1. It certainly sounds as if MM was adequate for the requirement as
initially perceived, but not any more.
2. If you have not already done so, I would probably try to focus first on
the required outputs, and then what tool might be used to create them. (For
example, what does Access reporting not provide in this case?)
3. If you definitely need to output via Word, I think you are on the right
track if you are considering "roling your own merge", i.e. by using the Word
object model to insert stuff as you go along. If you have complete control
over the application, you can organise things how you like - e.g., if there
are large chunks of bolerpalte text and layout that you can insert, you can
consider them to be "data" for the application, keep them in .doc files (or
as bookmarked chunks of .doc files) and either insert them, or insert {
INCLUDETEXT } fields that will insert them. Probably the former. If you need
a "parent-child" style of reporting, you may be able to insert complete
tables using Word's InsertDatabase method or DATABASE fields and format them
afterwards, but will only get full control over the formatting of the data
if you insert the data yourself - there's nothing within InsertDatabase that
lets you select (for example) a numeric format or a date format for each
column.
--
Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk
"Dennis" wrote in message
...
(Office 2002) Okay, here's the deal. I had been requested to create a MM
document sourced on an Access database. No problem. The data source was a
single table. Fine. Then.... the requesting division needed additional
capability in the data source (as in, keeping more "stuff" in tables and
expanding what was to be placed into the Word document.) So this
necessitated
using a multi-table methodology.
Now, I need to know IF there's a way to use multiple tables to source a
single Word doc. I THINK that a query is out due to the level of
complexity
of the database as it (now) exists. What I THINK I need to do is, using
VBA,
spin through the document looking for specific bookmarks. When I find
those,
I need to do a database lookup and insert specific information into the
document at those points.
Sometimes the information will be in tables, and sometimes standard text.
What I want to know is, what methodology is best suited to accomplish my
task? I've been a database guy for over 25 years, and have a pretty fair
knowledge of Word (but not VBA behind Word; I was thinking of opening the
doc
- hidden - in Access, and doing the VBA work from there).
Anyway, if some of you folks could shed some light on how this all might
be
done, I'd sure appreciate it.
The actual task being performed is the creation of IT "Service Level
Agreement" documents. Each document contains a revision history, and
multiple
categories of services (which appear in different sections of the
document),
contact information (names, email addies, phone #'s, etc) and "external
reference documents" (including descriptions, titles, network paths, etc).
All this is specific to division, and there are 31 divisions in the
agency.
Again, any assistance or ideas would be most appreciated.