othertonka
Stockton, CA
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TMBLSN wrote:Roaming Together wrote:Also, if you have Word, you may very well have Microsoft Access - a database program that somes bundles in some versions of the Microsoft Office suite. Microsoft applications play very nicely with other Microsoft applications, and mail merge will certainly work from Access to Word.
I would hope not. If he knows enough to WANT a database program and believes that he is capable of USING a database program, then he would surely know if he HAS a database program (Access). The only way to get Access is by buying a significantly more expensive edition of Office; for which you get Access and Publisher.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/buy/of........-suite-is-right-for-you-FX101825640.aspx
Bingo. I bought a new lap top in December, it came preloaded with "Office" but only for a 30 day trial. I bought a "Product key card" for "Office home and Student 2010" thinking that was what I needed to open office up, but I did not do my homework, Office for home and student does not include "Access", just Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and one note. Access is loaded on my puter but the trial period is over and it will not open without an upgrade, which at this point I do not want to pay for. So being new to "Office' I guess I will investigate using Excel for a Data Base as mentioned by another poster in an above post. Any hints on using Excel for a data base would be appreciated. I learned on Microsoft WORKS a long time ago so there is a new learning curve for me. Thanks again for all your help.
Othertonka
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TMBLSN
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You can import your data from Access into Excel. Just go to the Data Ribbon, select From Access.
Assuming that you only had one table in Access (if you had more, it gets more complicated), you just treat the excel sheet like a table. There's no difference. Access takes this further by using multiple tables and defining relationships between them.
Good luck.
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othertonka
Stockton, CA
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Thanks, I will give that a try
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wa8yxm
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Open Office (www.openoffice.org) works with a wide range of Microsoft and non-microsoft format source files.. I do not know if it specifically works with the one you cited, (though I think the word processor (Write) does.
This is a full suite of productivity programs, Data Base, Spread Sheet, Writer, Power Point and more, all free (donation ware) and works great.
I used it some years ago when I worked on a political campaign entering data for use by others who used Microsoft products.. I was able to read their files, modify them and save them back, in a format they could read. No problems.
Nothin adds excitment like something that is none of your business
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RTompkins3
Jefferson, MD
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othertonka wrote:I am looking for a free data base program, something that will work with Microsoft Word for mail merge. Any suggestions? Thanks
If you really want to go big, the full installation of Oracle is available for personal use only for free as a download from Oracle product downloads. It does require a registration, but you get the full version. Only caviat is they don't want you to use it for commercial purposes without purchasing the product ($$$$+)  .
Here's the text from the web page:
"All software downloads are free, and most come with a Developer License that allows you to use full versions of the products at no charge while developing and prototyping your applications, or for strictly self-educational purposes. You can buy products with full-use licenses at any time from the online Store or from your sales representative."
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mapguy
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If your mail merge and future data update needs are simple -Excel will work fine being used as a stand alone table.
If you need to be able to query out data sub sets for mail merge it won't work very well to do that.
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TMBLSN
Washington State
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mapguy wrote:If your mail merge and future data update needs are simple -Excel will work fine being used as a stand alone table.
If you need to be able to query out data sub sets for mail merge it won't work very well to do that.
????
Mail Merge allows filtering. If you only have a single table (spreadsheet), Mail Merge will work ABSOLUTELY no differently with Excel or Access.
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HappyKayakers
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If your data needs are a little more advanced, you could also consider MySQL, which is also free.
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othertonka
Stockton, CA
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Thanks everyone for all the good ideas. I will consider them and try some of them out. Thanks Again
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jmanatee
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You can use a text file with mail merge. Using notepad, put the data in as comma separated values one per line and save the file as .csv
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