There are a lot of programs out on the market that will "make" documents for you with a function much like merge in WordPerfect. However, if your attorneys are like most of those I have ever worked with, they each have their own way of doing things, each wants his own particular language, particular style, etc. You can make up your own "Program" to turn out repetitive documents with the merge feature of WordPerfect. This will make your life easier if being able to crank out documents quickly and easily-that look just exactly like he/she wants it-not someone else's boilerplate.
This is a very lengthy subject and I have tried to condense it as much as possible.
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Sometimes referred to as mail-merge because it can be used to mass-produce personalized form letters and mailing labels, the WordPerfect Merge feature can be used for these purposes and much more. Contracts, boilerplates, phone lists, and memos are just a few of the documents that WordPerfect helps people to create every day.
Merging is the process of combining information from two or more sources into a single documents. One source is always a primary file, which is also the file that controls the merge. The other sources of information may be secondary files, the keyboard (information that you enter at the time of the merge), specially designed WordPerfect document files, DOS text files, or the Shell Clipboard (if you own WordPerfect Shell).
Primary Files-Every merge requires a primary file. This file directs the merge, inserting a name here, an address there, a date some place else, and even a selected paragraph in the middle. Text may come from the sources listed above.
Secondary Files-Sometimes called an address file, the secondary merge file may contain many records (a record is a collection of related information). The number of records in a secondary file is limited only by disk space, and each record can contain as much information as you like. Records are separated by the {END RECORD} merge command followed by a hard page, and can be sorted (See sorting instructions in your WordPerfect reference manuals or give me a call).
The information is each record is divided into fields. One field may contain a name, another field may contain a company name, and another field may contain an address. It is these fields which are merged into a primary field. During a merge, only those fields that have been requested by the primary file are merged.
Fields within each record are separated by the {END FIELD} merge command followed by a hard return. (Note: Do not insert extra hard returns or spaces between the last word in a field and the {END FIELD} command.
Fields may be referenced by number or by name. Fields are numbered from top to bottom in a record. You can assign names to the fields by using the {FIELD NAMES} command that includes the names of the fields (in order) at the beginning of the secondary file.
As you move the cursor to each field, the number or name of the field at the current cursor position appears on the status line. You can clear the name or number from the status line by pressing Home, Home, Up Arrow.
CREATE A PRIMARY FILE
CREATE A SECONDARY FILE
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There is not enough room in this column to go into the other features of merge, but I believe that if you will spend a little time setting up your "form" documents, that you will save a lot of time and make your attorney very happy "to have things his/her way."
I have had a request to compare the keyboard commands of WP5.1, WP6.0 and WP7.0. I will do my best to address these issues next time. If you have any other requests, please let me hear from you or I may think no one ever reads this article!