C++ code for mail merge

A classic task!

Mail merge is a process of combining a template document with a dataset to produce multiple output documents. Here's a basic C++ code example that demonstrates a simple mail merge using a template document and a CSV file as the dataset.

Note: This example uses the fstream library for file input/output and the string library for string manipulation.

mail_merge.cpp

#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <string>
#include <sstream>
#include <vector>

// Structure to represent a record in the dataset
struct Record {
    std::string name;
    std::string email;
    // Add more fields as needed
};

// Function to read the dataset from a CSV file
std::vector<Record> readDataset(const std::string& filename) {
    std::vector<Record> records;
    std::ifstream file(filename);
    if (!file) {
        std::cerr << "Error opening file: " << filename << std::endl;
        return records;
    }

    std::string line;
    while (std::getline(file, line)) {
        Record record;
        std::stringstream ss(line);
        std::string field;
        while (std::getline(ss, field, ',')) {
            if (field.empty()) continue;
            if (field.find_first_not_of("abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ0123456789")!= std::string::npos) {
                // Handle quoted fields (e.g., "John Doe")
                field = field.substr(1, field.size() - 2);
            }
            if (field == "name") {
                record.name = field;
            } else if (field == "email") {
                record.email = field;
                // Add more field handling as needed
            }
        }
        records.push_back(record);
    }
    file.close();
    return records;
}

// Function to perform the mail merge
void mailMerge(const std::string& templateFile, const std::string& outputDir, const std::vector<Record>& records) {
    std::ifstream templateFilestream(templateFile);
    if (!templateFilestream) {
        std::cerr << "Error opening template file: " << templateFile << std::endl;
        return;
    }

    std::string line;
    while (std::getline(templateFilestream, line)) {
        for (const auto& record : records) {
            std::stringstream ss(line);
            std::string word;
            while (std::getline(ss, word, ' ')) {
                if (word.find_first_of("{{")!= std::string::npos) {
                    // Replace placeholders with actual values
                    if (word == "{{name}}") {
                        word = record.name;
                    } else if (word == "{{email}}") {
                        word = record.email;
                        // Add more placeholder handling as needed
                    }
                }
                std::cout << word << " ";
            }
            std::cout << std::endl;
        }
    }
    templateFilestream.close();
}

int main() {
    // Set the input file and output directory
    const std::string datasetFile = "dataset.csv";
    const std::string templateFile = "template.txt";
    const std::string outputDir = "output";

    // Read the dataset from the CSV file
    std::vector<Record> records = readDataset(datasetFile);

    // Perform the mail merge
    mailMerge(templateFile, outputDir, records);

    return 0;
}

How it works:

The readDataset function reads the dataset from a CSV file and stores it in a vector of Record structures.
The mailMerge function takes the template file, output directory, and dataset as input. It reads the template file line by line and replaces placeholders (e.g., {{name}}) with actual values from the dataset.
The main function sets the input file and output directory, reads the dataset from the CSV file, and performs the mail merge using the mailMerge function.

Example usage:

Create a CSV file named dataset.csv with the following content:

name,email
John Doe,[email protected]
Jane Smith,[email protected]

Create a template file named template.txt with the following content:

Dear {{name}},
Thank you for your interest in our product. You can reach us at {{email}}.
Best regards,
[Your Name]

Compile and run the mail_merge.cpp code.
The output will be a set of merged documents in the output directory, each with the corresponding values from the dataset.

Note that this is a basic example, and you may need to modify the code to suit your specific requirements. Additionally, this example assumes that the placeholders in the template file are in the format {{field_name}}. You may need to adjust the placeholder handling code accordingly.

Mail Knowledge

C++ code for mail merge