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#1
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how to retrieve mailmerge field name using vb.net
i am writing a vb.net application. what i want to do is:
1)get the name of mailmerge field name from a word template 2)assign values to them for example one of my template has following merge fields: «First»«Last» «Address» Dear «Last» 3)if user selects 10 records, the application should be able to create ten letters from the template i have been looking for code/reference/advice for last three days.no luck(google search and msdn search).any help would be appreciated what is this mean: mMergeField.Code.Tex how to use this to assign value: ActiveDocument.MailMerge.Fields thanks |
#2
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how to retrieve mailmerge field name using vb.net
First, if you need to "roll your own" merge, be aware that Mailmerge
actually does quite a lot of stuff that is non-trivial and not easy to code. If you are creating all the templates, that's one thing. If you are still allowing users to create templates, a. it is highly unlikely that your own code will behave the same way as Microsoft's. That may confuse some users b. unless you constrain users to a very simple use of MERGEFIELD and other field types, the chances are that they will create templates that your code will not proces correctly or sensibly unless you put a greate deal of effort in. For example, evaluating nested fields is, in the general case, non-trivial. It isn't just a case of writing a recursive algorithm as some programmers might imagine when they first approch the problem. So it may be better to try to use Word's own mailmerge feature if possible, even if it means that you have to write the selected data to a data source that Word can use before doing so. NB, you can't use disconnected recordsets as a data source, and you can't subclass the DataSource object to define your own methods for reading data source data. I can't point you to VB.NET examples, but it shouldn't be hard to convert VBA samples to VB.NET. So for example, this is a way to cycle through the fields in a document - detecting /all/ fields in a document is non-trivial (in fact, evidence suggests that it may not be possible) but the following code should catch most of them: --------------------------------------------- Dim objStory As Range Dim objField As Field For Each objStory In ActiveDocument.StoryRanges For Each objField In objStory.Fields ' do what you want to the field here. You can test objField.Type ' to process specific field types Next ' The header/footer ranges can be linked in a way ' that is not revealed by the outer For Each ' so we have to do the following While Not (objStory.NextStoryRange Is Nothing) Set objStory = objStory.NextStoryRange For Each objField In objStory.Fields ' do what you want to the field here Next Wend Next objStory Set objStory = Nothing Set objField = Nothing --------------------------------------------- Where the above code says "' do what you want to the field here", you presumably want to insert some data from your data record. To do that, you would need the name of the field (column) you want to get the data from, e.g. (this will probably be significantly different in VB.NET) Dim strMergeFieldCode Dim strMergeFieldName If objField.Type = wdFieldMergeField Then strFieldCode = Split(objField.Code) strFieldName = strFieldCode(2) If Right(strFieldName, 1) = Chr(34) Then strFieldName = Left(strFieldName, Len(strFieldName) - 1) End If If Left(strFieldName, 1) = Chr(34) Then strFieldName = Right(strFieldName, Len(strFieldName) - 1) End If End If. You probably then need to insert the value of your data column. Let's suppose you have a function myvalue(strFieldName) that returns that value. One way to do it is objField.Result.Text = myvalue(strFieldName) However, be aware that Word "wants" to assign its own results to fields. You may find that as soon as the user does something like print preview, print or save, Word updates the field results and destroys your results. Another approach is to select the field and replace the selection by the text you want, e.g. objField.Select Selection.Range.Text = myvalue(strFieldName) but that destroys the field, so you would probably need to make a copy of the Mail Merge main document before using it. MVP Cindy Meister used to have one or two articles about this kind of thing, but I do not think they are still available on the web - I'm thinking of the article "Beyond Mail Merge: Alternatives to Word's Built-in Feature" that she references in the "List of my publications" link (see http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister/ ) what is this mean: mMergeField.Code.Tex It should be clear from the above example what this is. how to use this to assign value: ActiveDocument.MailMerge.Fields I think the above examples show you what you will need. Peter Jamieson "srid" wrote in message ... i am writing a vb.net application. what i want to do is: 1)get the name of mailmerge field name from a word template 2)assign values to them for example one of my template has following merge fields: «First»«Last» «Address» Dear «Last» 3)if user selects 10 records, the application should be able to create ten letters from the template i have been looking for code/reference/advice for last three days.no luck(google search and msdn search).any help would be appreciated what is this mean: mMergeField.Code.Tex how to use this to assign value: ActiveDocument.MailMerge.Fields thanks |
