Recall how text surrounding keywords shifted to make room for data of varying lengths. Text in files to be merge-printed auto-matically reformats following every insertion of a data item for a keyword. Consider this automatic text formatting when prepar-ing files for merge-printprepar-ing. Data printed for keywords some-times exceeds the length of the ampersand-enclosed keyword, so a printed document might look quite different than it did when you created it.
Sometimes automatic reformatting may cause your document to print in an undesirable manner. For instance, consider a line ending with a RETURN, where a long data item replaces a keyword. The long insertion might cause text to extend beyond the point you intended.
One way to accommodate an expected long data item is to place spaces on both sides of the keyword. For example, enter the
keyword &PRODUCT& where a long description that would alter the format is required. Advanced users may want to further control the way documents with long-data-item's format.
Formatting is the province of the PRINT-TIME LINE FORMER.
The line former consists of two functions: the "input scanner"
and the "output formatter."
The input scanner examines text in the file being merge-printed and locates the keywords. It takes margins, line spacing, jus-tification, and word wrap into account. When the input scanner detects insertion of data for a keyword, it directs the output for-matter to reorganize text: the scanner interprets the DOT com-mands and relays' them to the output formatter, which performs the automatic print formatting.
The output formatter does not change text until the input scan-ner encounters a keyword. After insertion of the data item, lines of text reformat until to the next carriage return, line feed, form feed, or end of file is reached. This type of line forming is termed" discretionary" line forming. The PRINT-TIME LINE FORMING DOT command, .PF, can turn line forming ON or OFF.
Whether a keyword turns line forming ON or you activate it by entering .PF ON:, you can direct formatting in a variety of ways. Left and right margins, line spacing, and justification are all subject to the control of MailMerge formatting commands.
You can either turn these features ON or OFF, or leave them to the discretion of the input scanner and output formatter.
Printing a document with different margins than those specified at the file's creation requires use of the RIGHT MARGIN DOT command, .RM, and the LEFT MARGIN DOT command, .LM.
Line forming has to be ON for these margin commands to be in effect. You already know how to set the margins for a whole document, but if you want to change the margins for a particu-lar section of a file, use one of these margin commands.
Suppose you want to indent a specific paragraph with a left margin of 20 and right margin of 40. First, turn ON line forming at the beginning of the paragraph. Next, specify the left and right margins. After the intended section of text is formatted, you have to direct line forming to act in its normal manner.
These formatting commands would appear like this in your file:
.PF ON:
.LM20 .RM40
These commands would be placed before the portion of the file to be affected. The PRINT-TIME LINE FORMER would be returned to its discretionary setting by the .PF DIS: command located after the affected paragraph as illustrated here .
. PF DIS:
Margins can change in the middle.of a paragraph: place the cur-sor at the beginning of the line above which you'll use the DOT command. Issue 1\ ffi], and enter the desired command. A soft RETURN will precede the command; a hard RETURN will fol-low it. MailMerge won't interpret the hard RETURN as a para-graph terminator. When detected, the DOT command will be invoked at the specified point in the file. If, subsequently, you need to use the REFORM command on the text containing the mid-paragraph command, you'll have to remove the DOT com-mand. If the line spacing or justification for a specific portion of text has to change, follow the same procedure as for changing margins.
You can also use a command file to change the line spacing or some other format for an entire file. All you have to do is create a command file that turns line forming ON, specify the format-ting, and insert the file to be formatted. Below is an example of a command file that would cause a file to print double-spaced, even though the file was created with single spacing. Use the LINE SPACING DOT command, .LS, in this case, and set the command file up like this:
.PF ON:
.LS2
.FI POSTCRPT
To cause text to print with a ragged-right margin, even though justification is ON, use the OUTPUT JUSTIFICATION DOT command,