Printing Stall Cards from FairPlus! data

Printing Stall Cards from FairPlus! Data
Revised 6/29/2005

Once fair entries have been entered, it is possible to export the data necessary to create a data file that can be mail merged in MS-Word to print livestock stall cards. This topic sheet contains the instructions for creating these cards, plus links to download the Word documents necessary to complete the process.

The first step will be to export the data from FairPlus! These instructions will cover only those steps necessary to create the data file for stall cards. There are many, many more data export operations that FairPlus! can do. To begin:

Click on [Goto] [Utilities] [Data Export]

This will bring up the data export screen. On the left side of the screen there is a box that lists all the known classes in your fair. From this listing, select the classes that you want to print stall cards for. For example, if you want to print stall cards for all your dairy animals, you would select all the dairy classes.

In the left-most list box, select (click-drag, shift-click or ctrl-click) the classes that contain the exhibitors for which you want to print stall cards for.

NOTE:

If you will be using the AgStar/Farm Credit Services cards, you may want to select all the classes that will be printed on a particular version of the stall card - that way, you could pre-sort the data so that cards are printed with all one member's cards together, all the club's cards together, in class order, etc. For example, you might want to print all the classes that go on "Large" stall cards, then a second batch of those classes that print on "Small" or "Cage" cards.

In the upper right part of the screen, click on the radio button for [Items Unique]
In the center part of the screen, place a check mark next to each piece of data you want to include in the file. Typically for stall cards you would include [Exhibitor Name] [Representing Club] and [County Fair Class Description]. You also choose additional fields such as the [Exhibitor Grade].
Click on either a [Generic] or [Custom] file name - entering a file name in the box if [Custom] is chosen.
Click on the [Create...] button - making sure to note the location and name of the export file.
Exit FairPlus!

You now have a data file containing all the data you need to create stall cards.

NOTE:

At this point there are several optional ways of proceeding. The following procedure is one of those. If there is another option that better fits your county, feel free to follow whatever works for you.

The next thing we'll do in this example is use MS-Excel to sort the data, which will allow you to determine what order the cards will be printed in. (This step is optional.)

Start MS-Excel
Click [File] [Open]
You will probably need to change your [Files of type] to [All Files (*.*)]. This is found near the bottom of the File Open dialogue box.
Navigate to C:\CKV\Dataxfer and select the file you named while in FairPlus! (The drive letter will correspond to your network drive letter if you run FairPlus! from a file server).
Click [Open]

This will start the "Text Import Wizard"

Click on [Delimited] as the Original Data Type (this may already be selected)
Click on [Next]
Select [Comma] as the delimiter, and quotation marks ["] as the Text Qualifier
Click on [Next]
Click on [Finish]

You now have the data displayed in an Excel spreadsheet format, but it is not saved in an Excel format.

Click on [File] [Save As], indicating that the file is to be saved as a [Microsoft Excel Workbook]. You will probably also want to save this Excel document in some location other than the CKV\Dataxfer folder.

NOTE:

You might want to re-size the columns so that the data fits better. This can be quickly done by moving your mouse between two columns, at the very top (where the gray, lettered buttons are) - when you get the double-arrow, do a double-click. The column will now expand to the correct width needed to display the data.

As another option, you can click and drag your mouse across all the gray lettered buttons on the top (which will select all columns). Then click on [Format] [Column] [Auto Fit Selection].

Any sorting that is done in Excel will determine the order that the cards are printed. For example, you could print cards in alphabetical order by last name, or in class/lot order, or in club order, etc.

Sorting can be accomplished with the button on the shortcut bar, but more reliable results are obtained by the following:

Click on [Data] [Sort]
On the resulting dialogue box, click on the first box to choose which column you want to sort by and whether you want it to be ascending or descending.
Be sure to indicate that your list has a "header row", by clicking on the radio button for [Header row]
Click [OK]
Click [File] [Save]
Exit Excel

You are ready to create the stall cards. There are four master documents that are available for download via the links in the table below - all are in a Word 97/2000 format. based on card samples submitted in 2001. If additional templates are needed, please contact 4-H Software Support.

Find the appropriate file(s) for your county use.

SPONSOR	CARD	SIZE	FILE DOWNLOAD
Farm Credit Services	LARGE Landscape	11"by 8.5"	LargeFCS.doc
AgStar	LARGE Landscape	9.5" by 7"	LargeAgStar.doc
AgStar	SMALL Landscape	6" by 4"	SmAgStarLands.doc
AgStar	SMALL Portrait	4 " by 6"	SmAgStarPortr.doc

Download and save the appropriate Word document from the table above

Clicking on a file download link will start the download process. Depending upon your browser and how it's set up, you may be presented with various options. In all cases, choose to download and save to a disk. Be sure to save the file in a location where you can find it back again. You may also choose to create your own master document or modify one of these.

NOTE:

If you look directly at the contents of these Word documents, it will not look like a well-formatted document. This is because the field titles are longer than actual 4-H member names. Disregard the appearance of the main document until after viewing the merged document.

Start MS-Word and open the selected Word document
Click on [Tools] [Letter and Mailings] [Mail Merge...]
Follow the Mail Merge "helper" steps

NOTE:

If the sorting step was skipped and the file was not saved in an Excel format, then the above instructions would be modified in that you are looking for a text file (*.txt) in the CKV\Dataxfer folder.

If you are merging directly from a text file, there may be other options presented when you open the text data file. Generally, you are best to accept the default choice(s).

You will create a whole new document, which will consist of one page for each stall card (in other words, this will be a very long document).

You can now scroll through the document if you wish - checking for errors, formatting, etc. If a name or two is too long, simply select the name and decrease the font size of the affected name(s).

NOTE:

If you want to change the placement of a data field, or make other changes that will impact all the stall cards, close (without saving) the newly merged document, which is often pre-named form1.doc. Make your changes on the merge document, then re-merge to a new document.

If you so choose, you can save the merged document, and print all, or a portion of it, at a later time.

Put your stall cards in the printer - it is best if you can use a tray (like the Manual Feed Tray) which often simplifies the path the paper must take to get printed.

If you're ready, click on [File] [Print], which will print all the pages (cards)

A mail-merged document can sometimes be a bit strange to work with, in that the entire document is one page, with a "section" for each stall card. This means that if you want to only print one (or a few cards) to check the placement, replace damaged cards, etc., you cannot print just selected page(s) - instead,

First select the card(s) to print (you can drag over the text of a card to select it)
Click on [File] [Print]
In the Print dialogue box, click on [Selection] in the page range section, then [OK]

Your stall cards should then start working their way out of the printer! Repeat the above process as needed with various Classes and/or various card sizes.