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Mailmerge & Subforms (Read 2911 times)

beagle Junior Member Offline No personal text Posts: 80 Location: australia Joined: May 28^th, 2004	Mailmerge & Subforms Jul 28^th, 2004 at 8:44am	Print Post
	Can anyone help I have developed an application (invoice) that uses a subform to show the line items. my problems show up when I try to produce a document that shows the line items using mail merge. I have used the (excellent) wordmerge programming that came with the wordmerge demo app. It works fine for the fields from the parent record - but the data from the subform just comes up blank. any pointers would be greatfully welcomed. ps i also want to be able to print labels using subform data. many thanks in advance [color=Blue][/color]


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Bob_Hansen Senior Member Members Offline WOW, They have the Internet on computers now! Posts: 1861 Location: Salem, NH Joined: Nov 24^th, 2002	Re: Mailmerge & Subforms Reply #1 - Jul 28^th, 2004 at 12:36pm	Print Post
	See Tom Marcellus' article on Invoices in March and April issues of Inside Sesame. The April issue has an example of the code you need to do that. He uses an array to search the subform and combine into a Print String

	Bob Hansen Sesame Database Manager Professional Sensible Solutions Inc. Salem, NH 603-898-8223 Skype ID = sensiblesolutions
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beagle Junior Member Offline No personal text Posts: 80 Location: australia Joined: May 28^th, 2004	Re: Mailmerge & Subforms Reply #2 - Jul 28^th, 2004 at 9:41pm	Print Post
	Hi Bob, Unfortunatly I don't subscribe to "Inside Sesame" - any chance of posting the code here ? Many thanks Roger


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Hammer YaBB Administrator Lanticans Offline Fire bad. Tree pretty. Posts: 3436 Location: Ohio Joined: Nov 22^nd, 2002	Re: Mailmerge & Subforms Reply #3 - Jul 28^th, 2004 at 9:49pm	Print Post
	One example of doing this can be found in the Sample Applications. http://www.lantica.com/Forum2/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=samples;action=display;...

	- Hammer The plural of anecdote is not data.
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Bob_Hansen Senior Member Members Offline WOW, They have the Internet on computers now! Posts: 1861 Location: Salem, NH Joined: Nov 24^th, 2002	Re: Mailmerge & Subforms Reply #4 - Jul 29^th, 2004 at 1:23am	Print Post
	Quote: Unfortunatly I don't subscribe to "Inside Sesame" - any chance of posting the code here ? I think that might be a possible copyright problem. I believe that the code in the issues is only available for use by subscribers, and I think that Tom's work should be protected, so he will be motivated to continue his excellent works. Subscribe to Inside Sesame. It is a great investment! The code in that April issue that you want would pay for itself already!

	Bob Hansen Sesame Database Manager Professional Sensible Solutions Inc. Salem, NH 603-898-8223 Skype ID = sensiblesolutions
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beagle Junior Member Offline No personal text Posts: 80 Location: australia Joined: May 28^th, 2004	Re: Mailmerge & Subforms Reply #5 - Jul 29^th, 2004 at 10:30pm	Print Post
	Thanks for your help - I understand the copyright situation. However, as a general comment, I'm sure this type of query is not an uncommon, given the market this product is aimed at. It is a bit disapointing that programing examples (especially the more "advanced" examples) are a bit thin on the ground, except for the "if you buy this extra subscription or add on etc..." anyway thats my 2c worth


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Hammer YaBB Administrator Lanticans Offline Fire bad. Tree pretty. Posts: 3436 Location: Ohio Joined: Nov 22^nd, 2002	Re: Mailmerge & Subforms Reply #6 - Jul 29^th, 2004 at 10:36pm	Print Post
	The code example in the Samples area is free, readily available and doesn't require you to purchase anything extra. Did you take a look at it?

