HOWTO: Automate Mail Merge to Word97 SR-1 Using OLE and ODBC

• Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, versions 3.0, 3.0b, 5.0, 5.0a on the following platforms: NT, Win95
• Microsoft Word 97 for Windows, Service Release 1 (SR-1)

SUMMARY

This article demonstrates how to use OLE automation to create a mail merge in Word for Windows 97 SR-1 using data from a Visual FoxPro (VFP) for Windows table.

MORE INFORMATION

Below is the Visual FoxPro for Windows code using the Word.Application object model that performs the mail merge using an ODBC data source to an existing Visual FoxPro table. This code can use an existing data source name (DSN), created in the ODBC Driver Manager, or it can create one on the fly utilizing an API call to add and use the DSN. In the example below, "Visual FoxPro Tables" is the DSN created in the ODBC Driver Manager and is pointing the VFP5a\Samples\Data folder. These paths will most likely have to be changed to reflect the users' paths.

NOTE: This code only works with the Service release-1 (SR-1) for Word 97. Using prior versions of Word 97 causes a Type Mismatch and other OLE errors.

Create a program and enter the following code:

   ***/ Begin program code /***
   * Code to create a new data source to a VFP table.
   *
   * Use the Declare DLL function to prototype the
   * SQLConfigDataSource function.
   * Using SQLConfigDataSource prevents having to go into
   * the ODBC Driver Manager and create the DSN.
   ***

   DECLARE Integer SQLConfigDataSource in odbccp32.dll Integer, ;
      Integer, String, String

   ***
   * Create a string containing the settings appropriate to the driver.
   * The following is an example for the Microsoft VFP ODBC driver
   * accessing the Customer.dbf file.
   ***

   *** Change the path below to point to the Customer table ***
   *** in the \Samples\Data folder.                      ***
   settings="DSN=visual foxpro tables"+chr(0)+;
             "Description=VFP ODBC Driver"+chr(0)+;
             "SourceDB=d:\vfp5a\samples\data"+chr(0)+;
             "SourceType=DBF"
   =SQLConfigDataSource(0,1,"Microsoft Visual FoxPro Driver",settings)

   * NOTE: Ensure there are no spaces on either side of the equal sign (=).

   ON ERROR DO errhand WITH ERROR(), MESSAGE(),  MESSAGE(1), PROGRAM( ),
   LINENO( ) && Trap OLE & other errors.

   * Initialize variables passed to Word to create form letter.
   intro1="Congratulations! You are one of our best customers since you
   purchase $"
   intro2=" each month from us. "
   intro3="As a result, your maximum order amount has been increased by
   $2500.00. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us."

   oWord = CREATEOBJECT("Word.Application")
      WITH oWord
         * Assign values to variables
         dsname="D:\VFP\SAMPLES\DATA\customer.DBF"
         wformat=0
         wconfirmconv=0
         wreadonly=0
         wlinktosource=0
         waddtofilelist=0
         wpassworddoc=""
         wpasswordtemp=""
         wrevert=0
         wprotectdoc=""
         wprotecttemp=""
         wconn="DSN=visual foxpro tables;uid=;pwd=;"+;
            "sourcedb=d:\vfp\samples\data;sourcetype=dbf"+;
            "exclusive=no;backgroundfetch=yes;collate=machine;"
         wsqlstatement="SELECT contact,company,title,address,city,;
            postalcode,STR(maxordamt,12,2) as maxordamt FROM customer ;
            WHERE (customer.maxordamt>$100000)"

         .Visible=.T.      && Make Word visible.
         .WindowState = 2   && Minimize Word.


         .Documents.Add      && Add new document.
         .Selection.InsertParagraphAfter

