Question Open a Word template inside a winform?

[gate7cy]

hello there. I am trying to open a word template inside a form in my vb.net application but I cannot seem to find any guidance to doing this. I do not want to call microsoft word to open in order to see/read/write on my template. I want the word document to be within a form I am creating like a print preview sort off. I am using Word 2007 and VS 2008. I have been using so far automation and calling and interacting with the template but until so far I have to open Microsoft word to open it for me. Any clues?? Thanks for the replies guys.

 

[gate7cy]

I have done this so far. I used a word template and added some bookmarks to send data from my vb application and print the document. I manage to print the document without word openning but I cannot preview the document. The only option is to open Word. I have tried to use the printpreviewcontrol with no luck. This is the code so far :

Dim conn As MySqlConnection = New MySqlConnection("server=******;Port=3306;database=*****;user id=root;password=******;")
        conn.Open()
        Dim query As String
        query = " SELECT Street, HouseNum, Town, CustomerID, PostCode FROM customer WHERE CustomerID = " & Me.custidtext.Text & ""
        Dim cmd As MySqlCommand = New MySqlCommand(query, conn)
        Dim reader As MySqlDataReader
        reader = cmd.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior.CloseConnection)
        reader.Read()


        Dim oWord As Word.Application
        Dim oDoc As Word.Document


        'Start Word and Open document template

        oWord = CType(CreateObject("Word.Application"), Word.Application)
        oWord.Visible = False


        oDoc = oWord.Documents.Add("C:\Visual Studio 2008\Projects\form.doc")

        oDoc.Bookmarks("customer").Range.Text = Me.customertext.Text

        oDoc.Bookmarks("description").Range.Text = Me.problem.Text

        oDoc.Bookmarks("address").Range.Text = reader("Street").ToString + " " + reader("HouseNum").ToString + vbCrLf + reader("Town").ToString
        oDoc.Bookmarks("model").Range.Text = Me.model.Text
        oDoc.Bookmarks("serial").Range.Text = Me.serial.Text
        oDoc.Bookmarks("reportedat").Range.Text = CStr(Me.datesched.Value)
        oDoc.Bookmarks("solution").Range.Text = Me.solution.Text
        oDoc.Bookmarks("finished").Range.Text = CStr(Me.datecompleted.Value)
        oDoc.Bookmarks("postcode").Range.Text = reader("PostCode").ToString
        oDoc.Bookmarks("town").Range.Text = reader("Town").ToString
        oDoc.Bookmarks("rmaid").Range.Text = Me.serviceidtext.Text
        oDoc.Bookmarks("datenow").Range.Text = CStr(Date.Now)
        oDoc.Bookmarks("technician").Range.Text = Me.technician.Text
        oDoc.Bookmarks("technician").Range.Text = Me.techniciantext.Text
        TEST.PrintPreviewControl1.Document = CType(oDoc, Printing.PrintDocument)

        TEST.Show()

With this I get this error :

Unable to cast COM object of type 'Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.DocumentClass' to class type 'System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument'. Instances of types that represent COM components cannot be cast to types that do not represent COM components; however they can be cast to interfaces as long as the underlying COM component supports QueryInterface calls for the IID of the interface.

Any clues..... anyone? Thank you.

 

[JohnH]

You can't render a Word document without the Word engine. There is no way to convert a Word.Document to a PrintDocument. The Word automation Document object has a PrintPreview method for instance. To show a Word document in a form you can use the WebBrowser control as a host, but it requires Word installed.