Sample VB .NET source code to create mailing labels or customized letters using MS Word MailMerge

[Mikey]

Sample VB .NET source code to create mailing labels or customized letters
using MS Word MailMerge

This VB .NET source code will start MS Word and call methods and set
properties in MS Word to execute a MailMerge to create mailing labels or
customized letters.

A label name known to MS Word MailMerge mailing label wizard may be used or
a template file containing the field names Line1 thru Line5 for each record
to be printed. If a template file is used ("bUseTemplate" =True),
"strLabelNa me" contains the full path filename to the template file
otherwise it contains a label name known to the MS Word MailMerge mailing
label wizard (e.g. "5162").

The "strFileNam e" parameter contains the full path filename to a data file
containing TAB delimited records with exactly 5 fields in each record. Each
record contains the name and address information. The first record of the
data file contains the field names (Line1, Line2, Line3, Line4, Line5)
delimited by a TAB character.

The "wd_AlignmentCo de" parameter and the "intOffset" parameter are used only
when "bUseTempla te" is False. They specify the alignment of the fields
within the label and their offset from the left margin of the label table
cell respectively. "intOffset" is specified in inches.

Add References to:
Microsoft Word 10.0 Object Library
Microsoft Office 10.0 Object Library
or equivalent for older or newer releases of MS Office

Imports:
Microsoft.Visua lBasic
_______________ _______________ _______________ ________
Sub CreateWordMailM erge(ByVal strLabelName As String, _
ByVal wd_AlignmentCod e As Word.WdCellVert icalAlignment, _
ByVal intOffset As Single, _
ByVal strFileName As String, _
ByVal bUseTemplate As Boolean)
Dim oApp As Word.Applicatio n
Dim oDoc As Word.Document
Dim x As Integer
Dim bOK As Boolean = False
Dim oAutoText As Word.AutoTextEn try

Try
'Start a new document in Word
oApp = CType(CreateObj ect("Word.Appli cation"), Word.Applicatio n)
If bUseTemplate Then
Try
oDoc = oApp.Documents. Open(CType(strL abelName,
System.Object), False, True, _
False, , , True, , , _
Word.WdOpenForm at.wdOpenFormat Document,
, True)
Catch MyException As System.Exceptio n
MsgBox(String.C oncat("Unable to open ", strLabelName, _
ControlChars.Cr .ToString, ControlChars.Cr .ToString,
_
"Error Message: ", MyException.Mes sage,
ControlChars.Cr .ToString, _
"Source: ", MyException.Sou rce,
ControlChars.Cr .ToString, _
"InnerException : ",
MyException.Inn erException.Mes sage, ControlChars.Cr .ToString), _
MsgBoxStyle.Cri tical, "Label Template Open Failure")
CType(oApp, Word._Applicati on).Quit()
oApp = Nothing
Exit Sub
End Try
Else
oDoc = oApp.Documents. Add
End If
oApp.Visible = True ' Make MS Word visible
Application.DoE vents()
' Do MailMerge
With oDoc.MailMerge
If Not bUseTemplate Then
With .Fields
.Add(oApp.Selec tion.Range, "Line1")
oApp.Selection. TypeParagraph()
.Add(oApp.Selec tion.Range, "Line2")
oApp.Selection. TypeParagraph()
.Add(oApp.Selec tion.Range, "Line3")
oApp.Selection. TypeParagraph()
.Add(oApp.Selec tion.Range, "Line4")
oApp.Selection. TypeParagraph()
.Add(oApp.Selec tion.Range, "Line5")
End With
oAutoText =
oApp.NormalTemp late.AutoTextEn tries.Add("word AutoTextTemp", oDoc.Content)
oDoc.Content.De lete()
End If ' If bUseTemplate
' Set up the mail merge type as mailing labels and use
' a tab-delimited text file as the data source.
.MainDocumentTy pe =
Word.WdMailMerg eMainDocType.wd MailingLabels
.OpenDataSource (strFileName, _
Word.WdOpenForm at.wdOpenFormat Text, _
False, True, False, False)
If Not bUseTemplate Then
'
'Create the new document for the labels using the
AutoText entry
'
oApp.MailingLab el.CreateNewDoc ument( _
CType(strLabelN ame, String), _
"", _
"wordAutoTextTe mp", _
False, _
Word.WdPaperTra y.wdPrinterManu alFeed)
End If ' If bUseTemplate
'
'Execute the mail merge to generate the labels.
.Destination =
Word.WdMailMerg eDestination.wd SendToNewDocume nt
.Execute()
'
If Not bUseTemplate Then
'Delete the AutoText entry
oAutoText.Delet e()
End If ' If bUseTemplate
End With
'
'Close the original document so that
'the Mail Merge results are displayed
CType(oDoc, Word._Document) .Close(False)
'
If Not bUseTemplate Then
' Apply vertical alignment
For x = 1 To oApp.ActiveDocu ment.Tables.Cou nt

