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Thu, 31 Jan 2002 01:12:49 +0100 |
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> We find that if we use the substitution for that column, and its value is
> NULL, then the substitution is ignored.
I believe that this problem was fixed on 2001-09-19, although I do not
recall getting definite positive confirmation from the customer (but it has
been a while). The fix is of course included in 1.8e, but I do not think
this is always the best solution:
> Dear &SALUTATION; &FIRST_NAME; &LAST_NAME;,
If SALUTATION is NULL (or the empty string), you will have two spaces
between "Dear" and the first name. This may not be a big deal in this
particular case, but in some cases it will be a problem. This can be avoided
using a conditional block:
.bb '&SALUTATION' = ''
Dear &FIRST_NAME; &LAST_NAME;,
.else
Dear &SALUTATION; &FIRST_NAME; &LAST_NAME;,
.eb
The mail-merge system makes no difference between NULL and the empty
string. Lower levels of LISTSERV can tell the difference, but once in the
mail-merge system it is the same thing. This is why you cannot compare
&SALUTATION with NULL.
Note that conditional blocks have a performance impact. Something like the
above is not a big deal, but if it occurs 20 times in the job it starts to become
another story. Running two jobs is always going to be more efficient.
Eric
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