Populate a microsoft word template control - header and footer

Like (1) Share

Report

Posted on 4 Feb 2019 08:03:17 by Denis1

Hello all,

I've a small issue with the "Populate a microsoft word template" action to populate some controls in a word template:

when loading the word template, it now lists all the controls. When I test the flow, it runs without error.

But when I check the word document, the controls that are located in the header and footer of the document are left blank.

Any chance this could be solved?

Best,

Denis

I have the same question (0)

All responses (11)

Answers (0)

Denis1 25 on 05 Feb 2019 at 12:32:33

Like (0)

Report

Re: Populate a microsoft word template control - header and footer

A small update:
I tried to map the controls.
They are showing in the flow panel, and the flow runs apparently correctly, but the generated document doesn't show the new values.

In other words, once the controls are mapped, the update doesn't work and the flow is shown to work successfully.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
v-yuazh-msft on 06 Feb 2019 at 01:45:00

Like (0)

Report

Re: Populate a microsoft word template control - header and footer

Hi @Denis1,

Please make sure your file has Plain Text content controls like this:

You could refer to the same issue as yours in the following post:

https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Building-Flows/Error-using-populate-word-template/m-p/210963/highlight/false#M22241

And you could learn how to add content controls refer to link below:

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/about-content-controls-283b1e29-0b77-4781-b236-2d02c1cce1c2

Best regards,

Community Support Team _ Alice Zhang
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
Denis1 25 on 06 Feb 2019 at 08:01:59

Like (0)

Report

Re: Populate a microsoft word template control - header and footer

HEllo @v-yuazh-msft,

I'm 100% sure that the control is plain text. I have no issue populating all the others that are located in the body of the document.
However, it is not possible to populate the ones located in the header and the footer.

I also did tests starting from a new a blanck .docx document inserting 3 plain text content controls:
1 in the header
1 in the body
1 in the footer

See the print screens:

Word document with added plaintext controlsFlow showing the 3 controlsTest feedback : successfullResult

As you can see, the content is not reaching the plan text content controls in the header and footers eventhough the test returns as successful.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
v-yuazh-msft on 06 Feb 2019 at 08:51:53

Like (2)

Report

Re: Populate a microsoft word template control - header and footer

Hi @Denis1,

I have made a test on my side and the issue is confirmed on my side.

I afraid that the plain text control is not supported in the header and footer in microsoft word in flow currently.

I would help confirm it with my product team and would reply here once I get the respond.

Best regards,

Alice

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
Cuong1977 14 on 18 Mar 2019 at 12:26:46

Like (1)

Report

Re: Populate a microsoft word template control - header and footer

You can populate a text in the BODY and then use STYLEREF to populate the header and footers.

When you open the WORD, then the header and footer will update automatically and hence refer to the value, which has the STYLE referred to.

Its just a work around.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
BenFetters on 16 May 2019 at 19:06:05

Like (0)

Report

Re: Populate a microsoft word template control - header and footer

Hi,

I was wondering if this issue has been fixed yet?

Another workaround that I have found is to bookmark the field in the body, and then for the header, you have to add a Ref field that references the bookmark. This seems to work but is a little tedious at times. Thank you for looking into this!

Kind regards,
Ben Fetters

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
pbernardes 50 on 14 Dec 2020 at 21:35:33

Like (0)

Report

Re: Populate a microsoft word template control - header and footer

One year and a half later, this issue has not been fixed yet!!

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
aleo 29 on 08 Feb 2021 at 02:19:32

Like (0)

Report

Re: Populate a microsoft word template control - header and footer

still not fixed 😞

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
JoeMass 2 on 17 Mar 2021 at 18:45:18

Like (0)

Report

Re: Populate a microsoft word template control - header and footer

If I knew all of these small niggly issues - that can really put my process to a COMPLETE HALT, I am pretty sure that I would not have started down this path. A simple find/replace or mail merge would fix this, but I guess that is just too hard to build into process automate...

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
Community Power Pla... on 30 Nov 2022 at 17:21:06

Like (0)

Report

Re: Populate a microsoft word template control - header and footer

Hello everyone!
Ah, guys, this is one of the limitations and problems i encountered when using the Word Online connector. I prefer to use the Plumsail Documents connector because of the powerful templating engine and simple syntax. There will be no problems. No matter where the controls are located, if you use this connector. I recommend you to read the article to get familiar with Plumsail Documents. There is a free 30-day trial, and no credit card is required, so you will have enough time to try all features and decide if it's worth it.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No