Linking records

[Lewy]

Hi all,

I presently send out 'eye exam' reminder letters to my clients, using a client table searching on a date range for each month. Obviously each client has a unique ID number. However what would be nice is where a husband and wife have come together on their previous visit, rather than them each getting a letter I would like to address it to Mr and Mrs Smith. How can I get paradox to link husband and wife together and then using the merge expert with microsoft word to print the letter?

Many thanks everyone,

Lewy

 

[footpad]

Lewy,

It's not easy to link separate records together, unless you've entered them with that in mind from the start.

In my experience, the best way is to separate names from addresses, e.g. place them into separate tables.

Now, if you're positive the you've got a true "family situation," then it's pretty easy to locate and link to the other person's address. However, you need to be careful about assuming that two people who happen to share the same address are related, living together, or even actually sharing the same address. (After all, certain apartment complexes "enjoy" a high tenant turnover.)

To link them together for printing, design your query to select the addresses that need to be printed for the run and then run a second query (or script) to build the names. (Just remember some common problems while doing so, such as a married couple where the wife kept her maiden name.)

In short, it's pretty easy to do simply, but it take a little thought and work to get fully refined.

Hope this helps...

-- Lance