Description
Sets the MailMerge's data source to a two-dimensional (rectangular) array of objects. A MailMerge by default treats the page content as a repeat block, repeating the page content for each row unless NEXT fields are used. If the WordTemplate.EnableNEXTFields property is set to true, the NEXT field can also be used to indicate that the next row of data should be inserted instead of the current row at the next occurence of the merge fields.
Parameters
dr
A SqlDataReader, OleDbDataReader, or AdomdDataReader to use as the data source.maxRows
Specifies the maximum number of rows to import from the data source. To import the maximum rows available, use the constant WordTemplate.ALL_ROWS.Exceptions
ArgumentNullException
Save will throw this exception ifnull
(C#) or Nothing
(VB.NET) is passed to the method.
ArgumentException
Remarks
You can call SetMailMerge once for each instance of WordTemplate. If you are using the Word 2003 binary template file type (.doc/.dot), you can call SetMailMerge or SetRepeatBlock, but not both.
Additionally, only the page content is repeated for each row, not the entire page itself. If you wish to have the page itself repeat for each row, you will need to remember to place a page break at the bottom of the page. Alternatively, you can create a hidden page break at the top of the page as follows:
- Put the cursor at the top of the document
- Go to Page Layout and open the paragraph formatting dialog
- On the Line and Page Breaks tab, select "Page Break Before"
Merge Fields for using the SetMailMerge method must not specify a data source – the data source is implied, and using a data source name will cause WordTemplate to throw an error. Valid merge field formats for use with SetMailMerge include field names («fieldname») and field ordinals («#1»).
Introduced in build 8.2
SetMailMerge will now work with headers and footers. A section break is required instead of a page break if each header or footer will be different.