docx-mailmerge2 1.0.1
Performs a Mail Merge on docx (Microsoft Office Word) files
License: MIT
Requires Python: >=3.7
Keywords: docx, office, openxml, word

===============
docx Mail Merge
===============

.. image:: https://badge.fury.io/py/docx-mailmerge2.png
    :alt: PyPI
    :target: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/docx-mailmerge2

Performs a Mail Merge on Office Open XML (docx) files. Can be used on any
system without having to install Microsoft Office Word. Supports Python 3.7 and up.

Installation
============

Installation with ``pip``:
::

    $ pip install docx-mailmerge2


Usage
=====

Open the file.
::

    from mailmerge import MailMerge
    with MailMerge('input.docx') as document:
        ...

Open the file and setting options
::

    from mailmerge import MailMerge, MailMergeOptions, OptionAutoUpdateFields, OptionKeepFields
    mailmerge_options = MailMergeOptions(
        remove_empty_tables=False,
        auto_update_fields_on_open=OptionAutoUpdateFields.NO,
        keep_fields=OptionKeepFields.NONE,
        merge_if_fields=False,
        table_rows_replace_mode=False)
    with MailMerge('input.docx', options=mailmerge_options) as document:
        ...


List all merge fields.
::

    print(document.get_merge_fields())


Merge fields, supplied as kwargs.
::

    document.merge(field1='docx Mail Merge',
                   field2='Can be used for merging docx documents')

Merge table rows. In your template, add a MergeField to the row you would like
to designate as template. Supply the name of this MergeField as ``anchor``
parameter. The second parameter contains the rows with key-value pairs for
the MergeField replacements.

If the tables are empty and you want them removed, set remove_empty_tables=True
in constructor.
::

    document.merge_rows('col1',
                        [{'col1': 'Row 1, Column 1', 'col2': 'Row 1 Column 1'},
                         {'col1': 'Row 2, Column 1', 'col2': 'Row 2 Column 1'},
                         {'col1': 'Row 3, Column 1', 'col2': 'Row 3 Column 1'}])

The default behaviour is to expand the row containing the fields into several
rows, one for each element in the data list. However, if you want to have a
table with a fixed number of rows, you can set the option
*table_rows_replace_mode=True*. 

In the *replace_mode* the behaviour is to replace the table row containing the
fields as well as the next rows with the data. If the table doesn't have enough
rows to contain all the data, an IndexError exception is thrown.

Starting in version 0.2.0 you can also combine these two separate calls into a
single call to `merge`.
::

    document.merge(field1='docx Mail Merge',
                   col1=[
                       {'col1': 'A'},
                       {'col1': 'B'},
                   ])


Starting in version 0.2.0 there's also the feature for template merging.
This creates a copy of the template for each item in the list, does a merge,
and separates them by page or section breaks (see function documentation).
Starting in version 0.8.0 you can also use fields in the headers/footers/footnotes
with the merge_templates method.
::

    document.merge_templates([
        {'field1': "Foo", 'field2: "Copy #1"},
        {'field1': "Bar", 'field2: "Copy #2"},
    ], separator='page_break')


Starting in version 0.6.0 the fields formatting is respected when compatible.
Numeric, Text, Conditional and Date fields (0.6.2) are implemented.
For Date fields a compatible datetime, date or time objects must be provided.
If locale support is needed, make sure to call the setlocale before merging
::

    import locale
    locale.setlocale(locale.LC_TIME, '') # for system locale

    document.merge_templates([
        {'datefield': datetime.date('2022-04-15')},
    ], separator='page_break')

The {NEXT} fields are supported (0.6.3).

You can also use the merge fields inside other fields, for example to insert
pictures in the docx {INCLUDEPICTURE} or for conditional texts {IF}.
Microsoft Word is needed to update the values of those fields.
::

    { INCLUDEPICTURE "{ MERGEFIELD path }/{ MERGEFIELD image }" }
    { IF "{ MERGEFIELD reason }" <> "" "Reason: { MERGEFIELD reason }" }

Always enclose the fields with double quotes, as the MERGE fields will be first
filled in with data and then the other fields will be computed through Word.

If the fields are nested inside other fields, the outer fields need to be
updated in Word. This can be done by selecting everything (CTRL-a) and then
update the fields (F9). There is a way to force the Word to update fields
automatically when opening the document. docx-mailmerge can set this
setting when saving the document. You can configure this feature by using
the *auto_update_fields_on_open* option. The value *always* will set the
setting regardless if needed or not and the value *auto* will only set it
when necessary (when nested fields exist). The default value *no* will not
activate this setting.