#3
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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how to retrieve mailmerge field name using vb.net
Am Tue, 24 Oct 2006 04:07:03 UTC, schrieb srid
auf microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields : i have been looking for code/reference/advice for last three days.no luck(google search and msdn search).any help would be appreciated I found this article from a dBase expert very helpful for my first steps: http://www.dbase.com/Knowledgebase/adv/activex/WordOlde/word.htm Titled "MS Word Mail-Merge.how", authored by Gary White, dBVIPS BTW, the assignment of values to the mail-merge fields during the mail-merge process is done by the Mailmerge-Engine of Word itself. No need to do individual programming for that, especially when, as you wrote, the template being used already does have the necessary mail-merge fields defined. Yours, |
#4
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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how to retrieve mailmerge field name using vb.net
Hi Peter and Luko,
thanks for the valuable info. I will give it a try . when i write the code take your advice into consideration. thanks srid |
#5
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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how to retrieve mailmerge field name using vb.net
Am Tue, 24 Oct 2006 13:34:02 UTC, schrieb srid
auf microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields : References: Subject: how to retrieve mailmerge field name using vb.net Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2006 06:34:02 -0700 Hi Peter and Luko, thanks for the valuable info. I will give it a try . when i write the code No thanks -- I just wonder, why can I read your reply to mine, but not my message which you are replying to? Yours, L.W. |
#6
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how to retrieve mailmerge field name using vb.net
Am Tue, 24 Oct 2006 17:03:17 UTC, schrieb "Lüko Willms"
auf microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields : I just wonder, why can I read your reply to mine, but not my message which you are replying to? It must have been just a wrong command to my newsreader... I see the article now. L.W. |
#7
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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how to retrieve mailmerge field name using vb.net
ok
"Lüko Willms" wrote: Am Tue, 24 Oct 2006 17:03:17 UTC, schrieb "Lüko Willms" auf microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields : I just wonder, why can I read your reply to mine, but not my message which you are replying to? It must have been just a wrong command to my newsreader... I see the article now. L.W. |
#8
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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how to retrieve mailmerge field name using vb.net
thks for the info. I was able to do mailmerge using vb.net. i have found two
ways.both are working ------- Imports Microsoft.Office.Interop 'method 1 Private Sub MailMerge_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button5.Click 'open the word template using openfiledialog box OpenFileDialog1.InitialDirectory = My.Computer.FileSystem.SpecialDirectories.Desktop & "\word Template" 'By default .dot file OpenFileDialog1.Filter = "Template Files (*.dot)|*.dot|All Files (*.*)|*.*" OpenFileDialog1.Title = "Open a Word Template file--- *.dot" 'if file is selected If Me.OpenFileDialog1.ShowDialog = System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then Dim m_FileName As String 'open word application Dim mWord As New Word.ApplicationClass 'open word document Dim mWordDoc As New Word.Document 'create mailmerge fields Dim mMergeField As Word.MailMergeField 'assign the path value m_FileName = OpenFileDialog1.FileName 'Dim wordTemplateName As Object Dim wordTemplateName As String 'assign word template name wordTemplateName = m_FileName ' Dim destinationFileName As Object Dim destinationFileName As String 'word is not visible mWord.Visible = False Dim i As Integer = 1 'create sql connection Dim objConn As SqlClient.SqlConnection Dim ds As New DataSet Dim m_strConnection As String = "Data Source=ServerName;initial catalog=databasename;Integrated security=true;" objConn = New SqlClient.SqlConnection objConn.ConnectionString = m_strConnection objConn.Open() 'to pass query Dim objCommand As SqlClient.SqlCommand Dim strSQL As String 'read the data Dim myreader As SqlClient.SqlDataReader 'select onlt top 10 rows for testing purpose strSQL = "select top 10 FirstName,LastName,Dear,Addr1,City,State,Zip,Count ry,SalesAssociate from contactpipe" objCommand = New SqlClient.SqlCommand(strSQL, objConn) myreader = objCommand.