Word - Suppressing blank lines in a mailing label in Word 2007

I have been trying unsuccessfully for days to eliminate the blank line on a
merged mailing label because the "Address 2" field is blank.  Even though the
Mail Merge Helper is marked to suppress blank lines, it doesn't do it.  I was
able to use the if...then...otherwise rule to eliminate the extra space due
to the lack of a middle initial, but I have been unable to apply it to this
blank field.  I have also tried alt+F9 to put the code in myself, but have
been unsuccessful.  This shouldn't have to be this hard just to print a
decent looking mailing label.  If I use the rule - If Address 2 is blank,
then "what?", otherwise "what?"?

{ IF { MERGEFIELD "Address 2" } <> "" "{ MERGEFIELD "Address 2" }[ENTER]
{ MERGEFIELD "City" }" "{ MERGEFIELD "City" }" }

Press the Enter Key (or Shift+Enter) in place of the [ENTER] above so that
the field construction is spread over two lines with the line break coming
after the "{ MERGEFIELD "Address 2" }

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

Doug,

I really appreciate your help.  I must really be stupid, because I just
cannot get this to work.  It is really frustrating.

Let's try it this way -

Here is how my field construction looks before your suggested solution.  I
have typed it EXACTLY as I see it - there's only so much room on a label.

{ MERGEFIELD "FirstName" }{ IF {
MERGEFIELD FirstName }= "" """ """ ""
MERGEFIELD MI }= "" """ """ "" "" }{
MERGEFIELD "LastName" }   #{
MERGEFIELD "Member" }[SHIFT ENTER]
{ MERGEFIELD "Address1" }[SHIFT ENTER]
{ MERGEFIELD "Address2" }[SHIFT ENTER]
{ MERGEFIELD "City" }, { MERGEFIELD

With that, here is how my printed (or previewed) label looks -

John Smith Jr.   #18
163 Walnut St.

Anytown, NY 00000-0000

Now, if I apply your suggested field construction, like this:

{ MERGEFIELD "FirstName" }{ IF {
MERGEFIELD FirstName }= "" """ """ ""
MERGEFIELD MI }= "" """ """ "" "" }{
MERGEFIELD "LastName" }   #{
MERGEFIELD "Member" }[SHIFT ENTER]
{ MERGEFIELD "Address1" }[SHIFT ENTER]
{ MERGEFIELD "Address2" }{ IF {
MERGEFIELD "Address 2" } <> "" "{
MERGEFIELD "Address 2" }[SHIFT ENTER]
{ MERGEFIELD "City" }" "{ MERGEFIELD
MERGEFIELD "ZIP" }

Then my printed (or previewed) label looks like this:

John Smith Jr.   #18
163 Walnut St.
MERGEFIELD
Anytown, NY 00000-0000

I take it I was to remove my previously inserted "City" field, because if I
don't, I get it twice.  What am i doing wrong???

Thanks,

Paul

You have not used CTRL+F9 for the extra field boundaries. However what you
should have is:

{ Mergefield FirstName }{ IF{ Mergefield MI } <> "" " { Mergefield MI }" }
{ Mergefield LastName }   #{ Mergefield Member }[Enter]
{ Mergefield Address1 }{ IF{ Mergefield Address2 } <> "" "[enter]
{ Mergefield Address2 }" }[enter]
{ Mergefield City}, { Mergefield State } { Mergefield Zip }

press enter (or shift enter) only where I have put [enter]
Note the spaces and the quotes.

--
Graham Mayor -  Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org

Graham,

Thanks for your help.  I am almost certain that I used CTRL+F9 to get the
brackets.  I will try it again.  But I do see that your solution is slightly
different than the one that Doug gave.  I hope this does it.  I'll post back.

Thanks,

Paul

I think Doug had a typo in his reply, but the relevant construction is the
same. As there is little space available in a table cell, enter the field
construction in a new document (using CTRL+F9 for each bracket pair) then
copy and paste to your table.

--
Graham Mayor -  Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org

Graham & Doug,

This latest solution appears to be the trick.  I made a trial run here at
work and all appears good.  I can't wait to get home and try it on the actual
file.  I very well may have typed something wrong the first time.  I was sure
I used the CTRL+F9, but now, after I had to type all the field construction
here by hand, I'm not sure what I did in the actual file.

The two of you have been most helpful and I greatly appreciate it.

Paul

Graham & Doug,

Please provide me with an "If... then.." statement that will accomplish the
same thing because I think this "solution" that has been provided is
cumbersome.

Thanks.

The replies included 'If ... then' fields?

--
Graham Mayor -  Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org