MailMergeBeforeMerge Event bug

[b19u]

As of Word 2003 SP2, the MailMergeBeforeMerge Event doesn't appear to be
triggered when MailMerging from the toolbar. Apparently, it doesn't get
triggered via automation either. It only gets triggered via the Task Pane.
There is a reference to this bug here:

http://word.mvps.org/FAQS/MacrosVBA/TaskPanesReferenceContentBody.htm#_Toc82745260

A pertinent question - Is there a bug fix planned for the
MailMergeBeforeMerge Event?

 

[Peter Jamieson]

As far as I can tell
a. this problem was there even before Word 2003 SP2
b. it has been fixed in Word 2007 (perhaps someone else could confirm/deny
that?)

Other than that, the people here are volunteers and probably don't know
anything more than you do about Microsoft policy on specifics like this -
you could for example submit a support request.

However, in my experience Microsoft rarely applies these kind of fixes to
previous versions except when it is necessary to fix a security problem.

Peter Jamieson

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

I have made extensive use of the mailmerge toolbar to execute merges in both
2003 and also 2007, in many cases using the Addin that I have prepared to
create separate documents that makes use of the MailMerge events.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

 

[Peter Jamieson]

Hi Doug -

Useful info. about the events in 2007.

However, AFAIK your addin does not use the MailMergeBeforeMerge event (it
uses MailMergeAfterMerge, MailMergeBeforeRecordMerge and
MailMergeAfterRecordMerge I think), quite possibly because of the error
under discussion

Peter Jamieson

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

Hi Peter,

You are probably right about what it uses, but if that is the case, it was
not for that reason. Just luck. I will take a look at it later.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

 

[b19u]

Thank you Peter, Doug. Appreciate your input. Interestingly none of the other
MailMerge related events have this anomaly (AFAIK). I just posted this
question out here in case someone more experienced than I (such as a Word
MVP) had better insight into what's at play. I agree MS has better things to
worry about than fixing a non-triggering event that is not very commonly
used, especially since Word 2003 has now been superseded. Obviously, it is a
pretty low priority if this bug has persisted across several versions.

So it appears that I'm stuck with having to use the Task Pane if I need this
event triggered. Strangely, as I found out last night, even in the Task Pane
MailMergeBeforeMerge fails after a couple go arounds and requires the
restarting of Word for the event to resume triggering.

 

[Peter Jamieson]

I agree MS has better things to

worry about than fixing a non-triggering event that is not very commonly
used, especially since Word 2003 has now been superseded.

Microsoft may consider that it has better things to do, but I don't - I
think they are perfectly capable of, and should document and fix far more
of the problems that appear. Personally, I do not think that either the fact
that MS is in business to make money or the problem of "unintended
consequences" when you fix problems are good enough excuses for leaving some
of these problems in there year after year.

Peter Jamieson

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

Peter was correct, my addin does not use the BeforeMergeEvent - probably
just a fluke. While I am sure that it was not done because of the problem
with that event, I do make use of the following line of code

If Doc.MailMerge.DataSource.ActiveRecord =
Doc.MailMerge.DataSource.FirstRecord Then

as part of a routine to determine the type of merge that is being performed,
so it can probably be used as a pseudo BeforeMergeEvent that will fire when
the merge is executed from the toolbar.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP