Hi guys




I have a mail merge document with all the letters separated by a section break.


I'm wondering if it would be easy to write a macro that finds a particular word in each letter/section and uses that as a string for the file name (e.g. it searches for the words 'strictly private' and then uses the line beneath it which is the client's name), and then saves each section as a separate PDF file?


Thanks a lot in advance
James

See Merge and Split which has an option to do that.

__________________
Graham Mayor - MS MVP (Word) (2002-2019)
Visit my web site for more programming tips and ready made processes www.gmayor.com

Thanks! I'm trying to avoid add-ins as it's for my workplace. I'll post a code I was working on, maybe someone can help adjust it to work.

So here's a macro I was working on:


So it starts by asking what folder I want to save the PDFs to, and then it copies each section to a new document, uses the line UNDER 'strictly private' as a string for the filename + today's date, and then saves.


However I don't want it to copy each letter new document, but I'm not sure how to achieve this.




Sub PDFBySection()
'Select folder'
Dim sFolder As String
' Open the select folder prompt
With Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogFolderPicker)
.InitialFileName = "U:"
.Title = "Select a folder to save to"
If .Show = -1 Then ' if OK is pressed
sFolder = .SelectedItems(1)
End If
End With

If sFolder <> "" Then ' if a file was chosen
Selection.HomeKey Unit:=wdStory

Application.Browser.Target = wdBrowseSection

'Copy letter to new document'
For i = 1 To ((ActiveDocument.Sections.Count) - 1)
ActiveDocument.Bookmarks("\Section").Range.Copy
Documents.Add
Selection.Paste

'Removes the break that is copied at the end of the section, if any.
Selection.MoveUp Unit:=wdLine, Count:=1, Extend:=wdExtend
Selection.Delete Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1

'Grabs client name'
Selection.HomeKey Unit:=wdStory

With Selection.Find
.Forward = True
.ClearFormatting
.MatchWholeWord = True
.MatchCase = False
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Execute FindText:="Strictly Private"
End With

Selection.MoveDown Unit:=wdLine, Count:=1
Selection.HomeKey Unit:=wdLine
Selection.EndKey Unit:=wdLine, Extend:=wdExtend
Selection.Copy

'Get current date for filename'
Dim xDate As String
On Error Resume Next
xDate = Format((Year(Now() + 1) Mod 100), "20##") & _
Format((Month(Now() + 1) Mod 100), "0#") & _
Format((Day(Now()) Mod 100), "0#")

'Create a string for file name from line 6 where client's name is'
Dim strTemp As String
Dim MyData As DataObject
Set MyData = New DataObject
MyData.GetFromClipboard

'String to put date first then client name second for file name'
strTemp = xDate & " " & MyData.GetText(1)

'Save as PDF'
ActiveDocument.SaveAs FileName:=(sFolder) & "" & (strTemp) & ".PDF", FileFormat:=wdFormatPDF
ActiveDocument.Close savechanges:=wdDoNotSaveChanges

'Move the selection to the next section in the document
Application.Browser.Next
Next i
End If
End Sub

My add-ins are in use by government, military and industry around the world. Some users even donate for using them. I am surprised that your company will let you use VBA to screw up their systems and not allow the use of add-ins.

__________________
Graham Mayor - MS MVP (Word) (2002-2019)
Visit my web site for more programming tips and ready made processes www.gmayor.com

That doesn't really help, but yeah, they're only simple macros for basic tasks, nothing that can actually screw anything up

I think your decision makers misunderstand the power of "simple macros." Simple macros can royally screw up anything! The code in the typical Add-In is no more complex than what you've posted. In the case of Add-Ins on Graham's site, it is better written code from a professional who really understands Word. His add-ins have been used by thousands.

See Send Mailmerge Output to Individual Files in the Mailmerge Tips and Tricks 'Sticky' thread at the top of this forum:
https://www.msofficeforums.com/mail-...ps-tricks.html

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Thanks for this!