In Visma Business you are able to merge letters directly from the Associates and Campaign tables, or from layouts where one of these tables is used. The merge process is used when you want to send identical letters to several recipients.
Header/Footer
You can use the DDE fields from Visma Business in headers and footers in Word. This applies to the versions in Word 2000, 2002 and 2003.
Date fields
The macro $DocDate is in the form YYYYMMDD. The $DocDate macro is retrieved from the database, and you cannot change this. You can, however, use loose date fields, that enable you to define the sequence yourself:
§DocDay §DocMonth §DocYear
Overview templates
The templates listed below give you an overview of all of the fields that can be retrieved with macros for each table:
When you start the merge process, the information from Visma Business is saved in a separate data source file. The information in the data source is then merged into the merge document you have created.
The Merge letter dialog box
In this dialog box you enter information relating to the mail merge.
Explanations of the fields in the "Merge letter" dialog box
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Program | Here you choose the text editor to use when merging letters |
| Merge document | Here you choose the template for the merged letter |
| Data source | Here you enter the path and file name for the source data, i.e. the information to be merged into the letter. Visma Business automatically suggests a file. Use this or name another file. |
| New file | Select this check box if you want new content in the source data file to be created, based on the selection of recipients you have made. If you do not select the check box, the existing file content will be used. I.e. any selection you have made will not be taken into consideration. By default the box is checked. |
| Delete source | Select this check box if you want the source data file to be deleted after merging. If you want to keep this file, do not select this box. By default the box is checked. |
| Merge type | Here you choose the form in which you want the merged letter to be distributed. |
| File only | Choose this radio button if you only want to create the source data file, based on the selection of recipients you have made. No letters will then be merged. |
| Printer | Choose this radio button if you want all merged letters to be printed. This radio button is selected as standard. |
| Fax | Choose this radio button if you want the recipients that are
entered with a fax number in the Associates table to receive the
merged letter by fax. Anm: The Print if no fax box in the Företagsuppgifter table must be checked. You must also have a fax program
installed that can read the fax number that Visma Business sets in the document.
|
| Choose this radio button if you want the recipients entered with
an e-mail address in the Associates table to receive the merged
letter as an e-mail. Enter a subject for the e-mail in the field to
the right. Recipients that do not have an e-mail address will
receive the letter by fax if they have a fax number. Otherwise, the
letter will be printed out. Anm: An e-mail program must be installed
that is integrated with a fax system. The Fax if no e-mail box
in the Företagsuppgifter table must be checked. The Print if no fax box in the
Företagsuppgifter table must be checked.
|
|
| File | Choose this radio button if you want to save the merged letters in a file instead of printing or mailing them. In the field to the right you enter the path and file name of the file. |
| Document- description | Enter a description for the merged letter here. This will appear later in the Description field in the document overview (Document links table) in Visma Business. |
| Our ref. | Your initials appear here in lowercase. They are inserted in the letter automatically during the merge if the template is created to do this. |
| User | You name appears here. It is automatically inserted in the letter during the merge if the template is created to do this. |
| Title | This contains your title. This is on the condition that the title has been entered in the "Associates" table. |
| Att. | Here you enter the name of the person for whom the letter is intended at the recipient, for example the Sales Manager or General Manager. The text is automatically inserted in the letter during the merge if the template is created to do this. |
| Password | If you want to protect the merged letter with a password, you enter the password in this field. The letter can then only be opened if you know the password. |
| Private | The Private check box must be checked when you enter a password. |
| Date | The current date appears here. It is automatically inserted in the letter during the merge if the template is created to do this. You can change the date if you wish. |
| Group | In this drop-down list, you choose the group to which you want
the merged letter to belong. Visma Business saves the chosen document group in the Document table. Anm: You
create document groups in the Texts table. You find this table
in the Base information folder.
|
Where you can merge letters from
If you want to know whether you can merge letters from the cursor's current position, click on the Processing menu and see whether the menu includes Merge letter. If so, you are able to merge letters.
Data source file
Visma Business produces a data source file every time you merge a document. The file is stored in the My documents directory. If this directory does not exist, the data source file is stored under Visma directory\Documents. You must have privileges to set up folders, if not the administrator will have to set the folder up manually.
A data source file is set up for each day. If you do not choose to delete the file, a data source file will be stored for each day, with the file name MrgActorYYYYMMDD.txt. It is the last mail merge run off that lies in the file, as it is overwritten every time a file is run.
The data source file contains the following merge fields from the Associates table:
Parameters to be used in setting up documents
Visma Business version 4.40 supports the transfer of data/parameters to Word 2000 and Excel 2000 or more recent versions. This applies to the Associates, Orders and Products tables.
We have displayed examples of VBA modules that you can import into documents. The modules describe how Visma Business data is transferred to documents on setting up and performing a mail merge.
You can find examples of how this is managed in Word and Excel in the Templates\VBA modules folder on the CD.
Examples
The examples below describe a macro template. The macro template describes how you access data from Visma Business when the document is created. This information is transferred when you create the document and is not stored in the document.
The examples
When the document/spreadsheet is set up in Visma Business the key information is transferred and stored in the document/spreadsheet. The examples below show how you can access the information. The information is in Business document qualities.
Key information that is transferred from the Associates table and is saved in the document:
Key information that is transferred from the Products table and is saved in the document:
Key information that is transferred from the Orders table and is saved in the document: