MAD ABOUT MAIL

MERGE!
Making Archer‘s Mail Merge Capabilities Work for You
and Your Customers

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WELCOME TO MAD ABOUT MAIL MERGE!
 Welcome to Mad About Mail Merge, a lab that is about getting you started on creating Mail
Merge documents for your organization
 Presenter: Matt Dostal
− Business Systems Analyst for Bank of the West
− Archer Certified Since 2010
− Full time Archer administrator for 4.5 years

 Presenter: Austin Tyler

− RSA Archer GRC Presales Consultant

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WHAT IS MAIL
MERGE?

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WHAT IS MAIL MERGE?
J U S T W H AT I S M A I L M E R G E A N Y WAY ?
 Mail Merge is a process that uses a Merge Template and a
Data Source to quickly create documents that follow the
same basic form, but add variable information from the data
source

A computer generated form letter is the classic example of using

Mail Merge functionality e.g.
Dear <<Title>> <<Customer Name>>,
In our letter on <<Date>> regarding <<Subject>>…

…Please reply by <<Second Date>>

Sincerely,
<<Signatory>>

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HOW DOES MAIL MERGE WORK IN ARCHER?
 Archer uses a Microsoft Word file (.DOC or .DOCX) as the Merge Template
 Each Merge Template is tied to a single Archer Application
 The Data Source is a single Archer record, but can include information from related records
 The variable information is from selected Archer fields, entered into the Merge Template as
Merge Code
 The export replaces Merge Code with Archer field information
When the Mail Merge
template has been created
it will appear in the Export
Options menu above the
standard options

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 WHY USE MAIL MERGE?
 Mail Merge allows you to Standard RTF Export of a Record Mail Merge Export of the Same Record
create customized export
documents with formatting
options far beyond the
standard Archer exports
 Mail Merge created
documents can be useful
in a number of scenarios,
including:
− Documentation of
emergency procedures
when computer systems
are unavailable
− Hardcopy for archiving
− Producing documents for
regulatory compliance

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MAIL MERGE LIMITATIONS
T H E R E A R E S O M E T H I N G S T H AT M A I L M E R G E C A N N O T D O
 Only one record can be exported at a time
 Only export formats available are .DOC, .DOCX, or .PDF
 Can only export from an application, not a questionnaire, sub-form, or report
− Questionnaire information can be included if exporting from a related record
− Sub-form information can be included if exporting from parent or related record
 Certain field types are not exportable
− A calculated field can be used as a workaround if the field can be used in
calculations, e.g. using the Most Recent Value calculation to get information from
only the most recently performed assessment questionnaire.
 The process of building merge templates can be time consuming
− There are resources that can make the template creation easier
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BUILDING A MERGE
TEMPLATE
CREATING A TEMPLATE USING MERGE
CODE

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GETTING STARTED WITH MAIL MERGE
T H E R E A R E E S S E N T I A L LY F O U R S T E P S T O C R E AT I N G A M E R G E D O C U M E N T

1. Creation of the initial template in Microsoft Word

2. Retrieval of field alias information from Archer
3. Building Merge Code with Archer field information into the template
4. Testing and revision of the document

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LAB SCENARIO
This lab scenario will carry you through all four steps outlined and teach
you how to build a mail merge template.
SCENARIO:

Your employer, Western Bear Bank, is moving their Business Resiliency processes into Archer.
The Business Resiliency team needs paper documentation of their BC/DR Plan records in order
to meet requirements for reporting and disaster recovery.
They have given you the Word document they have manually filled out in the past, in the hope
that you can use Mail Merge to create an export that will meet their needs.

LET’S DO IT!

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LOG IN TO YOUR ARCHER INSTANCE
 Open your Archer instance
 Username: Admin1
 Instance: summit01
 Password: Password1!

