Follow these steps to create mail merge letters by downloading data from the Request Letters window using Web ADI.

   To create mail merge letters:

System Administrator steps

1. If necessary, create a new view to retrieve data for the standard letter.

   Note: Any views you use for letter requests must join to the PER_LETTER_REQUEST_LINES table, and must include the column LETTER_REQUEST_ID. For example, the following view returns a person's first and last names following a letter request:

   create or replace view hrv_people_letters as
     select
       letter_request_id,
       last_name,
       first_name
     from
       per_letter_request_lines plrl,
       per_people_f pp
     where
   pp.person_id = plrl.person_id
   /
   

2. Create an integrator. Ensure that you create the integrator with a METADATA_TYPE of DOWNLOAD, and enter LETTER in the FORM_NAME column. See: Creating an Integrator in Web ADI

   System Administrator or end-user steps

3. Define an integrator layout that includes all the columns you may want to include as fields in the standard letter. See: Defining a Layout in Web ADI

4. In the Letter window in Oracle HRMS, define a letter by entering a name and selecting assignment or enrollment statuses to associate with the letter.

   See: To define a Standard Letter type

   Attention: The name you enter for the letter in this window must be the same as the name of the layout you created in Step 3.

   You must select a concurrent program before you can save the letter type in this window, but you can select any concurrent program as this information is not used by Web ADI.

5. In the Request Letter window in Oracle HRMS, select the letter name and define a letter request, then save your work.

   See: Requesting Letters

6. To create a data source for the creation of the template letter, click the Export Data icon on the toolbar in the Request Letter window, and then download the data, selecting Word as the viewer. See: To download data to a document from an HRMS window

   The application creates a simple Excel spreadsheet (even though you selected Word as the viewer) containing a column for each column in the integrator layout defined in Step 3.

7. Save the Excel spreadsheet to a temporary directory.

8. Create the template letter in Word using the file you saved in Step 7 as your data source, so that you can select any required fields to include in the letter. Save the template letter to a temporary directory.

9. Upload the template Word document to the database. See: Managing Template Letters Using Web ADI

10. Use the Manage Layout Document Links page to create a link between the integrator and layout and the template letter. See: Creating Links between Template Letters and Layouts

11. Delete the temporary files you created in Steps 7 and 8 when you have uploaded the template to the database.

    End-user steps

12. To create the Merge letter, in the Request Letter window, select a letter name, click the Export Data icon on the toolbar, and download the data, selecting Word as the viewer. This time, as the template linked to the integrator and layout is available in the database, the data automatically creates a merge letter. See: To download data to a document from an HRMS window

13. Save the mail merge letter to your local PC if required.