<s>
Mail	B-Application
merge	I-Application
consists	O
of	O
combining	O
mail	O
and	O
letters	O
and	O
pre-addressed	O
envelopes	B-Algorithm
or	O
mailing	O
labels	O
for	O
mass	O
mailings	O
from	O
a	O
form	O
letter	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
feature	O
is	O
usually	O
employed	O
in	O
a	O
word	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
document	O
which	O
contains	O
fixed	O
text	O
(	O
which	O
is	O
the	O
same	O
in	O
each	O
output	O
document	O
)	O
and	O
variables	O
(	O
which	O
act	O
as	O
placeholders	O
that	O
are	O
replaced	O
by	O
text	O
from	O
the	O
data	O
source	O
word	O
to	O
word	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
word	B-General_Concept
processors	I-General_Concept
can	O
insert	O
content	O
from	O
a	O
database	O
,	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
,	O
or	O
table	O
into	O
text	O
documents	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
imports	O
data	O
from	O
another	O
source	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
and	O
then	O
uses	O
that	O
to	O
replace	O
placeholders	O
throughout	O
the	O
message	O
with	O
the	O
relevant	O
information	O
for	O
each	O
individual	O
that	O
is	O
being	O
messaged	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mail	B-Application
merge	I-Application
dates	O
back	O
to	O
early	O
word	B-General_Concept
processors	I-General_Concept
on	O
personal	O
computers	O
,	O
circa	O
1980	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WordStar	B-Application
was	O
perhaps	O
the	O
earliest	O
to	O
provide	O
this	O
,	O
originally	O
via	O
an	O
ancillary	O
program	O
called	O
Mail	B-Application
merge	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
WordPerfect	B-Application
also	O
offered	O
this	O
capacity	O
for	O
CP/M	O
and	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
systems	O
;	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Word	I-Application
added	O
it	O
later	O
on	O
,	O
</s>
<s>
as	O
did	O
Multimate	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
paperless	O
approach	O
is	O
to	O
use	O
mail	B-Application
merge	I-Application
to	O
format	O
email	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
data	O
source	O
is	O
typically	O
a	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
or	O
a	O
database	O
which	O
has	O
a	O
field	O
or	O
column	O
for	O
each	O
variable	O
in	O
the	O
template	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
the	O
mail	B-Application
merge	I-Application
process	O
is	O
run	O
,	O
the	O
word	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
system	O
creates	O
an	O
output	O
document	O
for	O
each	O
row	O
in	O
the	O
database	O
,	O
using	O
the	O
fixed	O
text	O
exactly	O
as	O
it	O
appears	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
templated	O
letter	O
says	O
"	O
Dear	O
<Given Name>	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
when	O
executed	O
,	O
the	O
mail	B-Application
merge	I-Application
creates	O
a	O
letter	O
for	O
each	O
record	O
in	O
the	O
database	O
,	O
so	O
it	O
appears	O
the	O
letter	O
is	O
more	O
personal	O
.	O
</s>
