Preparing to Print Form Letters

Before you can print form letters, you need to modify the macros supplied by PeopleSoft to suit your environment and set up your process scheduler configuration file.

Depending on your configuration, you may need to make these changes to the standard Microsoft Word macros that are supplied by PeopleSoft:

  • Default path to the empty.doc file that contains all the macros.

  • Location of the letters produced.

    The macros create letters in the directory C:\TEMP on your application server. We recommend that you edit the macros to change the location of the letters so that when you print them from Microsoft Word, you print them to your local printers.

To set up the system to print form letters:

  1. Set up a shared directory on your machine for the letters.

    This enables the application server to add the letters to the directory. For example, if you're the training administrator, you may share the C:\TEMP directory on your machine as TRNTEMP.

    For the multilingual letters, set up subdirectories for each language in which you run the letters. For example, if you run letters with the Language field set to English, you create the directory C:\TEMP\ENG. See your system administrator if you don't know how to set up shared directories.

  2. Update the macros with the location of your empty.doc file and the location of your shared directory.

    In that macro, you replace this line:

    WordBasic.Call "FuncLib.MergeReport", "C:\TEMP", "PASTDEXT.DAT", "C:\HR800⇒
\WINWORD", "ROLLOVER.DOC", ""

    With this line:

    WordBasic.Call "FuncLib.MergeReport", "C:\TEMP", "PASTDEXT.DAT", "C:\<path>⇒
\WINWORD", "ROLLOVER.DOC", "\\<machine_name>\TRNTEMP"

    Where:

    <path> is the path to the directory that contains empty.doc.

    <machine_name> is the machine name that is assigned to your computer.

  3. Define the WINWORD variable in the process scheduler configuration file.

    WINWORD defines the location of the Microsoft Word executable file that the process scheduler runs to produce the form letters. For example, if Microsoft Word is run on the application server, you might have this line in the process scheduler configuration file:

    WINWORD=C:\APPS\OFFICE97\OFFICE

See PeopleTools: PeopleSoft Process Scheduler.