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OPEN THE EXISTING TEMPLATE
 On your desktop, open the Template Folder
 Double click on the BC Plan Brief – Template file to open it in MS Word

 The template has a number of different values with “> <” characters surrounding them to denote
the fields that we will be using for the merge template
 Once you have opened the template, move to the next step

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R E T R I E V I N G F I E L D A L I A S I N F O R M AT I O N

 In order to build your template, you will need

the Field Alias of every field specified
 Using the Application Field Detail report from
Application Builder Reports allows you to get
the alias quickly
 For today, a list of the Field Alias information
needed has already been created
 On your desktop, open the Lab folder
 Then open the Alias Info document

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BUILDING MERGE CODE
 Merge Code is the special code that is used to designate where and how Archer information will
be entered into the exported document
 The code we build will include the Field Alias and additional formatting information
 We will use two Word Hotkeys to speed up the process of creating and formatting our
documents.
− Ctrl+F9 – Inserts a Merge Code field into the document, which will look like bold curly brackets { }
− Alt+F9 – Switches between Merge Code view and normal view; the brackets are either replaced with
<<>> or are hidden completely
− There are other ways to insert Merge Code, but hotkeys are the fastest
 We will begin by creating a simple text field and testing our merge document

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BUILDING MERGE CODE
 In the Word template, find >Plan Name< at the top of the table and delete it.
 Press Ctrl+F9 to insert a Merge Code field in the table where >Plan Name< was
 When done, it should look like this

 To start the Merge Code type MERGEFIELD, all in caps, then press space

 Copy the Field Alias of the Plan Name Field from the Alias Info document into the template

 Save the file as BC Plan Brief - Template v1.docx, then close the template
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TESTING THE TEMPLATE
 It is a good practice to test the template each time you add a field to ensure that the field is
working as expected

 In Archer, open the Administration workspace by clicking

the down arrow by the Wrench and Hammer, then find
Management Reporting and click Mail Merge Templates

 Click “Add New” and choose “Create Original”

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UPLOADING THE TEMPLATE 1
 Name the Template “BC Plan Brief”

 Find Options, and Choose BC/DR Plans as the application

 Change Output Type to DOCX

 Click “Add New” to the right of “Report Template”

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UPLOADING THE TEMPLATE 2
 Click “Add New” on “File Upload”

 Set the file type to .DOCX (see screenshot)

 Choose the Word template you just saved and click Open
 Click Apply, and leave the Manage Mail Merge Template screen open
− We will leave the Manage Mail Merge Template screen open in a browser tab for the duration of the lab
to make testing easier

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TESTING THE EXPORT
 Open Archer in a second browser tab
 In the Business Resiliency workspace open the All BC Plans dashboard
 Open PLAN-1, and click Export

 Choose BC Plan Brief from the Export Options

then click OK

 Open the file, and verify that the Plan Name is

now populated as shown

 If you got an error message, or the field is blank, please let me know
 Close the exported document once you have verified the result

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ADDING ADDITIONAL FIELDS
 From here you will add more fields to your Merge Template, beginning with Plan Owner
 You will test the template each time a new field is added, to ensure they are working
 It’s always a good idea to save your progress by keeping a “last known good” version of your
template so do that now
− Open the template, “BC Plan Brief - Template v1.docx” and save it as “BC Plan Brief - Template
v2.docx”
 Press Alt+F9 to view the Merge Code if you don’t see it when you open the template

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 Reminder:
RECORD PERMISSIONS FIELD Ctrl+F9 to Create Code
Alt+F9 to View Code
 We will now work with a Record Permissions field
 A Record Permissions field requires slightly different syntax than a text field
 Delete >Plan Owner< from the template, then create a Merge Code field by pressing Ctrl+F9.
 Type or copy and paste MERGEFIELD into the field

 In the space for the alias, type List:Plan_Owner.DisplayName, so your Merge Code is as shown

 If needed you can copy the alias, as well as example Merge Code, from the Alias Info file
 Leave no space between List: and Plan_Owner or the export will fail
 Save the change to your template, then close the template

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UPDATING THE TEMPLATE
 You can directly replace the existing Template without deleting the old template
 Click “Add New” to the right of “Report Template”

 Click OK on the Warning that appears

 Choose the template you just saved and click Open
 Click Apply
 Leave the Manage Mail Merge Template screen open
 In the other browser tab close the Export Complete window, then click BC Plan Brief again
 The Plan Owner should now be populated as shown below

 Let me know if you encounter any errors. Close the exported file after verifying the result
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 Reminder:
DATE FIELDS Ctrl+F9 to Create Code
Alt+F9 to View Code
 If you have successfully tested the Record Permissions field, open your template and save it as
“BC Plan Brief - Template v3.docx”
 Date Fields allow you to specify how the date will appear
 For this lab the field will display the date in this format, 08/16/2018
 Delete >Approval Date< and press Ctrl+F9 to insert a new Merge Code field
 Type MERGEFIELD Approval_Date \@ “MM’/’dd’/’yyyy” in the Merge Code field, as shown

 If needed you can copy the alias, as well as example Merge Code, from the Alias Info file
 Save the changes to your template, then close and upload it to test
 When tested you should see the following result.