oApp.ActiveDocu ment.Tables.Ite m(x).Range.Cell s.VerticalAlign ment = _
wd_AlignmentCod e
Next
Application.DoE vents()
For x = 1 To oApp.ActiveDocu ment.Tables.Cou nt
oApp.ActiveDocu ment.Tables.Ite m(x).LeftPaddin g =
oApp.InchesToPo ints(intOffset)
oApp.ActiveDocu ment.Tables.Ite m(x).Rows.LeftI ndent =
oApp.InchesToPo ints(intOffset)
Next
Application.DoE vents()
End If
If oApp.ActiveWind ow.View.Type <> Word.WdViewType .wdPrintView
Then
If oApp.ActiveWind ow.View.SplitSp ecial =
Word.WdSpecialP ane.wdPaneNone Then
oApp.ActiveWind ow.ActivePane.V iew.Type =
Word.WdViewType .wdPrintView
Else
oApp.ActiveWind ow.View.Type =
Word.WdViewType .wdPrintView
End If
End If
'
'Prevent save to Normal template when user exits Word
oApp.NormalTemp late.Saved = True
oApp = Nothing
oDoc = Nothing
Catch MyException As System.Runtime. InteropServices .COMException
MsgBox(String.C oncat("Error occured while communicating with MS
Word", _
ControlChars.Cr .ToString, ControlChars.Cr .ToString, _
"ErrorCode: ", MyException.Err orCode,
ControlChars.Cr .ToString, _
"Error Message: ", MyException.Mes sage,
ControlChars.Cr .ToString, _
"Source: ", MyException.Sou rce, ControlChars.Cr .ToString, _
"StackTrace : ", MyException.Sta ckTrace,
ControlChars.Cr .ToString), _
MsgBoxStyle.Cri tical, "MS Word Problem")
End Try
End Sub

[Ken Tucker [MVP]]

Hi,

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;301656

Ken
------------------
"Mikey" <Mi***@nospam-nohow-noway.net> wrote in message
news:uS******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP11.phx.gbl...

Sample VB .NET source code to create mailing labels or customized letters
using MS Word MailMerge

This VB .NET source code will start MS Word and call methods and set
properties in MS Word to execute a MailMerge to create mailing labels or
customized letters.

A label name known to MS Word MailMerge mailing label wizard may be used or a template file containing the field names Line1 thru Line5 for each record to be printed. If a template file is used ("bUseTemplate" =True),
"strLabelNa me" contains the full path filename to the template file
otherwise it contains a label name known to the MS Word MailMerge mailing
label wizard (e.g. "5162").

The "strFileNam e" parameter contains the full path filename to a data file
containing TAB delimited records with exactly 5 fields in each record. Each record contains the name and address information. The first record of the
data file contains the field names (Line1, Line2, Line3, Line4, Line5)
delimited by a TAB character.

The "wd_AlignmentCo de" parameter and the "intOffset" parameter are used only when "bUseTempla te" is False. They specify the alignment of the fields
within the label and their offset from the left margin of the label table
cell respectively. "intOffset" is specified in inches.

