Telecommunication Engineering Lab Report
Telecommunication Engineering Lab Report
ABSTRACT
This lab focused on two key features in Microsoft Word: mail merge and creating
a table of contents. We learned how to use mail merge to create personalized
documents, such as letters, by combining data from Microsoft Excel. This
process saves time and effort by automatically filling in details for multiple
recipients. Additionally, we explored how to create a table of contents in a
document, improving its structure and navigation. These skills are valuable for
enhancing productivity and creating professional, well-organized documents.
INTRODUCTION
1)MAIL MERGE
Introduction
Mail Merge is a handy feature that incorporates data from both Microsoft Word
and Microsoft Excel and allows you to create multiple documents at once, such
as letters, saving you the time and effort of retyping the same letter over and
over. During our 2.3 Engineering workshop we were taught how to do mail
merging in the school Computer Labs.
Step by Step;
1.) Gathering Your Data
The first thing you do is create an Excel spreadsheet, creating a header for each field
such as First Name, Last Name, Address, City, State, and Postal Code (NOTE: It’s
important to not refer to the postal code as a zip code, but more about that later).
The field headers (ie first name, last name) are labeled separately so that you can
filter them alphabetically if you need to.You can also add additional headers, such as
a donation amount. Be sure to label it something you’ll remember. If you are using
dollar amounts, change the type of number it is under ‘Number’ at the very top
to‘Text’ for every dollar entry and manually type the dollar sign otherwise the dollar
sign ($) will not show up in your letter.
2. ) Prepare your letter in Microsoft Word. When creating a letter, it’s a good idea to
insert a placeholder where the information from the mail merge will be placed, ie
[Address], [Amount].
3. ) Under “Mailings” in Microsoft Word click on ‘Start Mail Merge’ and click on
‘Step by Step Mail Merge Wizard.’ A window will appear to the right of your
document that says ‘Select Document type.’ In this instance leave it on ‘Letters.’At
the bottom click on Next: Starting Document. The next step will read ‘Select Starting
Document.’ If you currently have the letter you created leave the selection ‘Use the
Current Document’ selected. Next, click ‘Select Recipients’ at the bottom. You will
see ‘Use an Existing List’ the ability to browse for your list.
4. Click on the ‘browse’ button and find your list on your computer that you typed
up in Excel. Once you find your document click open and a box will show up that says
‘Select table.’ If you only had one tab on your spreadsheet click okay.
You will then see the data you had typed. You can also choose to leave off certain
names if you want to. Click okay. The table will close and then the dialog box on the
right will say ‘Currently Your Recipients Are Selected From:’ and will give the title of
your excel spreadsheet document.
5) At the bottom of the dialog box click ‘write your letter.’
From there you can start adding your fields from your spreadsheet. Highlight the
placeholder marked [Address] and then click on Address block. The spreadsheet
will pull in your data from your spreadsheet. If you did not write ‘postal code’ and
wrote ‘zip code’ instead you can click on ‘match fields’ and find the field that
matches ‘postal code’ instead. Be sure to cycle through your address list to make
sure your addresses are correct. Click okay.
6) Highlight the greeting line placeholder and replace it with the ‘Greeting Line’
under Write Your Letter. You can also filter it to where it only lists their first name.
For the other fields such as ‘amount’ you can highlight amount and go to ‘More
items.’ Then, go down to ‘amount’ and select it.
7) Next go to ‘preview your letters.’ From there the database information will have
populated your letter. You should be able to cycle through the information you
typed to make sure that your addresses and amounts are correct. If you’re satisfied,
click on ‘Complete the merge’ and then click on ‘print.’ It will give you the option to
click on ‘print current record’ or you can print all of the letters from your database.
2) TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
A table of contents will list all the different sections of your file. It will show how
your writing is broken up into separate categories. It will allow the reader to
know what to expect from the reading. A table of contents will also show which
page each new section starts on.
Just like a table of contents in a textbook or other reading materials, the table of
contents in a PDF will list where you can find specific sections. It allows you to
easily access the areas of the material you want to get to quicker.
a) Personal Preference. Many people find that they like how a table of
contents looks at the beginning of the PDF. You'll find that the PDF looks
much more professional. A table of contents also makes the PDF appear
more like professional reading, such as a book or official reading. If you
don't like how the table of contents looks, you can always delete it or
change it later.
b) Readability For Yourself and Others. Improving the readability of your PDF
is highly crucial if you want more people to see your work. If a reader must
scroll through hundreds of pages looking for the section or information they
want, they may give up and try to find another source. It will also allow you
to remember where your sections are located and edit them later if needed.
c) Easy Way to Show all the Topics. Before people start reading something,
they usually want to know what topics they can find in the material. A table
of contents will tell the reader if your PDF has what they're looking for or
not. Colleagues and clients will also see which topics you covered if you
wrote the PDF for a work-related task.
j) Copy and paste the major headings and subheadings from your current PDF in Adobe
into Microsoft Word. You can also use another word processing program as long as
they can save files into PDFs.
k) Choose the formatting you want or add images if you're going to include them.
l) Click "Save As" and then choose PDF from the drop-down menu. Then, make sure to
click "Save" again.
m) Open Adobe and open the ODF document you are working with. Click "Insert Page
from Another File." Find the table of contents you just made and choose "Open."
n) Now click "Location" from the drop-down box and choose "Before." Now Click "First"
and then "Ok." It might take a few moments for the PDF to be added.
o) Choose "Tools" and then "Content Editing." Now click "Add or Edit Link."
p) Draw a rectangle over the first heading in the table of contents. A dialog box should
open around it.
q) Choose "Invisible Rectangle" and then "Go to Page View." Click "Next."
On the left, you should see a list of the pages. Choose the one you want the link to
go to. Click "Set Link." Repeat this step for each heading or link you need to make.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, this lab taught us how to use Microsoft Word for two important
tasks: mail merging and creating a table of contents. We learned how to create
personalized letters quickly by combining data from Microsoft Excel, saving time
and effort. We also saw how a table of contents makes it easier to navigate and
find specific sections in a document. These skills help make our work more
efficient and organized.