Microsoft KB Archive/181577

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WD97: Text Form Fields Not Retained During Mail Merge

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Q181577

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

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SYMPTOMS
A mail merge main document that contains form fields retains the drop-down and check box form fields, but text form fields are not present in the merge result.

CAUSE
Word unlinks the text form fields during the mail merge. Word does not unlink display form fields, such as the drop-down and the check box form fields. This behavior is by design.

WORKAROUND
Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support professionals can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact a Microsoft Certified Partner or the Microsoft fee-based consulting line at (800) 936-5200. For more information about Microsoft Certified Partners, please see the following page on the World Wide Web:

"http://www.microsoft.com/partner/referral/" For more information about the support options available from Microsoft, please see the following page on the World Wide Web:

"http://support.microsoft.com/directory/overview.asp" NOTE: Do not perform a mail merge as usual in Microsoft Word. Instead, run the following two macros from your mail merge main document.

The following macros will:


 * 1) Replace text form fields in the main mail merge document with placeholders while preserving the contents of the form fields.
 * 2) Merge to a new document.
 * 3) Replace the placeholders with text form fields and restore the contents of the form fields.
 * 4) Restore the main mail merge document to its original content prior to running the macro.

NOTE: The following two macros work in conjunction with one another, and both macros must be created in the same Visual Basic for Applications project.

Create the first macro:

Sub PreserveMailMergeFormFields

Dim fFieldText As String Dim iCount As Integer Dim fField As FormField Dim sWindowMain, sWindowMerge As String

On Error GoTo ErrHandler

' Store Main merge document window name. sWindowMain = ActiveWindow.Caption

' Because the document contains form fields, it should be protected so, ' unprotect document. If ActiveDocument.ProtectionType <> wdNoProtection Then ActiveDocument.Unprotect End If

' Loop through all text form fields in the main mail merge document. For Each aField In ActiveDocument.FormFields

' If the form field is a text form field... If aField.Type = wdFieldFormTextInput Then

' Redim array to hold contents of text field. ReDim Preserve fFieldText(1, iCount + 1)

' Place content and name of field into array. fFieldText(0, iCount) = aField.Result fFieldText(1, iCount) = aField.Name

' Select the form field. aField.Select

' Replace it with placeholder text. Selection.TypeText "<" & fFieldText(1, iCount) _ & "PlaceHolder>"

' Increment icount iCount = iCount + 1

End If

Next aField

' Perform mail merge to new document. ActiveDocument.MailMerge.Destination = wdSendToNewDocument ActiveDocument.MailMerge.Execute

' Find and Replace placeholders with form fields. doFindReplace iCount, fField, fFieldText

' Protect the merged document. ActiveDocument.Protect Password:="", NoReset:=True, Type:= _ WdAllowOnlyFormFields

' Get name of final merged document. sWindowMerge = ActiveWindow.Caption

' Reactivate the main merge document. Windows(sWindowMain).Activate

' Find and replace placeholders with form fields. doFindReplace iCount, fField, fFieldText

' Reprotect the main mail merge document. ActiveDocument.Protect Password:="", NoReset:=True, Type:= _ WdAllowOnlyFormFields

' Switch back to the merged document. Windows(sWindowMerge).Activate

ErrHandler:

End Sub Create the second macro:

Sub doFindReplace(iCount As Integer, fField As FormField, _  fFieldText As String)

' Go to top of document. Selection.HomeKey Unit:=wdStory

' Initialize Find. Selection.Find.ClearFormatting With Selection.Find .Forward = True .Wrap = wdFindContinue .Format = False .MatchCase = False .MatchWholeWord = False .MatchWildcards = False .MatchSoundsLike = False .MatchAllWordForms = False

' Loop form fields count. For i = 0 To iCount

' Execute the find. Do While .Execute (FindText:="<" & fFieldText(1, i) _           & "PlaceHolder>") = True

' Replace the placeholder with the form field. Set fField = Selection.FormFields.Add _ (Range:=Selection.Range, Type:=wdFieldFormTextInput)

' Restore form field contents and bookmark name. fField.Result = fFieldText(0, i)           fField.Name = fFieldText(1, i)

Loop

' Go to top of document for next find. Selection.HomeKey Unit:=wdStory

Next

End With

End Sub

For more information about how to use the sample code in this article, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

"Q173707 OFF97: How to Run Sample Code from Knowledge Base Articles"

MORE INFORMATION
Some fields, such as the Next and FillIn fields, require input either from the data document or from you to continue processing the merge. In this case, Word places the results in the merged document. However, fields that obtain information from document statistics, such as the Numpages field, may be inappropriate for a merged document. As a result they are not retained in the merge result.

The following table lists which fields are not unlinked and which fields are unlinked during a Word mail merge.

  Fields that are          Fields that are not unlinked            unlinked -

= (Formula)             Ask Advance                 Author AutoNum                 AutoText AutoNumLgl              AutoTextList AutoNumOut              Comments BarCode                 Compare Date                    CreateDate EQ                      Database FormCheckbox            DocProperty FormDropDown            DocVariable GotoButton              EditTime IncludePicture          FileName IncludeText             FileSize Link                    FillIn MacroButton             Hyperlink NoteRef                 If   Page                     Index PageRef                 Info Print                   Keyword PrintDate               LastSavedBy Private                 ListNum RD                      Mergefield Section                 MergeRec SectionPages            MergeSeq Symbol                  Next TA                      NextIf TC                      NumChars Time                    NumPages NumWords Quote Ref RevNum SaveDate Seq Set SkipIf StyleRef Subject Template Title TOA TOC UserAddress UserInitials UserName