Programming Word mail merge
VBA development of a Microsoft Word template with mail merge functionality
On behalf of the globally active manufacturer of safety switching systems, K.A. Schmersal GmbH & Co. KG, headquartered in Wuppertal, Germany, eWorks developed a Microsoft Word document template to extend the Word mail merge functionality.
The Word template was developed using Microsoft Word 2003, Microsoft Excel 2003 and VBA ("Visual Basic for Applications"). It already contains the corporate design (CD) of the company K.A. Schmersal GmbH & Co. KG corporate design (CD) for letters. Using a specially created Office toolbar, it is possible to select, change or remove a data source in the form of a Microsoft Excel workbook. With the help of placeholders in the form of Word fields, the data records of the data source can be output in the mail merge. The user has the option of assigning or linking the columns in the data source to placeholders. It turned out to be particularly helpful that placeholders could also be assigned to several columns at the same time, whose values are to be linked in a specific order. Once all placeholders have been assigned, a button can be used to start the generation of the mail merge (either all or just a selection). The resulting mail merge is output as a new Microsoft Word document and can be printed directly or saved for later use.
eWorks supported the client from conception through development to commissioning, and was available for operational support and troubleshooting (warranty) after the handover.