Mail Merge in WordProcessingML

1
Mail Merge in WordProcessingML

• Article by Sheela E.N,
• Sonata Software Limited

2
Outline

• Introduction
• Connecting to an external data source
• Populating mail merge fields with external data
• Result

3
Introduction

• This article briefly explains the concept of Mail
  Merge and how this information is stored in
  WordProcessingML.
• A mail merge is a word processing feature that
  allows in creating common letters, mailing
  labels, envelopes, or cataloging documents to a
  group of people as stored in a database.

4
Introduction

• We use mail merge when we want to create a set of
  documents that are essentially in a template
  format but only in a single place contains unique
  information. For example, in a letter that
  announces a new product to all its customers, the
  company logo and the text about the product is
  common and will appear in each letter, while the
  customer address and greeting line will be
  different in each letter.

5
Introduction

• The two key parts of the mail merge
• process are
• 1. Connecting to an external data source
• 2. Populating mail merge fields with external data

6
external data source

• The connection details of the external data
  source are mentioned in the settings.xml file as
• ltwsettings xmlnsr"http//schemas.openxmlformats
  .org/officeDocument/2006/relationships"
  xmlnsw"http//schemas.openxmlformats.org/wordpro
  cessingml/2006/main" xmlnsslhttp//schemas.openx
  mlformats.org/schemaLibrary/2006/main .. ..
  gt
• ltwmainDocumentType wval"envelopes"/gt
• ltwlinkToQuery/gt
• ltwdataType wval"native"/gt
• ltwquery wval"SELECT FROM test "/gt
• ltwdataSource rid"rId1"/gt
• ltwviewMergedData/gt
• ltwactiveRecord wval"4"/gt
• ltwodsogt

7

• ltwudl wval"ProviderMicrosoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0Us
  er IDAdminData SourceD\....\....\....\MailMerg
  e\MailMerge.mdbModeReadExtended
  PropertiesquotquotJet OLEDBSystem
  databasequotquotJet OLEDBRegistry
  PathquotquotJet OLEDBEngine Type5Jet
  OLEDBDatabase Locking Mode0Jet OLEDBGlobal
  Partial Bulk Ops2Jet OLEDBGlobal Bulk
  Transactions1Jet OLEDBNew Database
  PasswordquotquotJet OLEDBCreate System
  DatabaseFalseJet OLEDBEncrypt
  DatabaseFalseJet OLEDBDon't Copy Locale on
  CompactFalseJet OLEDBCompact Without Replica
  RepairFalseJet OLEDBSFPFalseJet
  OLEDBSupport Complex DataFalse"/gt
• ltwtable wval"test"/gt
• ltwsrc rid"rId1"/gt
• ltwcolDelim wval"9"/gt
• ltwtype wval"database"/gt
• ltwfHdr/gt
• ltwrecipientData rid"rId3"/gt
• lt/wodsogt
• lt/wmailMergegt
• .

8
ltwmailMergegt

• The ltwmailMergegt element specifies the
  following information of the hosting application
  to connect to an external data source
• 1. wmainDocumentType specifies the type of
  the mail merge. The possible types are
• a. formLetters.
• b. email
• c. envelopes
• d. fax
• e. mailingLabels
• f. catalog
• 2. wquery specifies the table to be queried
• 3. wdataSource specifies the link to the
  external data source. The details are stored in
  document setting part relationship.
• 4. wviewMergedData specifies that the
  merged document shall display the data from the
  specified external data source where merge fields
  have been inserted.
• 5. wactiveRecord specifies which record
  within the data source should be displayed.
• 6. wodso The Office Data Source Object
  (odso) settings is optional details which
  specifies a group of additional settings for the
  mail merge information which comprises an
  extension to the standard settings stored with a
  mail merge.

9
recipient data part

• ltwrecipients xmlnsr"http//schemas.openxmlform
  ats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships"
  xmlnswp"http//schemas.openxmlformats.org/drawin
  gml/2006/wordprocessingDrawing"
  xmlnsw"http//schemas.openxmlformats.org/wordpro
  cessingml/2006/main" . . gt
• ltwrecipientDatagt
• ltwactive wval"0"/gt
• ltwcolumn wval"2"/gt
• ltwuniqueTag wval"MQ"/gt
• lt/wrecipientDatagt
• ltwrecipientDatagt
• ltwactive wval"0"/gt
• ltwcolumn wval"2"/gt
• ltwuniqueTag wval"Mq"/gt
• lt/wrecipientDatagt
• .
• .
• lt/wrecipientsgt

10
recipient data part

• The ltwrecipientDatagt element specifies the
  following details for the inclusion/exclusion of
  records within mail merged document.
• 1. wcolumn specifies the column on which
  the filter has applied based on the value of the
  column (like where clause on that column)
• 2. wuniqueTag specifies the contents of a
  given record within the specified external data
  source, in the column containing unique data for
  every record within the external data source for
  inclusion/exclusion of records for mail merge.
  The value specifies that this should be the
  base64-encoded value of the unique tag value as
  specified by the data source. This element is
  used along with ltwcolumngt element.
• 3. wactive specifies whether the record to
  be shown on not. The default value is 1 which
  indicates the record is included for the mail
  merge
• If this part is not present, it indicates that
  all the records within the data source are
  included for the mail merge.

11
main document part

• In the main document part (document.xml by
  default), the merge fields are populated by
  extracting data from external data source and the
  same is represented as
• ltwbodygt
• .
• .
• ltwfldSimple winstr"MERGEFIELD FirstName"gt
• ltwrgt
• ltwrPrgt
• ltwnoProof /gt
• lt/wrPrgt
• ltwtgtFirstNamelt/wtgt
• lt/wrgt
• lt/wfldSimplegt
• lt/wbodygt
• In the above XML snippet, the merge field
  FirstName is inserted in a WordprocessingML
  document which connects to the external data
  source. When the mail merge takes place, the data
  from the FirstName column will be populated into
  the field FirstName (ltwfldSimple
  winstr"MERGEFIELD FirstName"gt) within the
  merged WordprocessingML document.

12
Result

• The word document containing mail merge field
  place holders is illustrated as

13
Result

• When the mail merge takes place, the data will be
  generated and displayed as

14
Result

• When the mail merge takes place, the data will be
  generated and displayed as