Q 1.

Brief note on Mail merge

In any working environment, there are situations when a similar type of letter or document is to be sent to many persons who reside at different locations. The letters may contain the address of each recipient, in addition to the standard information contained in the letter. One way of doing this is to print the letters by changing the address each time in the document after printing such letter. But this would mean lot of effort and time and also results in bad organisation. Such problems are taken care of by the Mail Merge facility. In word processing, Mail Merge is the process of transferring selected information from one document to another document. A mail merge is a method of taking data from a database, spreadsheet, or other form of structured data, and inserting it into documents such as letters, mailing labels, and name tags. It usually requires two files, one storing the variable data to be inserted, and the other containing both the instructions for formatting the variable data and the information that will be identical across each result of the mail merge. For example, in a form letter, you might include instructions to insert the name of each recipient in a certain place; the mail merge would combine this letter with a list of recipients to produce one letter for each person in the list. You can also print a set of mailing labels or envelopes by doing a mail merge. For labels, for example, you would construct a source document containing the addresses of the people you wish to print labels for and a main document that controls where each person's name, address, city, state, and zip code will go on the label. The main document would also contain information about how many labels are on a page, the size of each label, the size of the sheet of paper the labels are attached to, and the type of printer you will use to print the labels. Running a mail merge with the two files results in a set of labels, one for each entry in the source document, with each label formatted according to the information in the main document. Most major word processing packages (e.g., Microsoft Word) are capable of performing a mail merge. CONCEPT OF MAIL MERGING AND ITS COMPONENTS Mail Merge is the facility which requires the following three information General body of the letter called main document Header Row, the record structure or the name of the fields, which will identify the data

Data for all the individuals, for whom the letters are to be generated also called data source Mail Merge option of Word reads this data and physically merges it with Main document to generate letters for all the persons or for all records in the data file.

(a) Main Document

In Mail Merge, Main Document is the common letter, which contains the common information for each of the merged document. It also contains the field names, which contain the instructions for carrying out the merge.

(b) Data Source

Data Source is also called the Data File. It stores information to be brought into the Main document. The data file table contains a column for each category of information, or data field, in the data file. The Header Row is the first row of the table. It contains field names, which indicate the type of information in each column. For example list of names and addresses. Each field name must be unique and must begin with an alphabet/letter.

(c) Form Letter

Form letter is the resultant document of the mail merge operations, which contains the copy of the main document along with each piece of information stored in the data file.

The following procedure describes how to create a form letter, attach it to a data source, format it, and merge the documents. Start a mail merge Start a mail merge. To do this, follow these steps, as appropriate for the version of

Word that you are running. Microsoft Word 2002 On the Tools menu, click Letters and Mailings, and then click Mail Merge Wizard. Microsoft Office Word 2003 On the Tools menu, click Letters and Mailings, and then click Mail Merge. Microsoft Office Word 2007 On the Mailings tab, click Start Mail Merge, and then click Step by Step Mail Merge Wizard. Back to the top Select document type In the Mail Merge task pane, click Letters. This will allow you to send letters to a group of people and personalize the results of the letter that each person receives. Click Next: Starting document. Select the starting document Click one of the following options: Use the current document: Use the currently open document as your main document. Start from a template: Select one of the ready-to-use mail merge templates. Start from existing document: Open an existing document to use as your mail merge main document. In the Mail Merge task pane, click Next: Select recipients. Back to the top Select recipients When you open or create a data source by using the Mail Merge Wizard, you are telling Word to use a specific set of variable information for your merge. Use one of the following methods to attach the main document to the data source. Method 1: Use an existing data source To use an existing data source, follow these steps: In the Mail Merge task pane, click Use an existing list. In the Use an existing list section, click Browse. In the Select Data Source dialog box, select the file that contains the variable information that you want to use, and then click Open. Note If the data source is not listed in the list of files, select the appropriate drive and folder. If necessary, select the appropriate option in the All Data Sources list. Select the file, and then click Open. Word displays the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box. You can sort and edit your data if you want to. Click OK to return to the main document.

Save the main document. When you save the main document at this point, you are also saving the data source and attaching the data source to the main document. Type the name that you want to give to your main document, and then click Save. Method 2: Use names from a Microsoft Outlook Contacts List To use an Outlook Contact List, follow these steps: In the Mail Merge task pane, click Next: Select recipients. Click Select from Outlook contacts. In the Select from Outlook contacts section, click Choose Contacts Folder. In the Select Contact List Folder dialog box, select the Outlook contacts folder that you want, and then click OK. Word displays the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box. You can sort and edit your data if you want. Click OK to return to the main document.

Modern usage Now used generically, the term mail merge is a process to create personalized letters and pre-addressed envelopes or mailing labels for mass mailings from a word processing document which contains fixed text, which will be the same in each output document, and variables, which act as placeholders that are replaced by text from the data source. The data source is typically a spreadsheet or a database which has a field or column for each variable in the template. When the mail merge is run, the word processing system creates an output document for each row in the database, using the fixed text exactly as it appears in the template, but substituting the data variables in the template with the values from the matching columns.

Common usages
A common usage is for creating "personalised" letters, where a template is created, with a field for "first name", for example. The templated letter says "Dear <Firstname>", and when executed, the mail merge creates a letter for each record in the database, so it appears the letter is more personal. Another common usage is for creating address labels from a Customer Relationship Management database, or for mass emails with pertinent information in them, perhaps a username and password.

