Show Bid Request
Mail Merge Function
Bid Request Id: 44729
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Posted by: |
ContACT (15 ratings)
(Software buyer rating 10 )
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Non-action Ratio: |
Very Good - 5.56%
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Posted: |
Jan 21, 2003
6:00:16 PM EDT
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Bidding Closes: |
Jan 25, 2003
6:20:33 PM EDT
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Viewed (by coders): |
252 times
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Deadline: |
2/1/2003
TIME EXPIRED
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Description:
I require an ASP function that will perform the following:1. Receive an SQL query that will be used to generate a recordset.
2. Perform a mail merge from the query and print or email the resulting letters.
3. Save a copy of each letter printed or emailed to the client's directory.
4. Receive variables to be used for the email (From, CC, BCC and MsgText)
5. Receive a variable to over-ride the auto email function. The function will be:
GenerateLetter(strSQL, strTemplate, bolPrint, bolPrinter, strFrom, strCC, strBCC, strSubject, strMsgText) strSQL = Mandatory variable. Contains an SQL statement as a string, that will generate the recordset. The recordset could have either one or multiple records. Each record requires a letter to be produced. One call the the functions may produce multiple emails to be sent and letters to be printed.
strTemplate = Mandatory variable. Contains a String with the name of the template to use for the mail merge. The letter templates for the mail merge will be stored in a directory one level down from the scripts. Eg: /WordTemplates/template1.dot
bolPrint = Mandatory variable. Contains a Boolean value to determine if the letter is be ONLY printed (True) or determine the function (False), that is print or email from the recordset. If bolPrint is False then to determine the function is via the field “Communicate” in the recordset. Letter = Print the letter. Email = Produce and email the letter. Emailed letters are to be attached to the email that is produced. All letters are to be saved.
bolPrinter = Mandatory variable. Contains a Boolean value to determine which printer to use. True = Servers default printer. False = Workstations default printer. Saving the letters generated.
The client is identified via the client ID in the generated recordset. The Client ID field is “ClientID”. See the attached file for full details.- Update 23 Jan 03. Read attachment
Deliverables:
1) Complete and fully-functional working function. Complete source code of all work done.
2) Installation package that will install the software (in ready-to-run condition) on the platform(s) specified in this bid request. If necessary.
3) Complete ownership and distribution copyrights to all work purchased.
Platform:
Windows 2000 Server
MS Access 2002
Must be 100% finished and received by buyer on:
Feb 1, 2003 EDT
Deadline legal notes: All times are expressed in the time zone of the site EDT (UT - 5). If the buyer omitted a time, then the deadline is 11:59:59 PM EDT on the indicated date.
Special Conditions / Other:
This function is required as soon as possible I will only accept bids from those who can garantee that the work will be completed as specified in the time required.
Additional Files:
This bid request includes IMPORTANT additional attached files. Please download and read fully before bidding.
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Bidding/Comments:
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All monetary amounts on the site are in United States dollars.
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Bid Amount
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Date |
Coder Rating |
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This bid was accepted by the buyer!
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$100 (USD)
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Jan 21, 2003
10:25:28 PM EDT
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10
(Excellent)
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Hi,
I just wanted to give you a heads up that you are going to run into problems with trying to automate an Office application from a web page without some additional tweaking on the server. Do you have full access to the server? You will need to have full administrative access to the server in order to set it up properly. I had downloaded an MSDN technical article related to this a while ago because I ran into the situation when I was trying to automate Access and Excel on the server from an ASP page. I can't find it at the moment but I know I have the full article on my work computer and will send to you tomorrow.
Anyway, I have done Word Mail merging many times before in client/server applications and apart from the above additional setup you will need to do, I can definitely do this. I noticed you had Access 2002 noted for the platform. Does the merging need to be done in Word 2002? I don't have Office 2002 at the moment but could easily get it within the next couple of days so I can get this work done for you.
Kind Regards,
Andres
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N/A
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Jan 22, 2003
5:07:37 PM EDT
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10
(Excellent)
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Hi,
I found the Microsoft article I was telling you about in my original bid/comment. The article is available here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb%3ben-us%3b257757
Cheers,
Andres
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N/A
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Jan 23, 2003
12:04:49 AM EDT
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10
(Excellent)
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Hi Stuart,
I made the bid 100 because I have done this kind of work before and know first-hand from experience the trickiness involved in getting this to work. The quick timeframe in which you need this is also a factor. I know the 1st time I was tasked with automating excel and access on the server from an ASP page I thought to myself 'piece of cake' and then ran into problems. If you get a lower bid from somebody that has done server-side automation for MS Office applications then I say take their bid. I would question a bid though that comes in for a very small amount. If anything find out if they have done server-side automation of MS Office.
As far as an approach, I need just a few more details before I can draw a diagram of what I envision delivering to you. I would highly recommend that the function you need be implemented in a Visual Basic ActiveX DLL. This is the approach I took in the past with very good success. Another article relating to this approach is available at: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;288368
I took a closer look at your spec document and have a question concerning the bolPrinter parameter. You noted that if it is True, then the server's default printer will be used. If the value is False, then the workstation's default printer should be used. I don't see how that is going to be easily done from a technical point of view. The workstation's default printer could be a printer for which the server has no access to. The server would need to be setup so that it has access to all printers that a workstation in your intranet can have access to. We would also need to pass in to the function the network name and location of the workstation printer. Also, if this is going to be access via VPN, there is no way for the server to print to the workstation's printer, which will be located outside your intranet.
Regarding your mail merge templates, are these typical word merge templates where you have mail merge fields? Or are these templates going to be form fields? Would it be possible for you to send one of these templates so I have a better idea of what will be merged to? Also, how should the logic work for merging? Let's say the query returns the following fields:
name, address, state
would the template document have merge or form fields that are named something like 'txtName', 'txtAddress', etc?
Good luck.
Andres
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