	- Hammer The plural of anecdote is not data.
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beagle Junior Member Offline No personal text Posts: 80 Location: australia Joined: May 28^th, 2004	Re: Mailmerge & Subforms Reply #7 - Jul 30^th, 2004 at 2:46am	Print Post
	Yes I did, But I need some time to understand it & then see how I can adapt it for mail merge rather than immediate printing via printstring commands - I was really after some pointers. Since computing isn't my "real job" or background, I dont always get the time to try things out straight away. I'm sure I'm not alone in this situation. Although I am in a position to influence our companies needs - I have to be able to demonstrate the superiority of a product over existing packages (I believe sesame has that potential). However our IT dept tends to rather sceptical of "outside" products . I just feel that Lantica may be short changing themselves by going down the "it can be done - but you have to buy the magazine subscription route"


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Bob_Hansen Senior Member Members Offline WOW, They have the Internet on computers now! Posts: 1861 Location: Salem, NH Joined: Nov 24^th, 2002	Re: Mailmerge & Subforms Reply #8 - Jul 30^th, 2004 at 5:30am	Print Post
	The link that Erika pointed out is a FREE working example: Click on this link: [url]http://www.lantica.com/Forum2/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=samples;action= display;num=1085334919[/url] for free code. Use this code in conjunction with the Programming guides to get a understanding of what is being done. Any question on that code, ask here, and people willl be more than willing to help you out, but it is usually expected that you will do some work yourself. All other database manager programs will also provide you with empty, non existent structures, manuals, examples of syntax, etc. After that you must learn to do things yourself, or hire someone else to do it. Not different from Sesame. No other programs will give you direct interface with people involved in the development team who actually read the forums and respond. Not only do they respond, but usually within minutes or hours, with good answers and solutions. Putting a price tag on Customer Support is difficult but should not be overlooked in software evaluations. You asked if I could provide the code from Inside Sesame and paste it here. Going to the link Erika suggested is almost doing the same thing. I don't understand why one solution is good, and the other, almost identical is not. Would it solve your problem if I paste the information from her link into this forum instead? How else can we help? Subscribing to Inside Sesame is not a requirement. It is a separate, non-related business. All of the information in those issues is using the same code that you have in Sesame. Quote: But I need some time to understand it & then see how I can adapt it for mail merge rather than immediate printing via printstring commands - I was really after some pointers. The monthly issues are like having your own personal tutor taking you through new examples and applications with every issue. I think you can get a free sample issue, or see parts of some past issues, have you taken a look to see what is there? The tone of this response is not intended to be critical, but to be helpful. I guess I am frustrated by not being able to provide a solution that you can accept. I see a number of options for you: 1. Forget the whole thing. 2. Try to do it yourself 3. Use the samples and support provided from the forum 4. Subscribe to third party publications.. 5. Hire Sesame consultant to work with you. 6. Some combination of all of the above. Hang in there,you will find the answer that is best for you.

	Bob Hansen Sesame Database Manager Professional Sensible Solutions Inc. Salem, NH 603-898-8223 Skype ID = sensiblesolutions
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beagle Junior Member Offline No personal text Posts: 80 Location: australia Joined: May 28^th, 2004	Re: Mailmerge & Subforms Reply #9 - Jul 30^th, 2004 at 10:05am	Print Post
	Hi Bob, Your comments are taken as you meant them - i have a thick skin I guess I may now be going off the track of my original question, but what the hell........ Sesame was aimed at "users" & small business people to be self sufficient - most of this category of people are probably not computer literate, "plug & play" is very much order of the day. (like myself these users are not likley to have much in the way of programing skills, the small business owner is unlikley to have the time to spend hours or days figuring out programing minutae (unless the business is really small) It is the enthusiast who is likley to spend ages figuring out how to program a particular task & I would guess these people are few & far between (as an example this forum has about 350 members, I really hope that Lantica has sold many times this number of packages) To make Sesame more accessible may mean setting up sample applications that can be used or adapted straight out of the box, Invoicing via merging data is one such application. Many databases ie Access & File Maker do this . Having used Q&A for many years, and seeing the potential with Sesame (known affectionally by my companies IT dept as "sesame street" ) I would just like to see it more widley used & to acheive that Sesame does need to be a little more "accessible" to non experts like myself. (this enables us to build applications that really are superior to those produced by IT departments (i'm speaking from personal experience here)) Once usage becomes more widespread then Sesame will gain of credibility among computer "profesionals" who have been taught the mantra "Mcrosft or nothing" Anyway........... that's my 2c worth


