# Data Sources > Data sources for mail merge in WPF: objects, DataSets, JSON and XML, the MailMerge method for each and the DataSourceManager of the WPF Reporting tab. - **Product:** TX Text Control .NET for WPF - **Section:** Documentation - **Kind:** Topic - **Path:** TX Text Control .NET for WPF > Mail Merge and Reporting > Data Sources - **984 words** - **Web URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/mail-merge/data-sources/ - **LLMs URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/mail-merge/data-sources/llms.txt - **LLMs-Full URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/mail-merge/data-sources/llms-full.txt --- If you are about to connect your WPF application's data to a template, the first question is what form that data has today: classes, ADO.NET tables, JSON or XML. `MailMerge` merges each of them, and one template serves them all as long as names and hierarchy match. Here you find which method merges which kind of data, how the **Reporting** tab receives the same data for template design and which page covers each kind. ### How Data Reaches a Template Two classes work with the data: - **`MailMerge` merges it.** A merge method takes the data and fills the template in a `TextControl` or `ServerTextControl`. - **`DataSourceManager` describes it.** The [DataSourceManager](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol-wpf/ribbonreportingtab/datasourcemanager-property/llms-full.txt) of the WPF Reporting tab loads the same kinds of data, analyzes their tables, columns and relations and fills the drop-downs from which users insert fields and blocks. Whatever the kind, the data becomes tables: the records you merge form the master table, whose columns fill merge fields, and nested collections or related tables fill merge blocks. [Overview](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/mail-merge/overview/#pre-shaped-data) explains this model. | Data | Merge with | Load for design with | Page | |---|---|---|---| | A business object or a collection of them, dictionaries | [MergeObject](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol-documentserver/mailmerge/mergeobject-method/llms-full.txt), [MergeObjects](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol-documentserver/mailmerge/mergeobjects-method/llms-full.txt) | `LoadSingleObject`, `LoadObjects`, `LoadAssembly` | [Objects and Collections](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/mail-merge/data-sources/objects/llms-full.txt) | | A `DataTable`, or a `DataSet` with relations | [Merge](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol-documentserver/mailmerge/merge-method/llms-full.txt) | `LoadDataTable`, `LoadDataSet` | [DataSets and DataTables](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/mail-merge/data-sources/datasets/llms-full.txt) | | A JSON string | [MergeJsonData](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol-documentserver/mailmerge/mergejsondata-method/llms-full.txt) | `LoadJson` | [JSON and XML](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/mail-merge/data-sources/json-xml/llms-full.txt) | | An XML file or string | `Merge`, after `DataSet.ReadXml` | `LoadXmlFile`, `LoadXmlString` | [JSON and XML](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/mail-merge/data-sources/json-xml/llms-full.txt) | Data source configuration files, which store a database connection for the merge, are a Windows Forms feature; [Data Source Configuration Files](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/mail-merge/data-sources/configuration-files/llms-full.txt) explains what WPF applications do instead. ### Data Sources in the Reporting Tab With **Select Data Source**, users of the WPF Reporting tab load an XML file, an assembly or a JSON file for template design; data from a database reaches the tab only through your code, because the WPF tab can't connect a database. [Reporting Ribbon and WPF Dialog Boxes](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/mail-merge/ribbon-dialogs/#data-source) describes the commands, and each page of this section shows the `DataSourceManager` method that loads its kind of data. ### Choose a Data Source | If your data is | Use | |---|---| | Classes or view models of your application, or data you query into objects | Business objects: [Objects and Collections](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/mail-merge/data-sources/objects/llms-full.txt) | | Rows from a database in ADO.NET form | A `DataSet` with relations: [DataSets and DataTables](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/mail-merge/data-sources/datasets/llms-full.txt) | | The response of a web service, a file from another system | JSON or XML: [JSON and XML](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/mail-merge/data-sources/json-xml/llms-full.txt) | Business objects and JSON carry the hierarchy of the document without extra relations, which makes them the most direct choices for new applications. ### Pages in This Section - [Objects and Collections](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/mail-merge/data-sources/objects/llms-full.txt): merge business objects, dictionaries and anonymous objects, rename fields with attributes. - [DataSets and DataTables](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/mail-merge/data-sources/datasets/llms-full.txt): merge tables with relations and edit relations in the Reporting tab. - [JSON and XML](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/mail-merge/data-sources/json-xml/llms-full.txt): merge JSON, handle invalid JSON, read XML into a `DataSet` and set parsing cultures. - [Data Source Configuration Files](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/mail-merge/data-sources/configuration-files/llms-full.txt): why configuration files are Windows Forms only, and the WPF alternative. --- ## In This Section - [Data Source Configuration Files](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/mail-merge/data-sources/configuration-files/llms-full.txt): Why Report Data Source Configuration files (.rdsc) work in Windows Forms only, and how WPF apps replace them with DataSets, relations and their own queries. - [DataSets and DataTables](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/mail-merge/data-sources/datasets/llms-full.txt): Merge DataTables and related tables of a DataSet in a WPF window, load them into the Reporting tab and edit relations with the WPF EditDataRelationsDialog. - [JSON and XML](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/mail-merge/data-sources/json-xml/llms-full.txt): Merge JSON strings and XML files in a WPF application: MergeJsonData, ParserException, relations from DataSet.ReadXml, parsing cultures and LoadJson. - [Objects and Collections](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/mail-merge/data-sources/objects/llms-full.txt): Merge WPF view models and business objects with MergeObjects and MergeObject, rename fields with DisplayName and load the classes into the Reporting tab. --- ## Nearby - **Previous:** [Overview](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/mail-merge/overview/llms-full.txt) - **Next:** [Objects and Collections](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/mail-merge/data-sources/objects/llms-full.txt)