OMS and Mail Merge

[dtaylor_elca]

Hello,

I want to use OMS to create an output file (or files) which can be used later to populate fields for a mail merge. I'm surveying ~100 congregations and their membership, which ranges from 25 to 850, meaning each congregation will have between 25 and 850 surveys needing to be scanned and analyzed.  Ideally, i'll use OMS to create either an Excel file or dBASE file which will be used with mail merge to automate the reporting of the results from each congregation. How do I need to create or set up the OMS syntax so each question's response is a field which can used for the merging?  I can provide more details about the survey itself if necessary.

Thanks in advance,
Dann Taylor

[Maguin, Eugene]

Dann,

 

I don’t know that I completely follow your work plan but it seems like after the surveys come back in and have been scanned and analyzed you want to send the congregation’s results back to each congregation. Perhaps you’ll do frequencies on the survey questions and save that via oms to a data file. The survey data file will have a congregation identifier because you’ll split the file by that variable. As long as the mail merge file has that same identifier you’ll be able to do a match files to build a unified file of data results and address information. You probably will have to massage the oms output file to get it into a one line per congregation format but that’s just a casestovars operation. You can export the file to either access or excel and word can read that file. While I’ve done mail merges in word and used access for that operation, I don’t think I have never used a file with extra fields in it. In other words, the mail merge file as a specifically constructed file. But why couldn’t you have extra fields. Does this get at what you are asking about?

 

Gene Maguin

 

 

 

From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Daniel Taylor
Sent: Sunday, June 17, 2012 12:15 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: OMS and Mail Merge

 

Hello,

 

I want to use OMS to create an output file (or files) which can be used later to populate fields for a mail merge. I'm surveying ~100 congregations and their membership, which ranges from 25 to 850, meaning each congregation will have between 25 and 850 surveys needing to be scanned and analyzed.  Ideally, i'll use OMS to create either an Excel file or dBASE file which will be used with mail merge to automate the reporting of the results from each congregation. How do I need to create or set up the OMS syntax so each question's response is a field which can used for the merging?  I can provide more details about the survey itself if necessary.

 

Thanks in advance,
Dann Taylor

[Albert-Jan Roskam]

Hi,

Odfweave is another, very cool route: http://datamining.togaware.com/survivor/Getting_Started0.html

You can call the odfweave function in a begin-end R block. It generates an odt document based on a

template that you make.

 

Regards,
Albert-Jan

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a
fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

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From: "Maguin, Eugene" <[hidden email]>
To: [hidden email]
Sent: Monday, June 18, 2012 2:53 AM
Subject: Re: [SPSSX-L] OMS and Mail Merge

Dann,

 

I don’t know that I completely follow your work plan but it seems like after the surveys come back in and have been scanned and analyzed you want to send the congregation’s results back to each congregation. Perhaps you’ll do frequencies on the survey questions and save that via oms to a data file. The survey data file will have a congregation identifier because you’ll split the file by that variable. As long as the mail merge file has that same identifier you’ll be able to do a match files to build a unified file of data results and address information. You probably will have to massage the oms output file to get it into a one line per congregation format but that’s just a casestovars operation. You can export the file to either access or excel and word can read that file. While I’ve done mail merges in word and used access for that operation, I don’t think I have never used a file with extra fields in it. In other words, the mail merge file as a specifically constructed file. But why couldn’t you have extra fields. Does this get at what you are asking about?

 

Gene Maguin

 

 

 

From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Daniel Taylor
Sent: Sunday, June 17, 2012 12:15 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: OMS and Mail Merge

 

Hello,

 

I want to use OMS to create an output file (or files) which can be used later to populate fields for a mail merge. I'm surveying ~100 congregations and their membership, which ranges from 25 to 850, meaning each congregation will have between 25 and 850 surveys needing to be scanned and analyzed.  Ideally, i'll use OMS to create either an Excel file or dBASE file which will be used with mail merge to automate the reporting of the results from each congregation. How do I need to create or set up the OMS syntax so each question's response is a field which can used for the merging?  I can provide more details about the survey itself if necessary.

 

Thanks in advance,
Dann Taylor

[David Marso]

You don't state what you are actually reporting so any specific OMS syntax is not likely to be forthcoming from anyone here.  OTOH: of you are reporting results likely to be readily digestible by your typically statistically unsophisticated layperson I suspect you may be looking simply at some means by congregation?
Consider AGGREGATE followed by  SAVE TRANSLATE... ie no need for OMS!!!
---

Daniel Taylor-9 wrote

Hello,

I want to use OMS to create an output file (or files) which can be used later to populate fields for a mail merge. I'm surveying ~100 congregations and their membership, which ranges from 25 to 850, meaning each congregation will have between 25 and 850 surveys needing to be scanned and analyzed.  Ideally, i'll use OMS to create either an Excel file or dBASE file which will be used with mail merge to automate the reporting of the results from each congregation. How do I need to create or set up the OMS syntax so each question's response is a field which can used for the merging?  I can provide more details about the survey itself if necessary.

Thanks in advance,
Dann Taylor