 Let me know if you encounter errors. Close the exported file after verifying the result

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VALUES LIST FIELDS Reminder:
Ctrl+F9 to Create Code
 If you have successfully tested the Date field, open your template and Alt+F9 to View Code
save it as “BC Plan Brief - Template v4.docx”
 A Values List field uses syntax that is similar to a Record Permissions field
 Delete >Overall Plan Status< then create a Merge Code field by pressing Ctrl+F9.
 Type or copy and paste MERGEFIELD into the field, then press space
 Type List:Overall_Plan_Status.Value, so your Merge Code is as shown

 If needed you can copy the alias, as well as example Merge Code, from the Alias Info file
 Be certain there is no space between List: and Overall_Plan_Status or the export will fail
 Save the change to your template, then close and upload it to test
 The export should now look like this

 Please let me know if you encounter any errors. Close the exported file
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CROSS-REFERENCE OR RELATED RECORDS 1
Reminder:
 If you have successfully tested the Values List field, open your template Ctrl+F9 to Create Code
and save it as “BC Plan Brief - Template v5.docx” Alt+F9 to View Code
 Creating Merge Code for Cross-References and Related Records requires three Merge Code
fields; a TableStart code, a code for the referenced field, and a TableEnd code
 In the table delete >Target Application<, then press Ctrl+F9 to insert a merge code
 Type or copy and paste MERGEFIELD into the first field
 In the space for the alias, type TableStart:Applications, so your Merge Code is as shown

 If needed you can copy the alias, as well as example Merge Code, from the Alias Info file
 Be sure no space appears between TableStart: and Applications

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CROSS-REFERENCE OR RELATED RECORDS 2
Reminder:
 Move the cursor outside the brackets then press Ctrl+F9 to create Ctrl+F9 to Create Code
Alt+F9 to View Code
the second code field
 In the space for the alias, type Application_Name, so your Merge Code is as shown

 Move the cursor outside the brackets then press Ctrl+F9 to create the third code field
 Start the Merge Code with MERGEFIELD then type TableEnd:Applications, as shown below

 Save the changes to your template and test it. The export should look like this

 Let me know if you encounter any errors. Close the exported file when finished
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FILLING IN THE REMAINING FIELDS
 Try to fill in the remaining fields using the processes discussed earlier
 The Field Alias and Field Type are provided, so you can copy and paste Merge Code from
previous fields and replace the field alias where appropriate
 Once that is complete, try populating the Recovery Team Table
− Hint: you only need one TableStart and one TableEnd for the whole table
 If you need assistance at any point please let me know

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BRINGING IT BACK
AROUND

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WHAT TO TAKE WITH YOU
 Mail Merge provides versatility and flexibility that regular Archer exports don’t
 Nearly any information in an Archer record can be exported using Mail Merge functionality
 Your customer’s requirements for standardized documentation can be met effectively without
the need for any software beyond what you most likely have already
 Building Mail Merge Templates is a great way to spend an afternoon!

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BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!
 Mail Merge Resources Available from the Archer Community
− RSA Archer GRC Platform Mail Merge Tip Sheet
• A PDF that explains which field types can be used for Mail Merge and much more, including formatting examples
− Mail Merge Template Creator
• A not-officially-supported utility available on the Archer Community, this tool will create all the Merge Code you
need for you (Thank you Jeff Letterman!)
• IF YOU DON’T USE THIS, YOU ARE WASTING YOUR TIME!
 Numerous MS Word and Office resources online are also a valuable source of Mail Merge
information
 Me! Matthew.Dostal@BankoftheWest.com or on the Archer Community

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THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING!
THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING MAD ABOUT MAIL MERGE!
Special thanks to:
From RSA:
Austin Tyler, Brenna McLeod, Stephen Rosenboom
From Bank of the West:
Deanne Dinslage, Tom Silk, Uma Venkat, Cristy Pierre, Rodney Liggett, Matt Johnson

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