Merge multiple copies to 1 file without Mail Merge Wizard

JohnV · Last edited by JohnV on Sat Jan 13, 2007 10:32 am; edited 5 times in total

EDITED 2/21/06 to change to macro version 2 which will automatically insert any needed Next Record fields. The macro does not require database fields from only one data source.
EDITED 3/14/06 to change to version 2.1 to correct bug mentioned in posts below.
EDITED 9/13/06 to change to version 2.2 to correct bug mentioned by skribe in posts below.
EDIT 11/21/06 to change to version 2.3 to avoid error if run on non Writer doc and upgrade identification of label type doc.

This macro is basically a sophisticated copy & paste that was inspired by forum member gruslo, then an OOo1.1.x user, and his method of getting around that version's inability of merge multiple document copies to a single file.

The macro will allow you to do several different, but related, things.
1) Copy selected text N times just below itself in a Writer document. This is of value when designing your own reports and you need to format the fields or text.
2) Merge multiple label or business card pages into a single file.
3) Double the size of any document containing an odd number of pages that OOo2 users want to merge to a single file with the Mail Merge Wizard so that blank pages are not inserted in the file.
4) Mail merge multiple copies of a document to a single file without using OOo2's Mail Merge Wizard. It is not quite as capable as the Wizard but certainly faster. Below are the rules you should try to follow for this one.

a) Page numbers, if used, must be manually entered. Remember this is a copy & paste operation so they would be consecutive if the page number was in a field.
b) A frame should not be anchored to a page or the last paragraph of the document.
c) A table must have one paragraph above it and one below.
d) Use no more than 2 page styles and those only if they are like First Page (which, by default, is followed by the Default page style) and Default (which, by default, is followed by itself). You may actually be able to get away with something like First followed by Second followed by Default but the macro only sets the style of the first page and the actual styles control what happens thereafter.
e) If using more than one page style keep their sizes the same or very close to it. You may get away with violating this one but it all depends on the particular document.

The macro has not been heavily tested and certainly not with very complex documents.

JohnV · Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 5:02 pm Post subject:

I don't know if anyone is using this macro but if so please note that I have updated the original post with version 2 that eliminates the necessity of the user having to insert the Next Record field when choosing not to use the Mail Merge Wizard.

Jebbo · General User Joined: 13 Mar 2006 Posts: 36

John,

Tried this out and it works nicely. I did see one odd behavior, which I'll try to summarize accurately (I haven't tried to debug the code for it).

New Writer doc with original text like:

JohnV · Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 5:19 am Post subject:

Thanks for your report. I'll have a look at this and get back.

EDIT - Thinking about this I believe I know what the problem is without reviewing the code - an assumption on my part about how users would use the option you are using (copy a section of document x times after itself). You can see that I just used the word "section" which would mean something was selected and you want to do it with the whole text. Sounds like an easy fix to me and I'll do so.

Jebbo · General User Joined: 13 Mar 2006 Posts: 36

Yes, that sounds like the issue. Given that it isn't hard to highlight everything, I don't necessarily think the way it works now is a problem. It was the prompt:

a$ = a$ & Chr(13) & "1 = Selected text or, if none, entire document"
a$ = a$ & " will be copied just below itself. "

that led me to try out the "none, entire document" option and stumble on the unexpected behavior.

Thanks again.

JohnV · Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 7:26 pm Post subject:

Well I got the prompt right but just failed to follow up in the code. I have corrected the code in the original post.

Let me know if you run into any other problems.

skribe · General User Joined: 06 Nov 2004 Posts: 8

I'm flummoxed where macros are concerned. How am I supposed to use this? I've copied it in the required area (tools->macros->etc) and it runs fine. However it seems to allow me to use the mail merge wizard with it. The problem is that it just seems to make a copy of each of the odd numbered pages so I end up with double the records. Is that correct?

JohnV · Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 1:43 pm Post subject:

I am going to need more information. You should receive a PM.

JohnV · Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 12:23 pm Post subject:

skribe,

Thank you for the bug report and the additional information provided. I have edited the 1st message in this thread to provide a corrected version of the macro so please try it.

I note that if I run the Mail Merge Wizard on a document that contains a Next Record field* that it appears to work correctly the 1st time but if I run the Wizard again, at least on the same document, that it creates a blank document. Closing just OOo but not the Quickstatrter fixes this.

*The macro now inserts a Next Record field at the end of your original document's last page.