Mass producing appendices using Stata and word processor mail merge

Note: I hesitate somewhat to propose this session due to the general disdain that many feel toward word processors, so you should feel free to reject it or accept it if you need to fill out the program or find it particularly interesting. Confronted with the task of producing a large appendix to a report that involved a page of tables and 3 graphs for each of 186 panels, the author discovered an approach to automate this process using Stata combined with the mail merge facilities of a word processor. A Stata do file produces all 558 graphs and writes an ascii file of data that also includes the graph file names for each panel. A one page mail merge document is set up in the word processor and the Stata output is used as the data source to automatically create the entire 186 page appendix with all tables and graphs placed as desired. This session will outline how to employ this approach for such otherwise daunting tasks.