Microsoft® Word® Documents To PDF Conversion

Note: This plug-in has been moved to the Legacy group.

The Microsoft® Word® Documents to PDF Conversion action task can be used to convert a Word® document into a PDF file that can be used in your Connect Workflow process. It can also do a Mail Merge as it runs the task.

Caution: As of Microsoft Office 2010, running an Office application in a service context is no longer supported by Microsoft. When used with Word 2010 or a later version, the Microsoft® Word® Documents To PDF Conversion plugin is expected to run into issues related to Word being run as a service.

Notes

  • This plugin requires a license with the Optimized Output option.
  • Microsoft® Word® needs to be installed for this task to be functional and to test the connection.
  • Microsoft Word must not be currently opened when the automation task runs.
  • Microsoft Word 2003 up to Word 2007 are supported.
  • While debugging this task, the printer shows the message that the document can not be printed. This message is normal and will not appear when running a live configuration.
  • The task uses a printer queue set with the “PlanetPress Word to PDF Printer” driver, which is created and set by default on-the-fly the first time a Microsoft® Word® Documents to PDF Conversion action task is run. This printer cannot be shared on the network in order to avoid confusion from network users, however it is shared between all Microsoft® Word® Document to PDF action tasks on the same system.
  • If using a Microsoft® database such as Access® or Excel®, each software must be installed in the same version. For example, using Microsoft® Word® 2007 with a Microsoft® Access® 2003 database will cause the task to fail.
  • If the database path is specified in the Microsoft® Word® document, the mail merge has to be performed with the settings specified in the document, otherwise the database path provided in the task is ignored and can cause different conflicts. To use custom settings, the Microsoft® Word® document should contain only mail merge fields with no database path entered. The Microsoft® Word® to PDF action task allows specifying the path of the database and the query to use. The Use custom settings option is very usefully for using different databases and queries in a single process.
  • If the database is the same for 2 processes, one of two processes aborts. Each process has to use different databases, or no more than one process with a Microsoft® Word® to PDF task.

Input

A compatible Microsoft Word Document.

Processing

The Word document is converted into a PDF file. If a Mail Merge is made, the mail merge is done in the document before the document is converted into a PDF file. The conversion is done through the use of a printer queue - the document is printed to this queue and the print job is converted to PDF. This is the same technique as used in the WinQueue Input when generating PDF files.

Output

The output is either:

  • A PDF file accompanied with basic PDF metadata. This is the default output. The Metadata contains one Document level, and one Data page (and Page) level for each PDF page generated by the document. When Mail Merge is not selected, this is the only available choice.

    Note: The Objectif Lune Printer Driver will naturally add a margin to the PDF generated by this task. If your PDF is full bleed you will not get the desired results using this option.

  • A DOC (Word Document) file which is the result of the mail merge. This output is only available when doing a mail merge.

Task properties

General Tab

  • Microsoft Word Document: Enter a Microsoft® Word® document or template, or click the browse button to navigate to the location of the document. The supported extensions are: *.doc, *.docx, *.dot and *.dotx.
  • Perform Mail Merge: Check when providing a Microsoft® Word® document or template configured for mail merge.
    • Use settings specified in document: Selected to instruct the task to use the connection string and SQL statements stored in the DOC file. There is no guarantee that the database, connection string or statement are still valid, especially if the DOC file was moved or sent to someone else.
    • Use custom settings: Override the mail merge settings in the Microsoft® Word® document and lets you specify your own.
    • Connection String: The connection string to any ODBC database supported by Connect Workflow. You can use the Browse button to open an existing File DSN, or use the Database Button to open the ODBC connection interface.
    • SQL Statement: An SQL statement that is understood by the database you are using and that will return a series of records that the Microsoft® Word® template is expecting. Note that no validation is made on SQL statements except if they are for Microsoft Access and Excel data files. You can use the Test Connection button to test the SQL and connection string.
    • Test connection: Checks if the Connection String and SQL Statement are valid, and if the resulting recordset is understood by the Microsoft® Word® document. This is optional, though highly recommended.
  • Output Type:
    • .PDF File (with metadata): The result will be a PDF file with the number of pages generated by the combination of the template and record set. Metadata is also included that complement the PDF.
    • .DOC file: The result is a Microsoft® Word® document in .doc format. Note that this format is not supported by Connect Workflow as a data file or job file, so this option is only useful if you are simply planning to save the Word document in a specific location.

On Error Tab

For a description of the options on the On Error tab see Using the On Error tab.

Miscellaneous Tab

The Miscellaneous tab is common to all tasks.

It contains a text area (Task comments) that lets you write comments about the task. These comments are saved when the dialog is closed with the OK button and are displayed in The Task Comments Pane.

Check the option Use as step description to display the text next to the icon of the plugin in the Process area.

The tab also provides an option to highlight the task in The Process area with the default color, set in the Preferences (see Colors), or the color selected or defined under Highlight color on this tab.
To revert the selected highlight color to the default color, open this tab, turn the Highlight option off and close the dialog with the OK button; then turn highlighting back on.
Highlighting can also be turned on and off via the task's contextual menu and with the Highlight button on the View ribbon.