The {NEXTIF} and {SKIPIF} fields are supported (0.9.0).
The {IF} fields are supported (since version 0.9.0) in experimental mode only
(``merge_if_fields=True``, see ``MailMergeOptions`` class).

The condition can use nested fields. Spaces are *MANDATORY* before and after 
the operator (<, <>, >, <=, >=, =). The values are better enclosed in double
quotes. For <> and = operators, the Microsoft-style regular expressions are
supported (?, \*).

Write document to file. This should be a new file, as ``ZipFile`` cannot modify
existing zip files.
::

    document.write('output.docx')

By default, all MERGEFIELD fields are replaced with their value. If a value is 
not given, it is replaced with an empty string.
If you want to keep the existing MERGEFIELD fields (with their current value)
you can specify the keep_fields="some" parameter in the constructor.
::

    from mailmerge import MailMerge, MailMergeOptions, OptionKeepFields
    with MailMerge('keep_unchanged_fields.docx',
            options=MailMergeOptions(
                keep_fields=OptionKeepFields.SOME)) as document:
        ...

If you want to only update the value of the MERGEFIELD fields but keep the 
fields themselves, you can specify the keep_fields="all" parameter in the 
constructor. This way, you can change the document and update the fields again
later.
::

    from mailmerge import MailMerge, MailMergeOptions, OptionKeepFields
    with MailMerge('keep_all_fields.docx',
            options=MailMergeOptions(
                keep_fields=OptionKeepFields.ALL)) as document:
        ...

How to populate Word Templates
==============================

There are two main sources of examples for template populating:

* the unit tests of this project
* the nice write-up `Populating MS Word Templates with Python`_ on Practical Business Python for more information and examples

Generally, you have to create ``field code brackets`` in which expressions such as ``MERGEFIELD``, ``IF`` and so on are inserted.
Field code brackets looks like as curly brackets, but they are not ordinary curly brackets and must be created by special
key shortcut or inserted as ``field``. If you write curly brackets as oridnary text, they have not any special meaning.

Example of field code ``{ MERGEFIELD reason }``.

How to insert field code
------------------------
``Field code brackets`` or just ``field code`` can be inserted in the following ways:

* by using keyboard shortcut ``CTRL-F9`` (``CMD-F9`` on macOS) or,
* by clicking ``Insert -> Field... -> <FieldName>`` in MS Word GUI

When you create ``field code`` by keyboard shortcut ``CTRL-F9``, then select the
``field code`` and update it by pressing ``F9``.
Updating may result in hiding the raw field code. If you want to see the raw code again, you can toggle the display of field codes on and off using the ``ALT-F9`` (``OPTION-F9`` on macOS) shortcut.

Inserting Dynamic Images
========================

To include dynamic images in a docx template document you can use the 
{ INCLUDEPICTURE "...." } field. For the path you can use MERGEFIELD dynamic 
fields. See example above.

The problem is to actually include the images in the word document after the 
mailmerge. This can be done by opening the merged docx in Microsoft Word, 
selecting all the text and pressing the F9 to update all fields. Unfortunately
this method needs Microsoft Word installed and it is known to cause a lot of 
problems.

Another solution would be to use the `docx-mergefields`_ package to replace the
INCLUDEPICTURE fields with the actual image. This method also works with images
loaded from a database in base64 data-uri format, as well as URLs and local images.

See the documentation of `docx-mergefields`_ for examples.

Todo / Wish List
================

* Better support for the IF fields and conditions

Contributing
============

* Fork the repository on GitHub and start hacking
* Create / fix the unit tests
* Send a pull request with your changes

Unit tests
----------

In order to make sure that the library performs the way it was designed, unit
tests are used. When providing new features, or fixing bugs, there should be a
unit test that demonstrates it. Run the test suite::

    python -m unittest discover

Credits
=======

| This library was `originally`_ written by `Bouke Haarsma`_ and contributors.
| This repository is maintained by `Iulian Ciorăscu`_.

.. _Bouke Haarsma: https://twitter.com/BoukeHaarsma
.. _Populating MS Word Templates with Python: http://pbpython.com/python-word-template.html
.. _originally: https://github.com/Bouke/docx-mailmerge
.. _Iulian Ciorăscu: https://github.com/iulica/
.. _docx-mergefields: https://github.com/iulica/docx-mergefields