Q 2. Write the basic concept of data base.

Ans: A database is a collection of information that is organized so that it can easily be accessed, managed, and updated. In one view, databases can be classified according to types of content: bibliographic, full-text, numeric, and images. In computing, databases are sometimes classified according to their organizational approach. The most prevalent approach is the relational database, a tabular database in which data is defined so that it can be reorganized and accessed in a number of different ways. A distributed database is one that can be dispersed or replicated among different points in a network. An object-oriented programming database is one that is congruent with the data defined in object classes and subclasses. Computer databases typically contain aggregations of data records or files, such as sales transactions, product catalogs and inventories, and customer profiles. Typically, a database manager provides users the capabilities of controlling read/write access, specifying report generation, and analyzing usage. Databases and database managers are prevalent in large mainframe systems, but are also present in smaller distributed workstation and mid-range systems such as the AS/400 and on personal computers. SQL (Structured Query Language) is a standard language for making interactive queries from and updating a database such as IBM's DB2, Microsoft's SQL Server, and database products from Oracle, Sybase, and Computer Associates. An alternative concept in database design is known as Hypertext. In a Hypertext database, any object, whether it be a piece of text, a picture, or a film, can be linked to any other object. Hypertext databases are particularly useful for organizing large amounts of disparate information, but they are not designed for numerical analysis.

Database - Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages Reduced data redundancy Reduced updating errors and increased consistency Greater data integrity and independence from applications programs Improved data access to users through use of host and query languages

Improved data security Reduced data entry, storage, and retrieval costs Facilitated development of new applications program It means all of the information is together. The information can be portable if on a laptop. The information is easy to access at any time. It's more easily retrievable. Many people can access the same database at the same time. Improved data security. Reduced data entry, storage, and retrieval costs.

Disadvantages
Database systems are complex, difficult, and time-consuming to design Substantial hardware and software start-up costs Damage to database affects virtually all applications programs Extensive conversion costs in moving form a file-based system to a database system Initial training required for all programmers and users Database systems are complex, difficult, and time-consuming to design. Initial training required for all programmers and users. Suitable hardware and software start-up costs. A longer running time for individual applications. Large file size. Increased complexity. Greater impact of failure. More difficult recovery.

Q 3. What are Macros? Explain their works and uses.

Many people dream of the day they can give orders to a computer by talking to it; the current reality is that you still have to type on a keyboard if you hope to use your computer at all. Because most people would rather avoid typing, Microsoft Office offers a partial solution macros. Macros don't eliminate typing entirely, but they can reduce the number of keys you have

to press to get something done. A macro is a mini-program that records your keystrokes as you type. After you record the keystrokes in a macro, whenever you need to use those exact same keystrokes again, you can tell Microsoft Office to "play back" your recorded keystrokes A macro is a shortcut to a task you do repeatedly. Simply put, a macro is a series of commands that is recorded so it can be played back, or executed, later. There are a couple different ways to create Word macros: The first, and easiest way, is to use the macro recorder; the second way is to use VBA, or Visual Basic for Applications. When a macro is created, you choose to either save it within that particular document, or save it to all files of that type. For example, a Word macro that would quickly format a header and footer with the date, time and page number would be saved so that all Word files could execute the macro, not just one file. Prior to recording a macro, Word and Excel will ask if you want the macro made available to all files or just that file. Suppose, for example, that you are editing a file and want to indent every third line five spaces. If your word processor supports macros, you can create one that consists of the following keystrokes: Move Cursor to Beginning of Line Move Cursor Down 1 Line Move Cursor Down 1 Line Move Cursor Down 1 Line Insert 5 Spaces Now you can enter the name of the macro, and the word processor will perform all these commands at once. You can also use macros to enter words or phrases that you use frequently. For example, you could define a macro to contain all the keystrokes necessary to begin a letter -- your name, address, and a code that inserts the current date. Then, whenever you write a letter, you just press the macro key to include the letter header. In a way, macros are like simple programs or batch files. Some applications support sophisticated macros that even allow you to use variables and flow control structures such as loops. In dBASE programs, a macro is a variable that points to another variable where the data is actually stored. In most other applications, this would be called a link.

You can create a macro by using the macro recorder to record a sequence of actions, or you can create a macro from scratch by entering Visual Basic for Applications code in the Visual Basic Editor. You can also use both methods. You can record some steps and then enhance them with additional code. By recording steps By using Visual Basic for Applications If you give a new macro the same name as an existing built-in command in Microsoft Word, the new macro actions will replace the existing actions. To view a list of built-in macros in Word, point to Macro on the Tools menu, and then clickMacros. In the Macros in list, click Word Commands.

Steps in creating a macro 1. Click Tools, Macro, Record New Macro 2. Under Macro name type a short descriptive name with NO spaces. 3. Under Store macro in, select either all documents or the current document. Select All Document if you want to use this macro globally 4. Under Description, type a short description of what the macro will do. Include the date the macro was created and the creator. 5. Assign the macro to a Toolbar or Keyboard short cut. 6. Perform the actions you want to include in your macro. You can use the mouse to click commands and options 7. To stop recording your macro, click Stop Recording Running the Macro If the macro has not been assigned to a keyboard command or a toolbar then do the following to run the macro; 1. Tools, Macro, Macros 2. Under Macro Name, click the macro you want to run 3. Click the Run button