HOWTO: Automate Word 97/2000 to Perform Mail Merge from Visual Basic

ID: Q220607

The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Learning, Professional, and Enterprise Editions for Windows, versions 5.0, 6.0
  • Microsoft Office 2000 Developer
  • Microsoft Word 2000
  • Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SUMMARY

This article demonstrates how to use Word 97 or Word 2000 to create a mail-merged document using Automation from Visual Basic.


MORE INFORMATION

There are two ways to control an Automation server: by using late binding or early binding. With late binding, methods are not bound until run-time and the Automation server is declared as Object. With early binding, your application knows at design-time the exact type of object it will be communicating with and can declare its objects as a specific type. This sample uses early binding, which is considered better in most cases because it affords greater performance and better type safety.

To early bind to an Automation server, you need to set a reference to that server's type library. In Visual Basic, this is done through the References dialog box found under the Project|References menu. For this sample, you will need to add a reference to the type library for Word 97 or Word 2000 before you can run the code. See the steps below on how to add the reference.

Building the Automation Sample

  1. Start Visual Basic and create a new Standard EXE project. Form1 will be created by default.


  2. Add a CommandButton to Form1.


  3. Select Project|References to bring up the References dialog. Select Microsoft Word 8.0 Object Library from the list to add a reference to Word 97. For Word 2000, select Microsoft Word 9.0 Object Library.


  4. Click OK to close the References dialog box.


  5. In the code window for Form1, insert the following code:


    6. 
Option Explicit
Dim wrdApp As Word.Application
Dim wrdDoc As Word.Document

Private Sub Command1_Click()
  Dim wrdSelection As Word.Selection
  Dim wrdMailMerge As Word.MailMerge
  Dim wrdMergeFields As Word.MailMergeFields
  Dim StrToAdd As String
  
' Create an instance of Word  and make it visible
  Set wrdApp = CreateObject("Word.Application")
  wrdApp.Visible = True
  
' Add a new document
  Set wrdDoc = wrdApp.Documents.Add
  wrdDoc.Select
  
  Set wrdSelection = wrdApp.Selection
  Set wrdMailMerge = wrdDoc.MailMerge
  
' Create MailMerge Data file
  CreateMailMergeDataFile
  
' Create a string and insert it into the document
  StrToAdd = "State University" & vbCr & _
           "Electrical Engineering Department"
  wrdSelection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphCenter
  wrdSelection.TypeText StrToAdd
   
  InsertLines 4
   
' Insert merge data
  wrdSelection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphLeft
  Set wrdMergeFields = wrdMailMerge.Fields
  wrdMergeFields.Add wrdSelection.Range, "FirstName"
  wrdSelection.TypeText " "
  wrdMergeFields.Add wrdSelection.Range, "LastName"
  wrdSelection.TypeParagraph
  wrdMergeFields.Add wrdSelection.Range, "Address"
  wrdSelection.TypeParagraph
  wrdMergeFields.Add wrdSelection.Range, "CityStateZip"
    
  InsertLines 2
  
' Right justify the line and insert a date field
' with the current date
  wrdSelection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = _
        wdAlignParagraphRight
  wrdSelection.InsertDateTime _
        DateTimeFormat:="dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy", _
        InsertAsField:=False
        
  InsertLines 2
  
' Justify the rest of the document
  wrdSelection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = _
        wdAlignParagraphJustify
  
  wrdSelection.TypeText "Dear "
  wrdMergeFields.Add wrdSelection.Range, "FirstName"
  wrdSelection.TypeText ","
  InsertLines 2
  
  ' Create a string and insert it into the document
  StrToAdd = "Thank you for your recent request for next " & _
      "semester's class schedule for the Electrical " & _
      "Engineering Department. Enclosed with this " & _
      "letter is a booklet containing all the classes " & _
      "offered next semester at State University.  " & _
      "Several new classes will be offered in the " & _
      "Electrical Engineering Department next semester.  " & _
      "These classes are listed below."
  wrdSelection.TypeText StrToAdd
  
  InsertLines 2
  
  ' Insert a new table with 9 rows and 4 columns
  wrdDoc.Tables.Add wrdSelection.Range, NumRows:=9, _
       NumColumns:=4
  With wrdDoc.Tables(1)
    ' Set the column widths
    .Columns(1).SetWidth 51, wdAdjustNone
    .Columns(2).SetWidth 170, wdAdjustNone
    .Columns(3).SetWidth 100, wdAdjustNone
    .Columns(4).SetWidth 111, wdAdjustNone
    ' Set the shading on the first row to light gray
    .Rows(1).Cells.Shading.BackgroundPatternColorIndex = _
       wdGray25
    ' Bold the first row
    .Rows(1).Range.Bold = True
    ' Center the text in Cell (1,1)
    .Cell(1, 1).Range.Paragraphs.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphCenter
    
