkmark icon at the same time.

[crossy]

Thanks for the replies.
Yes, massive brain fade on my part, there is an ODB file, and of course, changing that changes the label printing. The spreadsheet is not the source of the labels any more, the ODB file is.
There is still a minor issue, but I'll start a new thread for that one.

Thanks everyone.

[Villeroy]

The spreadsheet is not the source of the labels any more, the ODB file is.

It is important to know which file contains your data actually.
Open the database document (*.odb).
If you see this on the status bar...

... then your addresses are saved within that document. The document embeds a HSQL database.

More likely it looks like this ...

... which indicates that the source of your data is a spreadsheet. The Base document makes this spreadsheet look as if it were a database. This is called an "abstraction layer". Writer always reads from a database, however behind that database you may have a spreadsheet, a text file, a dBase file, some mail address book, a true database of a third party vendor or a database that is embedded in the Base document.

[any kind of database-like data] ---> [Base document] ---> [Writer document with mail merge fields]
This way you define your source of data once and re-use it many times for all kinds of letters, labels, envelopes or other documents with variable content to be read from a row of some table.
With a well prepared Writer template, writing the same professional letter to hundreds of receipients is a matter of minutes.

[crossy]

Thanks, definitely from an ODB file.