         .ActiveDocument.MailMerge.OpenDataSource;
            (dsname,wformat,wconfirmconv,wreadonly,wlinktosource,;
             waddtofilelist,wpassworddoc,wpasswordtemp,wrevert,;
             wprotectdoc,wprotecttemp,wconn,wsqlstatement)
         .ActiveDocument.MailMerge.EditMainDocument
         .Selection.InsertDateTime("dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy", 1)
         .Selection.MoveRight
         .Selection.InsertParagraphAfter
         .Selection.MoveDown
         .ActiveDocument.MailMerge.Fields.Add;
            (oWord.Selection.Range,"contact")
         .Selection.InsertParagraphAfter
         .Selection.MoveDown
         .ActiveDocument.MailMerge.Fields.Add;
            (oWord.Selection.Range,"company")
         .Selection.InsertParagraphAfter
         .Selection.MoveDown
         .ActiveDocument.MailMerge.Fields.Add;
             (oWord.Selection.Range,"title")
         .Selection.InsertParagraphAfter
         .Selection.MoveDown
         .ActiveDocument.MailMerge.Fields.Add;
            (oWord.Selection.Range,"address")
         .Selection.InsertAfter(", ")
         .Selection.MoveRight
         .ActiveDocument.MailMerge.Fields.Add(oWord.Selection.Range,"city")
         .Selection.InsertAfter("  ")
         .Selection.MoveRight
         .ActiveDocument.MailMerge.Fields.Add;
            (oWord.Selection.Range,"postalcode")
         .Selection.MoveRight
         .Selection.InsertParagraphAfter
         .Selection.InsertParagraphAfter
         .Selection.InsertAfter("Dear ")
         .Selection.MoveRight
         .ActiveDocument.MailMerge.Fields.Add;
            (oWord.Selection.Range,"contact")
         .Selection.MoveRight
         .Selection.InsertAfter(":")
         .Selection.MoveRight
         .Selection.InsertParagraphAfter
         .Selection.InsertParagraphAfter
         .Selection.MoveDown
         .Selection.InsertAfter(intro1)
         .Selection.MoveRight
         .ActiveDocument.MailMerge.Fields.Add;
            (oWord.Selection.Range,"maxordamt")
         .Selection.MoveRight
         .Selection.InsertAfter(intro2)
         .Selection.MoveRight
         .Selection.InsertAfter(intro3)
         .Selection.MoveRight
         .Selection.InsertParagraphAfter
         .Selection.InsertParagraphAfter
         .Selection.MoveDown
         .Selection.InsertAfter("Thank you,")
         .Selection.MoveRight
         .Selection.InsertParagraphAfter
         .Selection.InsertParagraphAfter
         .Selection.MoveDown
         .Selection.Fields.Add(oWord.Selection.Range,-1,"author")
         .ActiveDocument.MailMerge.Destination = 0 && new document.
         .ActiveDocument.MailMerge.Execute         && Run the merge.
         nanswer = MESSAGEBOX("Would you like to view the finished
         document?",36,"Switch to Word")
         DO CASE
            CASE nanswer = 6
               .ActiveWindow.View.Type = 3    && Page layout view.
               .Visible = .T.
               .Application.Activate   && Bring Word forward.
               .WindowState = 0         && Word in normal state.
               =INKEY(5)         && Wait 5 seconds then bring VFP back.
               .WindowState = 2    && Then minimize Word.
              ENDCASE
         nanswer = MESSAGEBOX("Print the document?",36,;
         "Print the merged document.")
         DO CASE
            CASE nanswer = 6         && Yes
               .ActiveDocument.PrintOut   && Print the merged form letter.
         ENDCASE

         nanswer = MESSAGEBOX("Save the document?",36,;
         "Enter the name to save the merged document.")
         DO CASE
            CASE nanswer = 6         && Yes
               cbaddoc=SPACE(25)
               DO WHILE .T.
                  DEFINE WINDOW getname FROM 1,1 TO 15,60 ;
                     FONT 'COURIER NEW',10 FLOAT GROW ZOOM
                     ACTIVATE WINDOW getname
                     cdoc=SPACE(25)
                     mquit = SPACE(1)
                  IF !EMPTY(cbaddoc)
                     @2,1 SAY "Existing file name: "+cbaddoc COLOR R+/w
                  ENDIF
                  @4,1 SAY "Enter a name for the Word document."
                  @5,1 GET cdoc color b/w VALID emptyChk(cdoc)
                  @7,25 GET mquit FUNCTION '*T Quit' SIZE 2,10
                  READ CYCLE
                  CLEAR WINDOW getname
                  cdoc=ALLTRIM(cdoc)
                  cpath= .Options.DefaultFilePath(0)   && Get Word's
                                                 && default document path.
                  IF FILE(cpath+"\"+cdoc+".doc")
                     WAIT WINDOW "Document already exists! Enter another
                     file name." TIME 1
                     cbaddoc=cdoc
                     LOOP
                  ELSE
                     .ActiveDocument.SaveAs(cdoc)
                  ENDIF
                  .Documents.Close(0)
                  .Application.Quit
                  EXIT
               ENDDO
            CASE nanswer = 7         && No
               .Documents.Close(0)
               .Application.Quit
            ENDCASE
      ENDWITH

   ON ERROR                             && Restore system error handler.

   PROCEDURE emptychk
   PARAMETER pcdoc
   IF !EMPTY(pcdoc)
      RETURN .T.
   ELSE
      WAIT WINDOW "Enter a name for the Word Document"
      RETURN 0
   ENDIF

   PROCEDURE errhand
   PARAMETER merror, mess, mess1, mprog, mlineno
   CLEAR
   IF merror=1426
      mlineno=LTRIM(STR(mlineno))
      merror=LTRIM(STR(merror))
      =MESSAGEBOX("You have an OLE error. Usually this is caused by
      quitting Word or canceling out of a dialog box in Word. "+CHR(13)+;
      "The error message is "+mess)
   ELSE
      mlineno=LTRIM(STR(mlineno))
      merror=LTRIM(STR(merror))
      =MESSAGEBOX("An error occured on line "+mlineno+;
      ". The error message is "+mess+" The error number is "+merror)
   ENDIF
   ON ERROR
   RETURN
   ***/ End program code /***

REFERENCES

For more information about obtaining Word for Windows 97 Service release 1 (SR-1), please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q172475
   TITLE     : How to Obtain and Install MS Office 97 SR-1

(c) Microsoft Corporation 1998, All Rights Reserved. Contributions by Dean Christopher, Microsoft Corporation

Keywords          : FxinteropOle FxinteropWinword FxprgGeneral vfoxwin
Technology        : ole
Version           : WINDOWS:3.0,3.0b,5.0,5.0a
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbhowto