ACC95: Running Word Mail Merge from Access Using OLE Automation

This article demonstrates how to use OLE Automation to run a Microsoft Word for Windows 95, version 7.0 mail merge.

Microsoft Word 97 uses the Visual Basic for Applications object model for Automation code. For an example of how to run a mail merge using Microsoft Access 7.0 or 97 with Microsoft Word 97, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: This article assumes that you are familiar with Visual Basic for Applications and with creating Microsoft Access applications using the programming tools provided with Microsoft Access. For more information about Visual Basic for Applications, please refer to the "Building Applications with Microsoft Access for Windows 95" manual.

Through OLE Automation, it is possible to set up and perform a mail merge in a Microsoft Word document using OLE Automation in Microsoft Access. This example uses the WordBasic MailMergeOpenDataSource and MailMerge statements.

Example: Mail Merge a Microsoft Access Query with a Word Document

The following example opens a Word document called Mymerge.doc and through an OLE object variable, runs the WordBasic MailMergeOpenDataSource statement, which turns the opened document into the main document for the mail merge process. The following code example assumes that a document, C:\Mymerge.doc, exists.

To run this code:

1. Open Microsoft Word. When the code is run from Microsoft Access, Word remains open.
2. Open a Microsoft Access for Windows 95 database and create a new module.
3. Type the following function in the Module window:

         Function MergeIt()
            Dim ThisWord As Word95ACC.Word95Access
            Set ThisWord = CreateObject("Word.Basic")
            ThisWord.FileOpen Name:="C:\MYMERGE.DOC"
            ThisWord.AppShow
            With ThisWord
               .MailMergeOpenDataSource _
                  Name:="C:\MSOFFICE\ACCESS\Samples\Northwind.mdb", _
                  LinkToSource:=1, _
                  Connection:="TABLE Customers", _
                  SQLStatement:="SELECT * FROM [Customers]"
               .MailMerge CheckErrors:=1, Destination:=0, MergeRecords:=1, _
                  From:="1", To:="10", MailMerge:=1
            End With
         End Function
   						

4. On the Tools menu, click References. Activate the Word 95 Objects for ACCESS from the Available References list. If it does not exist in the list, click the Browse button and locate the file Wd95acc.tlb (this file usually exists in the \Access folder).
5. To run the function, open the Debug window, type the following line, and then press ENTER:
   ? MergeIt()

NOTE: When the OLE Automation object goes out of scope, the instance of Microsoft Word is unloaded, unless the object was created from a previous instance (already opened).

For information about OLE Automation, search on the phrase OLE Automation and choose the "Accessing Word for OLE Automation" topic in the Microsoft Word Help file. For information about the WordBasic commands used in this code, search on the phrases MailMergeOpenDataSource statement and "MailMerge statement." (To do so, you must have the WordBasic help file, Wrdbasic.hlp, installed.)

For more information about using OLE Automation between Microsoft Access and Word, search on the phrase Create a Word Document using OLE Automation and then "CreateObject function" using the Microsoft Access 7.0 Answer Wizard.

For more examples of OLE Automation between Microsoft Access and Microsoft Graph, see the OLE Automation Help File available on the World Wide Web at www.microsoft.com. To locate the file, on the Microsoft Home page, click Support. On the next page, click "Search the Knowledge Base." In box 1, select Access. In box 3, type 148124  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/148124/EN-US/ ) , and then click Go!