Select Word Version
The next page will indicate which versions of Microsoft Word have been detected on your computer. This page will not be displayed if Word is not detected on your computer.
If more than one version has been detected, you must select the appropriate option to specify which version you wish to use to design this letter.
Important: You will need to use the same version of Word to generate letters of this type in the future.
If this box is ticked, Word will open automatically when you select the Next> button, allowing you to design your letter template. The template contains the layout and text of the letter type and information about which fields are present and their position. All automatically generated letters of that type are based on this template, but the fields will be replaced by the actual data for the appropriate client.
A letter template is required for each letter type if you wish to automatically generate letters of that type for selected clients using Word. If you choose not to design the letter using Microsoft Word by unticking this box, a template will not be created. You will, therefore, be unable to automatically generate letters of this type. Instead, the Letter Generator will produce a merge file of client data that you will need to use to manually merge client details into a letter using a word processor. You will also need to do this if the Create New Letter wizard does not detect a version of Microsoft Word on your computer.
You can enter a name for the new template in the Name box. A default is supplied and it is not necessary to change this unless you have a specific reason for doing so.
Warning: Do not change the name of the template once you have selected Finish on the next page. For example, do not save it under a different name from within Word. If you do, the Letter Generator will be unable to find the template and you will not be able to automaticaly generate letters of this type.
Default - Select this button to automatically re-enter the default template name in the Name box.
Select the Next> button to continue. On the final page of the wizard, select Finish. The new template for this letter type will be opened in Microsoft Word, so that you can design the letter template.
WARNING: There is a known issue with Word 97 using ODBC that may cause problems when creating letters from Control Centre. Microsoft have published two possible solutions:
- In My Computer|View|Options|View there is a tick box
for "Hide MS-DOS file extensions for file types that are registered".
If this box is ticked then problems
can occur - try unticking this box and
the problem should be resolved. This has corrected the problems
on all PCs tested so far.
- If this doesn't work, then it's possible to stop Word 97 from using
ODBC and force it to use it's own internal database connectivity. To do
this go into Control Panel|32bit ODBC|User DSN. Highlight the "Text
Files" item and click "Remove". You will be asked to confirm
the action - say Yes. This may impact
on other software that uses ODBC.
If you encounter any difficulties, please contact Sage Software Support.