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior.CloseConn ection) Dim num As Integer = 0 '-------------------------------- 'read row by row While myreader.Read() 'counter num = num + 1 'create a new document mWordDoc = mWord.Documents.Add(wordTemplateName, , , ) 'loop thru word merge fields and assign values For Each mMergeField In mWordDoc.MailMerge.Fields mMergeField.Select() 'get the merge field name with «name» ; »this sign copied and pasted from word ''MsgBox((CStr(CInt(AscW("«"c)))))---187,171 If mWord.Selection.Range.Text = "«" & "FirstName" & "»" Then mWord.Selection.TypeText(myreader("FirstName").ToS tring()) ElseIf mWord.Selection.Range.Text = "«" & "LastName" & "»" Then mWord.Selection.TypeText(myreader("LastName").ToSt ring()) ElseIf mWord.Selection.Range.Text = "«" & "Street" & "»" Then mWord.Selection.TypeText(myreader("Addr1").ToStrin g()) ElseIf mWord.Selection.Range.Text = "«" & "City" & "»" Then mWord.Selection.TypeText(myreader("City").ToString ()) ElseIf mWord.Selection.Range.Text = "«" & "State" & "»" Then mWord.Selection.TypeText(myreader("State").ToStrin g()) ElseIf mWord.Selection.Range.Text = "«" & "PostalCode" & "»" Then mWord.Selection.TypeText(myreader("Zip").ToString( )) ElseIf mWord.Selection.Range.Text = "«" & "Country" & "»" Then mWord.Selection.TypeText(myreader("Country").ToStr ing()) ElseIf mWord.Selection.Range.Text = "«" & "Date" & "»" Then mWord.Selection.TypeText(Today.ToShortDateString) ElseIf mWord.Selection.Range.Text = "«" & "Dear" & "»" Then mWord.Selection.TypeText(myreader("Dear").ToString ()) ElseIf mWord.Selection.Range.Text = "«" & "Sender" & "»" Then mWord.Selection.TypeText(myreader("SalesAssociate" ).ToString()) Else mWord.Selection.TypeText("No_data_found") End If Next mMergeField ''save the template as document ;todo check for same file name before save the doc if found append some character ''to do:send to printer or email,dispaly the document destinationFileName = "C:\word Template\" & myreader("FirstName").ToString() & num & ".doc" mWordDoc.SaveAs(destinationFileName) End While '-------------------------------- 'clear the objects from memory myreader.Close() objConn.Close() myreader = Nothing objCommand = Nothing mWord.Quit() mWord = Nothing mWordDoc = Nothing mMergeField = Nothing End If ================================================== ================ 'method 2 Private Sub MailMerge_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button6.Click 'initialize word oApp = CreateObject("Word.Application") 'create word document Dim oMainDoc As Word.Document 'Start a new main document for mail merge ;assign the word template path oMainDoc = oApp.Documents.Add("C:\word Template\MyTemplate.dot") With oMainDoc.MailMerge 'mail document type .MainDocumentType = WdMailMergeMainDocType.wdFormLetters 'sql statement Dim strSQL As String = "select top 10 FirstName,LastName,Dear,Addr1,City,State,Zip,Count ry,SalesAssociate from contactpipe" 'pass the DSN info;"DSN=Connect_To_DB"--already created using ODBC .OpenDataSource(Name:="", Connection:="DSN=Connect_To_DB", SQLStatement:=strSQL) End With 'Perform the mail merge to a new document. With oMainDoc .MailMerge.Destination = WdMailMergeDestination.wdSendToNewDocument .MailMerge.Execute(Pause:=False) End With 'close the template oMainDoc.Saved = True oMainDoc.Close(False) oApp.Visible = True MessageBox.Show("Mail Merge Complete: " & oApp.ActiveDocument.Name, "Mail Merge", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Information, MessageBoxDefaultButton.Button3, MessageBoxOptions.DefaultDesktopOnly) End Sub =============== Questions: 1)in method 1 ,i am saving each merged record as a file a)How to show all the merged records in one document with new pages or read the saved files and put them in one word document. Each file info should be in a new page? 2)in method 2,How to replace DSN info wth slq server connection string like "Data Source=servername;initial catalog=dbname;Integrated security=true;" or the provider name. I am using sql server 2000 3)if I give the user an option to create a new template; a)how to restrict the merge field values:what i mean is user only able to see the mergefields that i created(in the dropdown box) thanks in advance |
#9
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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how to retrieve mailmerge field name using vb.net
Questions:
1)in method 1 ,i am saving each merged record as a file a)How to show all the merged records in one document with new pages or read the saved files and put them in one word document. Each file info should be in a new page? 2)in method 2,How to replace DSN info wth slq server connection string like "Data Source=servername;initial catalog=dbname;Integrated security=true;" or the provider name. I am using sql server 2000 3)if I give the user an option to create a new template; a)how to restrict the merge field values:what i mean is user only able to see the mergefields that i created(in the dropdown box) thanks in advance |
#10
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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how to retrieve mailmerge field name using vb.net
1)
