Due to have trouble automating word through a windows service (vb.net), I am contemplating moving over to Open XML. The service loads a word document, loops through merge fields, replaces them with appropriate data, saves the files then prints it.
Is this achievable in Open XML, are there any resources / examples available?
Thanks for any help in advance
By using Open XML SDK you will be able to achieve everything except printing. You shoud know that Open XML SDK is a parsing tool and doesn't have layouting and printing functionality.
In my oppinion Open XML is still a much better solution for document generation and manipulation compared to Ofice COM (office automation) although much more effort is required to create anything useful that is not error prone. You will still need a printing software.
You can also check this toolkit which already implements all the required functionalities (except printing) and much more. It offers a template based document generation with easy template design and requires only couple of lines of code to generate a document.