Mail Merge, WordprocessingML, and Hosting Applications

The two key parts of the mail merge process are:

1. Connecting to an external data source

2. Populating mail merge fields with external data

It is important to note that aspects of the mail merge process outside of connecting to an external data source and populating mail merge fields with external data, are at the discretion of the hosting application.

As an additional example, WordprocessingML provides an element to be used as a flag by hosting applications to specify action to be taken on the merged documents that are generated by a mail merge. In other words, performing actions such as:

• creating a new document for each merged document

• generating and sending emails containing merged document

• printing merged documents

may be specified through WordprocessingML, but what if any specific action is taken on merged documents is determined by the application.