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Bob_Hansen Senior Member Members Offline WOW, They have the Internet on computers now! Posts: 1861 Location: Salem, NH Joined: Nov 24^th, 2002	Re: Mailmerge & Subforms Reply #10 - Jul 30^th, 2004 at 7:30pm	Print Post
	Hi Beagle I don't disagree with your comments about the need for complete working business application to be included. I have made that recommendation some time ago, and I believe that in time it will be available. Using Northwind in Access as an example of what can be done. That makes it much easier to demo the product's capabiliites to decision makers, seeing the final results and what can be done. But I am looking at your issue from two perspectives. !. It would be nice to have that resource now, but it does not exist, and I suspect may not exist for another year or more! Cannot control this, spend no more time on it. 2. You have a problem now, and the first choice resource does not exist, so you have decide to come up a solution, and to ignore the problem. Can control this, let's work to solve the current problem. Ignoring it does not make it go away, so the way to address it now is to select from the only options available today. Thick skin is good. If like mine, it's usually a result of scar tissue from many battles! Enjoy!

	Bob Hansen Sesame Database Manager Professional Sensible Solutions Inc. Salem, NH 603-898-8223 Skype ID = sensiblesolutions
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Hammer YaBB Administrator Lanticans Offline Fire bad. Tree pretty. Posts: 3436 Location: Ohio Joined: Nov 22^nd, 2002	Re: Mailmerge & Subforms Reply #11 - Jul 30^th, 2004 at 9:00pm	Print Post
	Beagle, Part of the reason why we haven't included an example of this particular task is because it involves dealing with what Word does, rather than with what Sesame does. Using the technique described in MSKB #294686, I was able to get Word to do what you want. I performed a hierarchical export from the sample Gems application, meaning I selected to export values from both the parent record and the subrecords. At the Export dialog I selected to export Field Headers. This produced an export file that looks like this: Code "Gem_Type","Gems!Shape","Gems!Color","Gems!Size" "Alexandrite","Cushion","Exceptional","6.65x4.52mm" "Alexandrite","Oval","Exceptional","6.52x4.84mm" "Alexandrite","Radiant Emerald","Exceptional","9.80x5.92mm" "Alexandrite","Round Mixed","Exceptional","5.90-5.95mm" "Amethyst","Cushion","Exceptional","15x11mm" "Amethyst","Freeform","Very Good","16x15mm" "Amethyst","Freeform/Navette","Good","10x5mm" "Amethyst","Oval","Good","14.5x12mm" "Aquamarine","Emerald","Very Good","12x10mm" "Aquamarine","Pear","Exceptional","9.5x7mm" "Blue Sapphire","Brilliant","Very Good","4.5mm" "Blue Sapphire","Oval","Exceptional","7x6mm" "Blue Sapphire","Oval","Good","10.5x9mm" "Blue Sapphire","Oval","Good","8.5x6.5mm" "Blue Sapphire","Oval","Very Good","6x4mm" "Blue Sapphire","Pear","Good","7x5.5mm" "Diamond","Round","Colorless","2.5mm" I then went into Word and created a merge document of type Directory. I set some tab stops so my data would line up in nice columns. I attached my export file as the data source. I entered merge codes that compared the key value (Gem_Type) from the current record to the key value in the previous record. If they don't match, a page break is inserted. Otherwise, the record info is merged in. The merge codes look like this: Merge To New Document produces a merge document which meets your requirements and looks like this: Once I knew what to do, it was pretty simple to set up (about 15 minutes), required no coding in Sesame, and required no VBA in Word. Once the Word doc is set up, it can just be opened and run. You do not need to keep doing the set up. Just export your current data, open Word and run your merge.

	- Hammer The plural of anecdote is not data.
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Bob_Hansen Senior Member Members Offline WOW, They have the Internet on computers now! Posts: 1861 Location: Salem, NH Joined: Nov 24^th, 2002	Re: Mailmerge & Subforms Reply #12 - Jul 30^th, 2004 at 9:33pm	Print Post
	Way to go Erika!

	Bob Hansen Sesame Database Manager Professional Sensible Solutions Inc. Salem, NH 603-898-8223 Skype ID = sensiblesolutions
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beagle Junior Member Offline No personal text Posts: 80 Location: australia Joined: May 28^th, 2004	Re: Mailmerge & Subforms Reply #13 - Jul 31^st, 2004 at 1:24am	Print Post
	WOW !, Thanks guy's for your help, it really is very much appreciated. What other package would be able to provide such instant customer support & feedback Again, I beleive Sesame has the potential to be a major player & i realise we are @ Version 1.x (just imagine what it will be like @ v 4.x !


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