Re: how do you automatically generate a letter on certain dates

Tech-Archive recommends: Repair Windows Errors & Optimize Windows Performance

bsd

OK OK my appol.
but you also have to start your calendar program or turn the page to next
month on the wall.... so let's say that i start word and close it every time
i use it (which i do about 5-10 times a week) and use a button to start the
macro.

i also have a mail merge data table file which word helped me make in word
(so i don't need to open other programs) to which i can add a birthday column.

How do i get word to read this file and extract the right info?

What is your feedback link please?




"Gregory K. Maxey" wrote:

Solly,

<But remember the KISS word (Keep It Simple Stupid)

????

Here is another old saw: Don't bite the hand that feeds you."

Seriously. The short coming with any attempt to achieve your goal with Word
is limited by the fact, as Jay pointed out, that if won't work if you don't
remember to start Word. My example was provided as an illustration to show
that it could be done using AutoExec, but as Gordon pointed out most of us
aren't committed to providing a fully functional application a) for free,
b) to someone that hasn't shown us what they have tried, or c) someone
calling us names.

The code I provided could be simplified greatly:

Sub autoexec()
Msgbox "Look at your calender and then start typing birthday letters to all
the people that you normally forget."
End Sub

It could also be made more functional by extracting the list of names and
dates from an external file and then populating fields in a dedicated
birthday letter template based on information from that file.

Regardless of which extreme you take both fail if the user doesn't start
Word.

I will be happy to assist you further if you wish. Just contact me via the
feedback link on my website.






"Solly" <Solly@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:386266C6-F361-41AB-ACDE-36A79D0D5F2F@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
bsd

perhaps us ungeeks do have some good ideas which you geeks can use to make
really useful templates for us ungeeks to use
(in Word which most people i think still use) perhaps your dentist or
carpet
cleaner could use such a Word template too?
But remember the KISS word (Keep It Simple Stupid)

"Greg Maxey" wrote:

Well said. But as a whimsical exercise:

Sub autoexec()
Dim myArray(5, 1) As Variant
Dim oDoc As Word.Document
Dim i As Long
For i = 0 To 5
myArray(i, 0) = Choose(i, "Mary", "Bill", "Bob", "Susie", "Sally",
"Fred")
myArray(i, 1) = Choose(i, "07/14", "07/18", "09/01", "10/13",
"03/19", "06/12")
Next i
For i = 0 To 5
If myArray(i, 1) Like Format(Date, "MM/dd") Then
Set oDoc = Documents.Add
With oDoc
.Range.Text = "Happy birthday to you, happy Birthday to you." _
& " happy birthday dear " & myArray(i, 0) & ",
happy birthday to you!!"
End With
End If
Next i
End Sub
On Jul 14, 9:04 pm, Gordon Bentley-Mix
<gordon(dot)bentleymix(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
Solly,

To paraphrase George W, I think you misunderestimate the complexity of
the
task. I suggest you start by trying to put together something yourself
and if
you get stuck then post back here. These forums are here to help to
those who
are willing to help themselves, but they're not a source for free
services.
All of the people who offer their assistance do so voluntarily and
receive no
compensation other than the gratitude of those they help - and
sometimes a
bit of reciprocity when they run into problems themselves. To ask
someone to
develop a complete solution for you - for free - is unfair, and the
responses
you have received are, IMHO, fitting.

If you don't have the skills to at least make an attempt to solve the
problem yourself then either hire someone to do it for you or accept
Jay's
recommendation to use a tool better suited to the job - such as
Outlook, some
sort of free or shareware utility or a paper calendar.

If you do want to take a stab at it, here's what you will need:

* A list of your friends' birthdays
* A form letter of some sort - with or without additional automation
to
customise the letter
* Sufficient understanding of VBA (and, by extension, Word) to write
a
macro that will look at the date list and generate a document using the
form
letter

Jay has suggested an AutoExec macro, which of course has the limitation
that
it will run only when Word starts. I suppose this could also be done
using
some sort of "manually invoked" macro as well - e.g. click a button and
the
macro checks the date against the list and either generated the
appropriate
letter or (as a nice to have feature) displays a message telling you
that
there are no letters to print today.

However, I still think you'd be better off using some sort of tool that
offers a calendaring function natively...
--
Cheers!
Gordon

Uninvited email contact will be marked as SPAM and ignored. Please post
all
follow-ups to the newsgroup.



"Solly" wrote:
i open word almost every day
i wolud like these letters
generate automatically
what's wrong with that?

"Jay Freedman" wrote:

Solly wrote:
bsd

I would like to automatically generate a birthday greeting letter
in
word2000 to my friends a day before their birthdays wich I have a
tendecy to forget

Word can't automatically start itself on particular dates. It would
be
possible to write an AutoExec macro to check the current date each
time you
start Word, to see if it's in a list of dates on which to print
letters --
but if you forgot to start Word on the proper day, then nothing
would
happen. And if you keep Word running all the time, then the
AutoExec macro
doesn't run after the initial startup. That doesn't seem to me to
be a good
scheme.

Do you use Outlook? It has a calendar feature with reminders, all
built in
and ready to use. You can put in all your friends' birthdays, and
have a
reminder for each one pop up a few days ahead.

If you don't use Outlook, check Google for free or low-cost
calendar
programs -- or just hang a paper calendar on the wall and enter all
the
birthdays on it.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ:http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so
all may benefit.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -





.

Relevant Pages

  • Double-dates in calendar
    ... Some time back all of my all-day dates in my calendar doubled up. ... for every all-day entry, holidays, birthday, anniversaries, etc., an ... double-click on the Aug. 14 portion, the appointment date shows August 15. ... I have not synchronized my PocketPC because I am afraid ...
    (microsoft.public.outlook.general)
  • Re: Happy Birthday Julius Caesar!
    ... Clearly the disorders of the Roman calendar before the Julian reform, ... Romans from thinking of July 13 as Caesar's birthday long after his death (proof ... year in the Julian system but not the Gregorian, ...
    (alt.talk.royalty)
  • RE: Outlook Contact birthdays dont show on Calendar
    ... My understanding of the issue is: After importing a contact to Outlook ... his birthday will not be shown in Calendar as an appointment. ... to re-enter the birthday so that it will be added to the calendar again. ... Microsoft Online Partner Support ...
    (microsoft.public.outlook.general)
  • Re: Birthdays/Anniversaries & Activesync/WMDC
    ... The quirk you refer to isn't a fault of the sync software. ... main Calendar application on the device is designed so it wouldn't matter ... "Raj Pillai" wrote: ... > birthday is and when my grandparents 60th anniversary was. ...
    (microsoft.public.pocketpc.activesync)
  • Re: Can I convert birthdays of contacts to calendar items?
    ... the birthday will show on the calendar by default. ... then open the .pst file - importing loses connections between contacts and ... the (insert latest virus name here) virus, all mail sent to my personal ...
    (microsoft.public.outlook.calendaring)