Add References to:
Microsoft Word 10.0 Object Library
Microsoft Office 10.0 Object Library
or equivalent for older or newer releases of MS Office

Imports:
Microsoft.Visua lBasic
_______________ _______________ _______________ ________
Sub CreateWordMailM erge(ByVal strLabelName As String, _
ByVal wd_AlignmentCod e As Word.WdCellVert icalAlignment, _
ByVal intOffset As Single, _
ByVal strFileName As String, _
ByVal bUseTemplate As Boolean)
Dim oApp As Word.Applicatio n
Dim oDoc As Word.Document
Dim x As Integer
Dim bOK As Boolean = False
Dim oAutoText As Word.AutoTextEn try

Try
'Start a new document in Word
oApp = CType(CreateObj ect("Word.Appli cation"), Word.Applicatio n) If bUseTemplate Then
Try
oDoc = oApp.Documents. Open(CType(strL abelName,
System.Object), False, True, _
False, , , True, , , _
Word.WdOpenForm at.wdOpenFormat Document, , True)
Catch MyException As System.Exceptio n
MsgBox(String.C oncat("Unable to open ", strLabelName, _ ControlChars.Cr .ToString, ControlChars.Cr .ToString, _
"Error Message: ", MyException.Mes sage,
ControlChars.Cr .ToString, _
"Source: ", MyException.Sou rce,
ControlChars.Cr .ToString, _
"InnerException : ",
MyException.Inn erException.Mes sage, ControlChars.Cr .ToString), _
MsgBoxStyle.Cri tical, "Label Template Open Failure") CType(oApp, Word._Applicati on).Quit()
oApp = Nothing
Exit Sub
End Try
Else
oDoc = oApp.Documents. Add
End If
oApp.Visible = True ' Make MS Word visible
Application.DoE vents()
' Do MailMerge
With oDoc.MailMerge
If Not bUseTemplate Then
With .Fields
.Add(oApp.Selec tion.Range, "Line1")
oApp.Selection. TypeParagraph()
.Add(oApp.Selec tion.Range, "Line2")
oApp.Selection. TypeParagraph()
.Add(oApp.Selec tion.Range, "Line3")
oApp.Selection. TypeParagraph()
.Add(oApp.Selec tion.Range, "Line4")
oApp.Selection. TypeParagraph()
.Add(oApp.Selec tion.Range, "Line5")
End With
oAutoText =
oApp.NormalTemp late.AutoTextEn tries.Add("word AutoTextTemp", oDoc.Content)
oDoc.Content.De lete()
End If ' If bUseTemplate
' Set up the mail merge type as mailing labels and use
' a tab-delimited text file as the data source.
.MainDocumentTy pe =
Word.WdMailMerg eMainDocType.wd MailingLabels
.OpenDataSource (strFileName, _
Word.WdOpenForm at.wdOpenFormat Text, _
False, True, False, False)
If Not bUseTemplate Then
'
'Create the new document for the labels using the
AutoText entry
'
oApp.MailingLab el.CreateNewDoc ument( _
CType(strLabelN ame, String), _
"", _
"wordAutoTextTe mp", _
False, _
Word.WdPaperTra y.wdPrinterManu alFeed)
End If ' If bUseTemplate
'
'Execute the mail merge to generate the labels.
.Destination =
Word.WdMailMerg eDestination.wd SendToNewDocume nt
.Execute()
'
If Not bUseTemplate Then
'Delete the AutoText entry
oAutoText.Delet e()
End If ' If bUseTemplate
End With
'
'Close the original document so that
'the Mail Merge results are displayed
CType(oDoc, Word._Document) .Close(False)
'
If Not bUseTemplate Then
' Apply vertical alignment
For x = 1 To oApp.ActiveDocu ment.Tables.Cou nt

oApp.ActiveDocu ment.Tables.Ite m(x).Range.Cell s.VerticalAlign ment = _
wd_AlignmentCod e
Next
Application.DoE vents()
For x = 1 To oApp.ActiveDocu ment.Tables.Cou nt
oApp.ActiveDocu ment.Tables.Ite m(x).LeftPaddin g =
oApp.InchesToPo ints(intOffset)
oApp.ActiveDocu ment.Tables.Ite m(x).Rows.LeftI ndent =
oApp.InchesToPo ints(intOffset)
Next
Application.DoE vents()
End If
If oApp.ActiveWind ow.View.Type <> Word.WdViewType .wdPrintView
Then
If oApp.ActiveWind ow.View.SplitSp ecial =
Word.WdSpecialP ane.wdPaneNone Then
oApp.ActiveWind ow.ActivePane.V iew.Type =
Word.WdViewType .wdPrintView
Else
oApp.ActiveWind ow.View.Type =
Word.WdViewType .wdPrintView
End If
End If
'
'Prevent save to Normal template when user exits Word
oApp.NormalTemp late.Saved = True
oApp = Nothing
oDoc = Nothing
Catch MyException As System.Runtime. InteropServices .COMException
MsgBox(String.C oncat("Error occured while communicating with MS Word", _
ControlChars.Cr .ToString, ControlChars.Cr .ToString, _
"ErrorCode: ", MyException.Err orCode,
ControlChars.Cr .ToString, _
"Error Message: ", MyException.Mes sage,
ControlChars.Cr .ToString, _
"Source: ", MyException.Sou rce, ControlChars.Cr .ToString, _ "StackTrace : ", MyException.Sta ckTrace,
ControlChars.Cr .ToString), _
MsgBoxStyle.Cri tical, "MS Word Problem")
End Try
End Sub

[Ken Tucker [MVP]]

Hi,

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;301656

Ken
------------------
"Mikey" <Mi***@nospam-nohow-noway.net> wrote in message
news:uS******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP11.phx.gbl...

Sample VB .NET source code to create mailing labels or customized letters
using MS Word MailMerge

This VB .NET source code will start MS Word and call methods and set
properties in MS Word to execute a MailMerge to create mailing labels or
customized letters.

A label name known to MS Word MailMerge mailing label wizard may be used or a template file containing the field names Line1 thru Line5 for each record to be printed. If a template file is used ("bUseTemplate" =True),
"strLabelNa me" contains the full path filename to the template file
otherwise it contains a label name known to the MS Word MailMerge mailing
label wizard (e.g. "5162").

The "strFileNam e" parameter contains the full path filename to a data file
containing TAB delimited records with exactly 5 fields in each record. Each record contains the name and address information. The first record of the
data file contains the field names (Line1, Line2, Line3, Line4, Line5)
delimited by a TAB character.

The "wd_AlignmentCo de" parameter and the "intOffset" parameter are used only when "bUseTempla te" is False. They specify the alignment of the fields
within the label and their offset from the left margin of the label table
cell respectively. "intOffset" is specified in inches.

Add References to:
Microsoft Word 10.0 Object Library
Microsoft Office 10.0 Object Library
or equivalent for older or newer releases of MS Office

Imports:
Microsoft.Visua lBasic
_______________ _______________ _______________ ________
Sub CreateWordMailM erge(ByVal strLabelName As String, _
ByVal wd_AlignmentCod e As Word.WdCellVert icalAlignment, _
ByVal intOffset As Single, _
ByVal strFileName As String, _
ByVal bUseTemplate As Boolean)
Dim oApp As Word.Applicatio n
Dim oDoc As Word.Document
Dim x As Integer
Dim bOK As Boolean = False
Dim oAutoText As Word.AutoTextEn try

