Merging Dialog Box

Use this dialog box to select a merge template, specify the records to merge, and run the merge process to produce a merged document.

Location

To display the dialog box, complete the following steps:

1. From the Vision Navigation menu, click Info Center, and then click the Info Center from which you want to create a merged document.
2. On the Info Center form, select the Info Center records to merge in the Search field.
3. On the Info Center form toolbar, click Merge, and select one of the following options:

   • Merge Current <record>

   • Merge Active Group

   • Select <record> to Merge

Contents

Field	Description
Display	Click the down arrow in this field, and from the drop-down list, select an option to determine the group of merge templates to display in the grid on the Merging dialog box. The group must contain the merge template with which you will create a merged document. Options are: All Merge Templates Favorite Merge Templates Microsoft Word (.rtf) Templates Adobe InDesign (.indt) Templates
Add Favorite	Select a merge template in the Merge Templates grid, and then click this button to add the template to a list of your favorite merge templates. These are usually templates that you will use frequently.
Delete Favorite	This button displays on the dialog box only after you select Favorite Merge Templates in the display field (the first field on this dialog box). In the Merge Templates grid, select a merge template to delete from your favorites list, and then click this button to delete it.
Info Center	This prefills with the Info Center that you currently have open. If you want to create a merged document using a different Info Center, click the down arrow in this field, and select a different Info Center. After you select a different Info Center, to select records from that Info Center for the merged document, click in the Selection column in the Merge Templates grid, and then click to open the Info Center Lookup dialog box.

Merge Templates Grid

The merge templates that display in this grid are determined by what you select in the display field (the first field on this dialog box). From this grid, you select a merge template to use to create the merged document. Click in a merge template's row to select it. A triangular selection indicator displays to the left of the merge template description when it is selected.

Field	Description
Merge Templates Drop-down	Click the drop-down arrow on a grid header to complete any of the following actions: To print grid data, click Print. When the Print Preview form displays, click File > Print to send the grid data to your default printer. To export grid data to an Excel spreadsheet, click Export to Excel. When Microsoft Excel opens, use its features to modify, print, or email the data, or to save the spreadsheet file locally. To turn on grouping for a grid, click Enable Grouping. When a field displays with the instruction: "Drag a column header here to group by that column," drag and drop column headers into this field, in the sequence that you want them to display. Not all options are available on all grids.
Merge Template Description	This column displays the name of a merge template. The merge templates are added to Vision in Configuration > General > Merge Templates.
Selection	This field prefills with one or more records or it is blank—based on which merge option you selected after you clicked the Merge icon on the Info Center form toolbar: If you selected Merge Current <Record>, the name of the current record that is displayed on the Info Center form displays in this field. If you selected Merge Active Group, then <based on navigation group> displays in this field. This represents the multiple records that you selected using the Lookup in the Search field on the Info Center form. If you selected Select <Record> to Merge, then this field is blank. Click in the empty field, and then click Search to display a Lookup dialog box. Select the records that you want to include in the merged document. After you select one or more records, <record selected> displays in this field. Regardless of what prefills in this field, you can click in this field and then click Search to open a Lookup dialog box, and select one or more records for the merge. After you make selections, <record selected> displays in this field.
Type	This column displays the merge template file type. The software that was used to create the merge template and merge template file extension are listed in this field. The types are: Microsoft Word (.rtf) Adobe InDesign (.indt)

Buttons and Fields

Field	Description
Refresh	Click this button to undo any changes that you made in the Merge Templates grid on this dialog box. Any entries that you made to the Selection column are reversed. The merge template description that you selected is unselected, and the focus moves to the first merge template description in the grid.
Create Activity	Select this check box to have an activity created automatically for the merge. After the merged document is created, the Activities dialog box displays. When you click OK on the dialog box, the merge activity is added to the Activities grid of all records that were included in the merge. This option does not display when you are merging vendor or text library records.
Merge	Click this button to merge the selected records with the selected merge template to create a document. If you are using a Microsoft Word merge template — Vision displays the Merge Document dialog box, in which you enter a file name for the merged document. Then another dialog box appears, and you can choose whether to open or save the merged document. If you are using an Adobe InDesign merge template — You receive a message that says Please wait while Adobe InDesign merges the selected <Info Center records>. When the merge process completes, InDesign opens and displays the merged document. You can then save the file locally or to a network location.
Close	Click this button to close the Merging dialog box without creating any merge documents.
Help	Click this button to display online help for the Merging dialog box.