List of names and addresses

agibsonsw · Post by **agibsonsw** » 19 Jul 2011, 08:36

Hello. Word 2007.

I wonder if someone can point me to a list of names and addresses, etc., that I might use to demonstrate mail-merging?

My googling is failing at the mo.. Andy.

DaveA · Post by **DaveA** » 19 Jul 2011, 14:23

Why not just make up your own list.

agibsonsw · Post by **agibsonsw** » 19 Jul 2011, 15:19

DaveA wrote:Why not just make up your own list.

Hi. I generally do, but I tend to run out of inspiration after about 10 rows. I should spend some time when I get a chance trying to track down a list.

I really want a sizeable list of UK names and addresses. Apparently this should be fairly easy to obtain, according to all the junk mail one receives

DaveA · Post by **DaveA** » 19 Jul 2011, 17:26

Yes, you are so right, but the problem I see is the different addressing for the different areas of the world. I know that a list for the US would not be a lot use to those in England .

agibsonsw · Post by **agibsonsw** » 19 Jul 2011, 18:18

I'm attempting to download a million sample UK (fake) names, addresses and DOBs etc from http://www.grid-tools.com/resources/free_test_data.php. They have a US list as well.

It will take quite a while with my broadband dongle! And these data-generators are not always that great as they sometimes prove repetitive, un-realistic. Actually, it's a zip file but I did specify Access as my database, so hopefully I'm not wasting my time.

It's possible to obtain a list (28 million!) from the Post Office.. for a few hundred quid

(It's called a PAF.)

I don't really need a million either; 50 or 100 would have been fine

. Still, it will be useful to me in Access as well.

I'll report back tomorrow. Andy.

Added: Just noticed an irritation: "A representative will be in touch with you shortly" - great!

Timelord · Post by **Timelord** » 19 Jul 2011, 18:40

How about writing a script to create the data since it does not have to be correct. i.e. the end results would like like:

Martha Smith, 1520 Lincoln Road, Cheshire, UK
Martha Smiti, 1521 Lincoln Road, Cheshire, UK

etc. Change 1 letter and one number. This script could create a file with as many as you want.

agibsonsw · Post by **agibsonsw** » 19 Jul 2011, 18:55

Hi Timelord.

I could do that in Excel by filling-down as well, but it wouldn't give the range of 'semi-realistic' data I'm after.

It's not a major issue though, so perhaps I'll see how this download works out.

Ta, Andy.

agibsonsw · Post by **agibsonsw** » 20 Jul 2011, 17:14

Hi. Vista can't open this .zip file. I thought it might be an Access or .csv file so changed the file extension but it's not one of these (.mdb, .accdb or .csv).

Is there a (free) application that would determine what kind of file it is?

If not, I might just delete it and not worry about it. Andy.

Post by **HansV** » 20 Jul 2011, 18:30

If you have a hex editor, you could look at the first few bytes of the file, they often provide information about the file type...

agibsonsw · Post by **agibsonsw** » 20 Jul 2011, 19:49

HansV wrote:If you have a hex editor, you could look at the first few bytes of the file, they often provide information about the file type...

Ach, I'll nay bother! Perhaps I'll revise my searching to look for a sample (UK) contacts database, or just spend a dull afternoon making up about 50 names/addresses.

It's not a concern. Regards, Andy.

Post by **HansV** » 20 Jul 2011, 20:07

Don't you have 50 monkeys and 50 typewriters? If they don't produce the complete works of Shakespeare, they might produce a suitable address list...

(They can take pictures too...)

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