yes, that's why I said at the beginning of this thread that it's not easy to get this right. In other words, you have to solve /all/ the problems. In my opinion, a good designer/programmer should either be able to solve each probem they come across and avoid taking routes where they get stuck. If I went down that route I would consider something like a. saving a copy of the mailmerge main document b. creating an output document c. for each record in the data source - retrieve the copy - make sure my view of the document is set up so I can process its fields (e.g., if you want to look for MERGFIELD fields by looking for chevrons , you can't be in preview view, where you see result data, or "field code" view, where you see { MERGEFIELD "mergefield name" } - evaluate the fields - copy everything except possibly the final paragraph mark and append it to the output document d. close everything 2)in method 2,How to replace DSN info wth slq server connection string like "Data Source=servername;initial catalog=dbname;Integrated security=true;" or the provider name. I am using sql server 2000 When it connects to an ODBC data source, Word OpenDataSource always references an ODBC DSN of some kind. You can't use a DSN-less connection, e.g. specifying Driver={whatever}, as you can in some other applications. However, anything in the existing DSN can be overridden by an item in the COnnection string, /except/ the driver name. So if you know you have a DSN called Connect_To_DB that uses the SQl Server driver, and specify Connection:="DSN=Connect_To_DB;Data Source=servername;initial catalog=dbname;Integrated security=True;" it should work. Or you can use a file dsn. But you have to have /a/ DSN. It's an irritating limitation of Word. The same situation is true if you want to use an OLEDB connection: for SQL Server you have to have either a ..udl file or a .odc file. You can't just specify an OLEDB connection string (even though you have to specify the provider anyway). 3)if I give the user an option to create a new template; a)how to restrict the merge field values:what i mean is user only able to see the mergefields that i created(in the dropdown box) If there is a header Source, the user should be able to select from the list of coumns in the Header Source (header Sources are not supported in the User Interface in Word 2002 and later, and you may find they do not work the way they were originally supposed to). If you are going to use a header Source, I'd make it a Word document. If you don't have a header source, the user will see the list of columns returned by the SELECT used to create the data source. if there is no data source, they see no list of columns. If you do not want to connect to the real data source, you could connect to another data source with identical column names (it is the field names that Word uses that really count) temporarily, then open the real data source when you need it. Peter Jamieson "srid" wrote in message ... Questions: 1)in method 1 ,i am saving each merged record as a file a)How to show all the merged records in one document with new pages or read the saved files and put them in one word document. Each file info should be in a new page? 2)in method 2,How to replace DSN info wth slq server connection string like "Data Source=servername;initial catalog=dbname;Integrated security=true;" or the provider name. I am using sql server 2000 3)if I give the user an option to create a new template; a)how to restrict the merge field values:what i mean is user only able to see the mergefields that i created(in the dropdown box) thanks in advance |
#11
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how to retrieve mailmerge field name using vb.net
If you want to save each document created by the mailmerge to a separate
file with the name of the file taken from a field in the data source, see the "Individual Merge Letters" item on fellow MVP Graham Mayor's website at: http://www.gmayor.com/individual_merge_letters.htm If you are using Word XP or later, the "Add-in to Merge Letters to Separate Files" that I have written and that can be downloaded from that site will allow you to create each letter as a separate file with a filename taken from a field in the data source with a minimum of fuss. -- Hope this helps. Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my services on a paid consulting basis. Doug Robbins - Word MVP "srid" wrote in message ... Questions: 1)in method 1 ,i am saving each merged record as a file a)How to show all the merged records in one document with new pages or read the saved files and put them in one word document. Each file info should be in a new page? 2)in method 2,How to replace DSN info wth slq server connection string like "Data Source=servername;initial catalog=dbname;Integrated security=true;" or the provider name. I am using sql server 2000 3)if I give the user an option to create a new template; a)how to restrict the merge field values:what i mean is user only able to see the mergefields that i created(in the dropdown box) thanks in advance |
#12
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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how to retrieve mailmerge field name using vb.net
Hi peter,
