AbiWord - problems with mailmerge printing...

[tenfoot]

I have put the request to the abiword mailing list but regrettably there has only been one response, which led to different errors. Since then there has been no further emails So, here is the original problem:

I am having difficulty with MailMerge. The Customer file was created in
Gnumeric and then saved as CSV. The path to the CSV file is:

/home/zed/Clients/GHI/HKI/FormLetters/Christmas/Customers-HKI.csv

The form letter was created in AbiWord 2.6.6 and the merge fields were
inserted at the appropriate places. The path to the form letter is:

home/zed/Clients/GHI/HKI/Form Letters/Christmas/Christmas-2009.abw

I downloaded and printed the appropriate pages of the Help file and, in
accordance with the recommendations, entered the following into a terminal:

zed@zed-desktop ~ $ AbiWord-2.0 -m /home/zed/Clients/GHI/HKI/FormLetters/
Christmas/Customers-HKI.csv -p /home/zed/Clients/GHI/HKI/FormLetters/
Christmas/Customers-HKI.ps /home/zed/Clients/GHI/HKI/FormLetters/Christmas/
Christmas-2009.abw
bash: AbiWord-2.0: command not found
zed@zed-desktop ~ $

As you will see, it falls over at the first hurdle, inasmuch as it cannot
find AbiWord-2.0. I have tried entering AbiWord-2.6.6, AbiWord, abiword,
abiword-2.0, and abiword-2.6.6. All returned the same error.

Obviously I am doing something monunentally stupid and seek the assistance
of the list in telling me what it is and, more importantly, how I can
rectify my mistake.

That problem resolved itself - I have no idea how but when I now type:

abiword -m /home/zed/Clients/GHI/HKI/FormLetters/Christmas/Customers-HKI.csv -p /home/zed/Clients/GHI/HKI/FormLetters/Christmas/Customers-2009.p /home/zed/Clients/GHI/HKI/FormLetters/Christmas/Christmas-2009.abw
ands hit Enter, the following error is returned:

** (abiword:12768): WARNING **: Could not GPAReference Printer to /home/zed/Clients/GHI/HKI/FormLetters/Christmas/Customers-2009.p

(abiword:12768): GnomePrint-WARNING **: Could not create filter from description 'frgba': filter 'frgba' is unknown
/usr/bin/lpr: The printer or class was not found.
zed@zed-desktop ~ $

I have searched Google for the phrase "filter 'frgba' is unknown" without finding any helpful information. The printer is there, because I can print documents directly from AbiWord. It just fails when I'm trying to do the mailmerge.

The matter is reasonably urgent, as I have to send out over 300 individual letters by the end of the month - I don't really want to have to add the personalised information on separate letters and then go through the print - delete personal information - print - delete personal ...

Is there someone far more knowledgeable that I who can solve this problem for me, please.

[DrHu]

zed@zed-desktop ~ $ AbiWord-2.0 -m
bash: AbiWord-2.0: command not found
That problem resolved itself - I have no idea how but when I now type:
abiword -m

The first error was due to the filename used to start abiword

Know nothing about abiword, but I would take the first error mesage before going further into the list
http://abiword.com/mailinglists/abiword ... /0009.html
http://marc.info/?l=abiword-user&m=121550844020332&w=2

Bugs initiated..
http://osdir.com/ml/debian-bugs-dist/20 ... 08459.html
https://launchpad.net/+search?field.tex ... is+unknown
--they don't have any for abiword yet, but there seem to be various printing issues; although not listed for the later release of Ubuntu 9.04 (jaunty), basis of Linux Mint 7 (gloria)

Status of your printer, what is it
--does it print normally OK with Abiword or Gedit or OpenOffice or any other application

First, lets check your lpr msg
In terminal

• ls -l /usr/bin/lpr
  -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 13740 2009-06-18 05:53 /usr/bin/lpr

Next is CUPS working correctly

• http://localhost.com:631/

[tenfoot]

Thank you for your rapid response.

I did say that I'd tried alternatives and that as a result the error message changed. The inclusion of all the steps I'd taken was and attempt to show the steps taken from go to whoa.

As you will see from my request for help, I did say "The printer is there, because I can print documents directly from AbiWord. It just fails when I'm trying to do the mailmerge." In addition, I can print from Open Office Word, Gnumeric, Scribus, GEdit, etc., without any difficulty.

The result of

zed@zed-desktop ~ $ ls -l /usr/bin/lpr
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 13740 2009-04-17 21:20 /usr/bin/lpr
zed@zed-desktop ~ $

which is as you have it.

For some reason I cannot access http://localhost.com:631/ but as I have no difficulty printing, must assume that CUPS is working correctly.

I did forget to mention, for which I apologise, that I am using Linux Mint Gloria Main.

[DrHu]

You can also use the IP for localhost
http://127.0.0.1:631/

Also available under mint menu>control center>Hardware>Printing

Abiword
http://www.abisource.com/help/en-US/how ... merge.html
http://ubuntuliving.blogspot.com/2008/0 ... iword.html

• abiword -m mergeme.csv -p mergeme.ps mergeme.abw
  where mergeme.csv is the source data, mergeme.ps is the output file, and mergeme.abw is the document with the merge fields.
  This will produce a postscript file, mergeme.ps, which can be viewed prior to printing.

--in case you might be thinking that's no answer, I can only say that reading with a fresh mind, even going over your steps, does tends to clarify issues..

To save all the jumping around directories, you could try copying the csv and the abiword file into a common directory, and trying your merge/print sequence at that point
--it will cut down on the long pathnames to locate the files..
/tmp is a reasonable place for that process

See if the same error is reproduced, if not then it is either the redirection within the whole merge/print sequence or specific pathnames/files that are invalid for some reason

[tenfoot]

Hi Dr Hu

I did reduce the path size as you suggested but it made no difference. It appears this is definitely a bug in v2.6.x of AbiWord and, in the end, I abandoned that application and went with OpenOffice.