You may modify the letters in any way you wish within the parameters of the variables available for data file. The data files themselves are not modifiable. The ARmerge.doc data file contains the fields it contains and the structure of the file is not under your control. The same applies to the other categories of data files that Diamond Dental Software creates.

NOTE - When getting into a merge document, either those of your own creation or those included from Diamond Dental Software, it is best to access these documents through Diamond Dental Software rather than directory from MS Word. The documents need their associated data file to properly display, and the data file is created by Diamond Dental Software just before it launches MS Word. Once these data files are created once, however, you can access the documents directly from MS Word because the data files are never deleted, they are simply overwritten when a new data file is created.

Embedding Field Variables Into A Merge Letter
Once you are inside MS Word and have the merge document displayed, you may modify it in any way. With the letters included from Diamond Dental Software, you will of course need to enter your own letterhead, or leave the letterhead blank if you are using paper that has a pre-printed letterhead.
To embed new variable fields into the document you will move the insertion point (the blinking cursor) to where you want the item inserted. Then on the Merge Toolbar of Microsoft Word you will click the Insert Merge Field button. This will drop down a list of all the available variable fields for this letter. Click on the field you want, and it will be placed wherever the insertion point is located. Treat merge fields just like typed words. That is, place spaces, or don’t places spaces as appropriate. For example:

Dear <<SalutationName>>,

In the example above, there is a space after the word “Dear” and there is no space between SalutationName and the comma.