Try
'Start a new document in Word
oApp = CType(CreateObj ect("Word.Appli cation"), Word.Applicatio n) If bUseTemplate Then
Try
oDoc = oApp.Documents. Open(CType(strL abelName,
System.Object), False, True, _
False, , , True, , , _
Word.WdOpenForm at.wdOpenFormat Document, , True)
Catch MyException As System.Exceptio n
MsgBox(String.C oncat("Unable to open ", strLabelName, _ ControlChars.Cr .ToString, ControlChars.Cr .ToString, _
"Error Message: ", MyException.Mes sage,
ControlChars.Cr .ToString, _
"Source: ", MyException.Sou rce,
ControlChars.Cr .ToString, _
"InnerException : ",
MyException.Inn erException.Mes sage, ControlChars.Cr .ToString), _
MsgBoxStyle.Cri tical, "Label Template Open Failure") CType(oApp, Word._Applicati on).Quit()
oApp = Nothing
Exit Sub
End Try
Else
oDoc = oApp.Documents. Add
End If
oApp.Visible = True ' Make MS Word visible
Application.DoE vents()
' Do MailMerge
With oDoc.MailMerge
If Not bUseTemplate Then
With .Fields
.Add(oApp.Selec tion.Range, "Line1")
oApp.Selection. TypeParagraph()
.Add(oApp.Selec tion.Range, "Line2")
oApp.Selection. TypeParagraph()
.Add(oApp.Selec tion.Range, "Line3")
oApp.Selection. TypeParagraph()
.Add(oApp.Selec tion.Range, "Line4")
oApp.Selection. TypeParagraph()
.Add(oApp.Selec tion.Range, "Line5")
End With
oAutoText =
oApp.NormalTemp late.AutoTextEn tries.Add("word AutoTextTemp", oDoc.Content)
oDoc.Content.De lete()
End If ' If bUseTemplate
' Set up the mail merge type as mailing labels and use
' a tab-delimited text file as the data source.
.MainDocumentTy pe =
Word.WdMailMerg eMainDocType.wd MailingLabels
.OpenDataSource (strFileName, _
Word.WdOpenForm at.wdOpenFormat Text, _
False, True, False, False)
If Not bUseTemplate Then
'
'Create the new document for the labels using the
AutoText entry
'
oApp.MailingLab el.CreateNewDoc ument( _
CType(strLabelN ame, String), _
"", _
"wordAutoTextTe mp", _
False, _
Word.WdPaperTra y.wdPrinterManu alFeed)
End If ' If bUseTemplate
'
'Execute the mail merge to generate the labels.
.Destination =
Word.WdMailMerg eDestination.wd SendToNewDocume nt
.Execute()
'
If Not bUseTemplate Then
'Delete the AutoText entry
oAutoText.Delet e()
End If ' If bUseTemplate
End With
'
'Close the original document so that
'the Mail Merge results are displayed
CType(oDoc, Word._Document) .Close(False)
'
If Not bUseTemplate Then
' Apply vertical alignment
For x = 1 To oApp.ActiveDocu ment.Tables.Cou nt

oApp.ActiveDocu ment.Tables.Ite m(x).Range.Cell s.VerticalAlign ment = _
wd_AlignmentCod e
Next
Application.DoE vents()
For x = 1 To oApp.ActiveDocu ment.Tables.Cou nt
oApp.ActiveDocu ment.Tables.Ite m(x).LeftPaddin g =
oApp.InchesToPo ints(intOffset)
oApp.ActiveDocu ment.Tables.Ite m(x).Rows.LeftI ndent =
oApp.InchesToPo ints(intOffset)
Next
Application.DoE vents()
End If
If oApp.ActiveWind ow.View.Type <> Word.WdViewType .wdPrintView
Then
If oApp.ActiveWind ow.View.SplitSp ecial =
Word.WdSpecialP ane.wdPaneNone Then
oApp.ActiveWind ow.ActivePane.V iew.Type =
Word.WdViewType .wdPrintView
Else
oApp.ActiveWind ow.View.Type =
Word.WdViewType .wdPrintView
End If
End If
'
'Prevent save to Normal template when user exits Word
oApp.NormalTemp late.Saved = True
oApp = Nothing
oDoc = Nothing
Catch MyException As System.Runtime. InteropServices .COMException
MsgBox(String.C oncat("Error occured while communicating with MS Word", _
ControlChars.Cr .ToString, ControlChars.Cr .ToString, _
"ErrorCode: ", MyException.Err orCode,
ControlChars.Cr .ToString, _
"Error Message: ", MyException.Mes sage,
ControlChars.Cr .ToString, _
"Source: ", MyException.Sou rce, ControlChars.Cr .ToString, _ "StackTrace : ", MyException.Sta ckTrace,
ControlChars.Cr .ToString), _
MsgBoxStyle.Cri tical, "MS Word Problem")
End Try
End Sub