Thanks for the detatiled info. I will give it a try. I am in the process of rewriting an old application. The old system has so many mailmerge features.currently we are using word 2003 and vs 2005. Hi Doug, Thanks for the info. I am doing more reading these days. The old templates fields are marked with {{name}}. I have to change them to «name» (word 2003). Mailmerge is new for me. "Doug Robbins - Word MVP" wrote: If you want to save each document created by the mailmerge to a separate file with the name of the file taken from a field in the data source, see the "Individual Merge Letters" item on fellow MVP Graham Mayor's website at: http://www.gmayor.com/individual_merge_letters.htm If you are using Word XP or later, the "Add-in to Merge Letters to Separate Files" that I have written and that can be downloaded from that site will allow you to create each letter as a separate file with a filename taken from a field in the data source with a minimum of fuss. -- Hope this helps. Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my services on a paid consulting basis. Doug Robbins - Word MVP "srid" wrote in message ... Questions: 1)in method 1 ,i am saving each merged record as a file a)How to show all the merged records in one document with new pages or read the saved files and put them in one word document. Each file info should be in a new page? 2)in method 2,How to replace DSN info wth slq server connection string like "Data Source=servername;initial catalog=dbname;Integrated security=true;" or the provider name. I am using sql server 2000 3)if I give the user an option to create a new template; a)how to restrict the merge field values:what i mean is user only able to see the mergefields that i created(in the dropdown box) thanks in advance |
#13
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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how to retrieve mailmerge field name using vb.net
thanks for the info/advice
"Peter Jamieson" wrote: 1) yes, that's why I said at the beginning of this thread that it's not easy to get this right. In other words, you have to solve /all/ the problems. In my opinion, a good designer/programmer should either be able to solve each probem they come across and avoid taking routes where they get stuck. If I went down that route I would consider something like a. saving a copy of the mailmerge main document b. creating an output document c. for each record in the data source - retrieve the copy - make sure my view of the document is set up so I can process its fields (e.g., if you want to look for MERGFIELD fields by looking for chevrons , you can't be in preview view, where you see result data, or "field code" view, where you see { MERGEFIELD "mergefield name" } - evaluate the fields - copy everything except possibly the final paragraph mark and append it to the output document d. close everything 2)in method 2,How to replace DSN info wth slq server connection string like "Data Source=servername;initial catalog=dbname;Integrated security=true;" or the provider name. I am using sql server 2000 When it connects to an ODBC data source, Word OpenDataSource always references an ODBC DSN of some kind. You can't use a DSN-less connection, e.g. specifying Driver={whatever}, as you can in some other applications. However, anything in the existing DSN can be overridden by an item in the COnnection string, /except/ the driver name. So if you know you have a DSN called Connect_To_DB that uses the SQl Server driver, and specify Connection:="DSN=Connect_To_DB;Data Source=servername;initial catalog=dbname;Integrated security=True;" it should work. Or you can use a file dsn. But you have to have /a/ DSN. It's an irritating limitation of Word. The same situation is true if you want to use an OLEDB connection: for SQL Server you have to have either a ..udl file or a .odc file. You can't just specify an OLEDB connection string (even though you have to specify the provider anyway). 3)if I give the user an option to create a new template; a)how to restrict the merge field values:what i mean is user only able to see the mergefields that i created(in the dropdown box) If there is a header Source, the user should be able to select from the list of coumns in the Header Source (header Sources are not supported in the User Interface in Word 2002 and later, and you may find they do not work the way they were originally supposed to). If you are going to use a header Source, I'd make it a Word document. If you don't have a header source, the user will see the list of columns returned by the SELECT used to create the data source. if there is no data source, they see no list of columns. If you do not want to connect to the real data source, you could connect to another data source with identical column names (it is the field names that Word uses that really count) temporarily, then open the real data source when you need it. Peter Jamieson "srid" wrote in message ... Questions: 1)in method 1 ,i am saving each merged record as a file a)How to show all the merged records in one document with new pages or read the saved files and put them in one word document. Each file info should be in a new page? 2)in method 2,How to replace DSN info wth slq server connection string like "Data Source=servername;initial catalog=dbname;Integrated security=true;" or the provider name. I am using sql server 2000 3)if I give the user an option to create a new template; a)how to restrict the merge field values:what i mean is user only able to see the mergefields that i created(in the dropdown box) thanks in advance |
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