Setting Up Mail Merge with Metastorm BPM

Metastorm · February 15, 2005

The information in this article applies to:

Product: Metastorm BPM (e-Work)
Version: 5.x 6.x 7.x

Issue

Metastorm BPM (MBPM) variables have been added to a Word template, but no file is created after calling %Print() or the file created is blank.

Before the variables are added to the template, the template must have been created as a mail merge document. See the attached files for instructions on configuring this document using Microsoft Word 2000, 2003, or 2007.
Also note the following:
1. Data to be merged with a Word document must not contain non-standard ASCII characters. Note that this includes smart quotes that are used by Word. Problems may be encountered if the user copies text including smart quotes from a Word document and pastes them into the MBPM form.
2. A merge field on the Word template that doesn't exist as an MBPM variable prevents the merge document from being created and may cause an error message similar to the following to be written to the Windows event log:
  
  The print merge failed because there is a field in the merge document that is not defined in the merge data header.
In e-Work version 6.6.1, multi-threading in the procedure manager was introduced. This part of the Engine handles asynchronous functions, which include %Print, %Email, and %ScriptAsync. For this reason, it's possible to see more than one WinWord process (WinWord.exe) listed in the Windows Task Manager when doing multiple mail merges. The number of processes is limited by the Max Simultaneous Async Jobs registry value.
See the Metastorm BPM Administration Guide and Designer User Manual for additional information on %Print and the registry setting.