    ' Fill each row of the table with data
    FillRow wrdDoc, 1, "Class Number", "Class Name", "Class Time", _
       "Instructor"
    FillRow wrdDoc, 2, "EE220", "Introduction to Electronics II", _
       "1:00-2:00 M,W,F", "Dr. Jensen"
    FillRow wrdDoc, 3, "EE230", "Electromagnetic Field Theory I", _
       "10:00-11:30 T,T", "Dr. Crump"
    FillRow wrdDoc, 4, "EE300", "Feedback Control Systems", _
       "9:00-10:00 M,W,F", "Dr. Murdy"
    FillRow wrdDoc, 5, "EE325", "Advanced Digital Design", _
       "9:00-10:30 T,T", "Dr. Alley"
    FillRow wrdDoc, 6, "EE350", "Advanced Communication Systems", _
       "9:00-10:30 T,T", "Dr. Taylor"
    FillRow wrdDoc, 7, "EE400", "Advanced Microwave Theory", _
       "1:00-2:30 T,T", "Dr. Lee"
    FillRow wrdDoc, 8, "EE450", "Plasma Theory", _
       "1:00-2:00 M,W,F", "Dr. Davis"
    FillRow wrdDoc, 9, "EE500", "Principles of VLSI Design", _
       "3:00-4:00 M,W,F", "Dr. Ellison"
  End With
  
  ' Go to the end of the document
  wrdApp.Selection.GoTo wdGoToLine, wdGoToLast
  InsertLines 2
  
  ' Create a string and insert it into the document
  StrToAdd = "For additional information regarding the " & _
             "Department of Electrical Engineering, " & _
             "you can visit our Web site at "
  wrdSelection.TypeText StrToAdd
  ' Insert a hyperlink to the Web page
  wrdSelection.Hyperlinks.Add Anchor:=wrdSelection.Range, _
     Address:="http://www.ee.stateu.tld"
  ' Create a string and insert it into the document
  StrToAdd = ".  Thank you for your interest in the classes " & _
             "offered in the Department of Electrical " & _
             "Engineering.  If you have any other questions, " & _
             "please feel free to give us a call at " & _
             "555-1212." & vbCr & vbCr & _
             "Sincerely," & vbCr & vbCr & _
             "Kathryn M. Hinsch" & vbCr & _
             "Department of Electrical Engineering" & vbCr
  wrdSelection.TypeText StrToAdd
   
' Perform mail merge
  wrdMailMerge.Destination = wdSendToNewDocument
  wrdMailMerge.Execute False
  
' Close the original form document
  wrdDoc.Saved = True
  wrdDoc.Close False
  
' Notify user we are done.
  MsgBox "Mail Merge Complete.", vbMsgBoxSetForeground
  
' Release References
  Set wrdSelection = Nothing
  Set wrdMailMerge = Nothing
  Set wrdMergeFields = Nothing
  Set wrdDoc = Nothing
  Set wrdApp = Nothing
  
' Cleanup temp file
  Kill "C:\DataDoc.doc"
End Sub

Public Sub InsertLines(LineNum As Integer)
  Dim iCount As Integer

' Insert "LineNum" blank lines
  For iCount = 1 To LineNum
    wrdApp.Selection.TypeParagraph
  Next iCount
End Sub

Public Sub FillRow(Doc As Word.Document, Row As Integer, _
                   Text1 As String, Text2 As String, _
                   Text3 As String, Text4 As String)
                   
  With Doc.Tables(1)
    ' Insert the data into the specific cell
    .Cell(Row, 1).Range.InsertAfter Text1
    .Cell(Row, 2).Range.InsertAfter Text2
    .Cell(Row, 3).Range.InsertAfter Text3
    .Cell(Row, 4).Range.InsertAfter Text4
  End With
End Sub

Public Sub CreateMailMergeDataFile()
  Dim wrdDataDoc As Word.Document
  Dim iCount As Integer
  
' Create a data source at C:\DataDoc.doc containing the field data
  wrdDoc.MailMerge.CreateDataSource Name:="C:\DataDoc.doc", _
        HeaderRecord:="FirstName, LastName, Address, CityStateZip"
' Open the file to insert data
  Set wrdDataDoc = wrdApp.Documents.Open("C:\DataDoc.doc")
  For iCount = 1 To 2
    wrdDataDoc.Tables(1).Rows.Add
  Next iCount
' Fill in the data
  FillRow wrdDataDoc, 2, "Steve", "DeBroux", _
        "4567 Main Street", "Buffalo, NY  98052"
  FillRow wrdDataDoc, 3, "Jan", "Miksovsky", _
        "1234 5th Street", "Charlotte, NC  98765"
  FillRow wrdDataDoc, 4, "Brian", "Valentine", _
        "12348 78th Street  Apt. 214", "Lubbock, TX  25874"
' Save and close the file
  wrdDataDoc.Save
  wrdDataDoc.Close False
End Sub
  6. Press the F5 key and click on the CommandButton to run the sample.



REFERENCES

For more information on Office Automation, please visit the Microsoft Office Development support site at:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/officedev/

© Microsoft Corporation 1999, All Rights Reserved.
Contributions by Mark Durrett, Microsoft Corporation

Keywords : kbAutomation kbVBp500 kbVBp600 kbWord kbGrpDSO kbOffice2000 kbword2000
Version : WINDOWS:2000,5.0,6.0,97; :
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbhowto


Last Reviewed: November 4, 1999
© 2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of Use.