PowerShell Word Mail Merge Script

Question

I have a script that used to work fine on older versions of Office but on 2010 is now failing to Mail Merge Documents correctly.

The interesting thing is that if I load the mail merge document (by double clicking) it then tells me its a mail merge document and needs to confirm its source data file. Which is all fine however this behaviour is not the same if I open via PS it simply loads as a normal document, the troublesome snippet of code is below:

if ($choice) {
    $word = New-Object -com "Word.Application"
    $template=$word.Documents.open("$template_path\$choice",$word.wdReadOnly)
    $word.ActiveDocument.Mailmerge.Execute()
    $template.close([ref]$word.wdDoNotSaveChanges)  
    $word.Visible = 'True'
}

I did come across a link that exampled this problem but I'm not an expert coder and the information went over my head a little bit, he stated this:

Sub OpenWord(fileName)
    Set Word = WScript.CreateObject("Word.Application")
    Word.Visible = True
    Set doc = Word.Documents.Open(fileName)
End Sub


I have seen some issues with such code if the word document has a mail merge data source associated with it and you try to execute it (see Word Mail Merge).
doc.MailMerge.Execute True

Trying to execute the mail merge generates a ‘This method or property is not available because the document is not a mail merge main document.’ But I know this is wrong because double clicking on the file reveals a data source associated with the document. Another way to open a word document and circumvent this issue is to use the run command such as:

Sub OpenWord(fileName)
    Set WshShell = WSCript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
    WshShell.Run fileName, 8, False
End Sub

Could someone explain how I can take this information and apply it to my powershell script?

A possibility I would consider is that the windows registry setting described in http://support.microsoft.com/kb/825765 has been modified for Earlier versions of Word but not for 2010. — , Aug 18 '14 at 18:57
Hi Bibadia, that was an issue we had originally but sadly produced a different error than the one I'm getting now, which is 'This method or property is not available because the document is not a mail merge main document.' — CharlesH, Aug 19 '14 at 08:13
All I can say is that I tried a version of your PowerShell code (without the if { } block and substituting the full name of a suitable .docx. With SQLSecurityCheck set to 1 (the default) I get exactly the same message as you. With it set to 0, the merge functions. ON my system, the key is at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Word\Options . — , Aug 19 '14 at 12:27
Thanks again Bibadia, it does work there was two other elements causing the problem one the merge file was on C root which is read only, two the code $template=$word.Documents.open("$template_path\$choice",$word.wdReadOnly) needed to be $template=$word.Documents.add("$template_path\$choice") and its working now :) thanks please add as an answer for the points! — CharlesH, Aug 19 '14 at 15:27

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 19 '14 at 16:24

0

Ensure that the windows registry setting "SQLSecurityCheck" described in support.microsoft.com/kb/825765 have been set up for Word 2010 as well as the older versions of Word.

answered Aug 19 '14 at 16:24

PowerShell Word Mail Merge Script

1 Answers1