get_field_names method

get_field_names()

Returns a collection of mail merge field names available in the document.

def get_field_names(self):
    ...

Remarks

Returns full merge field names including optional prefix. Does not eliminate duplicate field names.

A new string array is created on every call.

Includes “mustache” field names if MailMerge.use_non_merge_fields is True.

Examples

Shows how to get names of all merge fields in a document.

doc = aw.Document()
builder = aw.DocumentBuilder(doc)

builder.insert_field(" MERGEFIELD FirstName ")
builder.write(" ")
builder.insert_field(" MERGEFIELD LastName ")
builder.insert_paragraph()
builder.insert_field(" MERGEFIELD City ")

data_table = DataTable("MyTable")
data_table.columns.add("FirstName")
data_table.columns.add("LastName")
data_table.columns.add("City")
data_table.rows.add(["John", "Doe", "New York"])
data_table.rows.add(["Joe", "Bloggs", "Washington"])

# For every MERGEFIELD name in the document, ensure that the data table contains a column
# with the same name, and then execute the mail merge.
field_names = doc.mail_merge.get_field_names()

self.assertEqual(3, len(field_names))

for field_name in field_names:
    self.assertTrue(data_table.columns.contains(field_name))

doc.mail_merge.execute(data_table)

See Also

MailMerge.execute_with_regions method MailMerge.get_field_names_for_region method