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How to get ClarisWorks database/mailmerge functionality?

PostPosted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 11:33 am
by Les Hazlewood
My existing 2004 iMac allows Classic mode and therefore lets me run some legacy hobby stuff in ClarisWorks 4.0. This includes a smallish database (approx 300 records) and several (30 or so) standard letters that get mail merged with some/all of the database records.

Soon going to upgrade to a new generation iMac and I'm looking for an application that will provide the same functionality, and, ideally will be able to read the original ClarisWorks files.

As I understand it, iWorks will *not* give me the desired functionality. Have I got this right, and if so (off forum topic alert) what applications are there?

Many thanks in anticipation.

Re: How to get ClarisWorks database/mailmerge functionality?

PostPosted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 2:05 pm
by Peggy
Les Hazlewood wrote:My existing 2004 iMac allows Classic mode and therefore lets me run some legacy hobby stuff in ClarisWorks 4.0. This includes a smallish database (approx 300 records) and several (30 or so) standard letters that get mail merged with some/all of the database records.

Soon going to upgrade to a new generation iMac and I'm looking for an application that will provide the same functionality, and, ideally will be able to read the original ClarisWorks files.

As I understand it, iWorks will *not* give me the desired functionality. Have I got this right, and if so (off forum topic alert) what applications are there?

Many thanks in anticipation.


In iWork '09 you can merge from a Numbers spreadsheet into a Pages document. Because there is nothing that can open AppleWorks database documents other than AppleWorks, I suggest saving your databases as ASCII/plain text. The iWork applications - Keynote, Pages & Numbers - can only open AppleWorks 6 presentation, word processing & spreadsheet documents, respectively. They will not open any other type of AppleWorks 6 files or any AppleWorks 5 or any version of ClarisWorks files. You will want to save any ClarisWorks documents as text or RTF.

You can also get AppleWorks 6 which will run well on any new Mac. Because you have ClarisWorks 4 (or earlier) files, you should use AppleWorks 6.2.4. AppleWorks 6.2.9 (the last version) cannot open all ClarisWorks 4 or earlier files.

Re: How to get ClarisWorks database/mailmerge functionality?

PostPosted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 3:00 pm
by Guest
Peggy wrote:
In iWork '09 you can merge from a Numbers spreadsheet into a Pages document. Because there is nothing that can open AppleWorks database documents other than AppleWorks, I suggest saving your databases as ASCII/plain text. The iWork applications - Keynote, Pages & Numbers - can only open AppleWorks 6 presentation, word processing & spreadsheet documents, respectively. They will not open any other type of AppleWorks 6 files or any AppleWorks 5 or any version of ClarisWorks files. You will want to save any ClarisWorks documents as text or RTF.

You can also get AppleWorks 6 which will run well on any new Mac. Because you have ClarisWorks 4 (or earlier) files, you should use AppleWorks 6.2.4. AppleWorks 6.2.9 (the last version) cannot open all ClarisWorks 4 or earlier files.


Many thanks Peggy for the *very* prompt reply.

I knew that I could do what you describe with Numbers and Pages documents, but I thought that only a "spreadsheet" view is possible for a Numbers document. This is right isn't it? I've already tried the functionality you describe here saving the ClarisWorks documents as text and importing into Word and Excel - so I do have a "working" position.

However, in ClarisWorks I can create/print "database" views of some/all the records (which I should have said that also need to do) - and I really want to try and achieve something like the same functionality.

I hadn't really considered AppleWorks since I was under the impression that it was no longer available, so thanks for the suggestion, and I'll give it some thought.

Re: How to get ClarisWorks database/mailmerge functionality?

PostPosted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 6:09 pm
by Peggy
Anonymous wrote:
Peggy wrote:
In iWork '09 you can merge from a Numbers spreadsheet into a Pages document. Because there is nothing that can open AppleWorks database documents other than AppleWorks, I suggest saving your databases as ASCII/plain text. The iWork applications - Keynote, Pages & Numbers - can only open AppleWorks 6 presentation, word processing & spreadsheet documents, respectively. They will not open any other type of AppleWorks 6 files or any AppleWorks 5 or any version of ClarisWorks files. You will want to save any ClarisWorks documents as text or RTF.

You can also get AppleWorks 6 which will run well on any new Mac. Because you have ClarisWorks 4 (or earlier) files, you should use AppleWorks 6.2.4. AppleWorks 6.2.9 (the last version) cannot open all ClarisWorks 4 or earlier files.


Many thanks Peggy for the *very* prompt reply.

I knew that I could do what you describe with Numbers and Pages documents, but I thought that only a "spreadsheet" view is possible for a Numbers document. This is right isn't it? I've already tried the functionality you describe here saving the ClarisWorks documents as text and importing into Word and Excel - so I do have a "working" position.

However, in ClarisWorks I can create/print "database" views of some/all the records (which I should have said that also need to do) - and I really want to try and achieve something like the same functionality.

I hadn't really considered AppleWorks since I was under the impression that it was no longer available, so thanks for the suggestion, and I'll give it some thought.


I've been looking at iList Data as a possible database replacement for AppleWorks. Unfortunately it doesn't import AppleWorks databases & their layouts directly, but it looks much more promising that anything else I've seen. It does import tab-delimited files. You can read more about it & download a trial at http://www.lakewoodstudios.com/ilistdata/index.html

Re: How to get ClarisWorks database/mailmerge functionality?

PostPosted: Tue Jun 23, 2009 8:18 am
by Les Hazlewood
Peggy wrote:I've been looking at iList Data as a possible database replacement for AppleWorks. Unfortunately it doesn't import AppleWorks databases & their layouts directly, but it looks much more promising that anything else I've seen. It does import tab-delimited files. You can read more about it & download a trial at http://www.lakewoodstudios.com/ilistdata/index.html


Thanks again Peggy for the information. I assume this is a proper relational database (not just a list like the "database" in ClarisWorks). A small number of my data records involve one-to-many and many-to-many relations which I just fudge in ClarisWorks - so this looks like another possible solution to my problem, and good value too if it's what I think it is.

I don't mind a bit of work converting what I've got to some new application(s) - I just didn't want to start over afresh or end-up with a set-up less usable than what I've got already. Thanks once again for your help.

Re: How to get ClarisWorks database/mailmerge functionality?

PostPosted: Tue Jun 23, 2009 10:45 am
by Peggy
Les Hazlewood wrote:
Peggy wrote:I've been looking at iList Data as a possible database replacement for AppleWorks. Unfortunately it doesn't import AppleWorks databases & their layouts directly, but it looks much more promising that anything else I've seen. It does import tab-delimited files. You can read more about it & download a trial at http://www.lakewoodstudios.com/ilistdata/index.html


Thanks again Peggy for the information. I assume this is a proper relational database (not just a list like the "database" in ClarisWorks). A small number of my data records involve one-to-many and many-to-many relations which I just fudge in ClarisWorks - so this looks like another possible solution to my problem, and good value too if it's what I think it is.

I don't mind a bit of work converting what I've got to some new application(s) - I just didn't want to start over afresh or end-up with a set-up less usable than what I've got already. Thanks once again for your help.


Yes, iList Data is a relational database (at least the person who told me about it said it is). I've never used a relational database myself, but I'm looking forward to trying it. I don't use databases as much as I used to.