.NET & Word - How to Convert PlainText to MergeField in Document

Question

i am using Visual Studio .NET (VB) So if you have a solution in C#, just go here first (http://converter.telerik.com/)

I have a document with text, and an array of words to replace: I need to replace the plaintext and substitute with actual mergefield

Dim replacements(,) As String =
        New String(,) {{"[firstname]", "$Field.FName"},
               {"[lastname]", "$Field.LName"},
               {"[addr]", "$Field.Addr.St"},
               {"[city]", "$Field.City"}}

Dim dotXLoc "c:/test/result.dotx"

Dim Fileformat As Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.WdSaveFormat = Word.WdSaveFormat.wdFormatXMLTemplate  'SAVE AS DOT
Dim wordApp As Object = New Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.Application()
Dim currentDoc As Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.Document = wordApp.Documents.Open(dotXLoc)

' Get bounds of the array.
Dim bound0 As Integer = replacements.GetUpperBound(0)

' Loop over all elements.
For i As Integer = 0 To bound0
    ' Get element.
    Dim FieldFind As String = replacements(i, 0)
    Dim FieldReplace As String = replacements(i, 1)

        '<<< CODE HERE TO REPLACE TEXT WITH MERGEFIELD >>>
Next

currentDoc.SaveAs(dotXLoc & " v2.dotx", Fileformat)
currentDoc.Close()
wordApp.Quit()

Answer 1

Here is the end result

 Public sub main()

            Dim rtfLoc = "c:/temp.rtf"
            Dim dotXLoc = "c:/temp.dotx"
            Dim Fileformat As Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.WdSaveFormat = Word.WdSaveFormat.wdFormatXMLTemplate
            Dim wordApp As Word.Application = New Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.Application()
            Dim currentDoc As Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.Document = wordApp.Documents.Open(rtfLoc)


            TextToMergeField(currentDoc)

            currentDoc.SaveAs(dotXLoc, Fileformat)
            currentDoc.Close()
            wordApp.Quit()
 End Sub

we call TextToMergeField(currentDoc) from the main function this way we can loop through multiple documents and replace all instances

 Private Sub TextToMergeField(ByRef currentdoc As Word.Document)
    Dim rng As Word.Range
    Dim replacements(,) As String =
    New String(,) {{"[firstname]", "$Field.FName"},
           {"[lastname]", "$Field.LName"},
           {"[addr]", "$Field.Addr.St"},
           {"[city]", "$Field.City"}}
    Dim bound0 As Integer = replacements.GetUpperBound(0)
    currentdoc.Activate()
    For i As Integer = 0 To bound0
        rng = currentdoc.Range
        With rng.Find
            .Text = replacements(i, 0)
            Do While .Execute(Replace:=WdReplace.wdReplaceOne)
                currentdoc.Fields.Add(rng, WdFieldType.wdFieldMergeField, replacements(i, 1))
            Loop
        End With
    Next 
End Sub

Hope this helps someone