Creating Tables in Mail Merge (Office) Templates

Published Date: December 1, 2025
Validated: Yes
Audience: Everyone
Products and Versions Covered:

Jama Connect® (all supported versions)
Cloud / CVC
Self-hosted

Summary

This article explains how to create tables in Microsoft Word mail merge templates for Jama Connect®, including how to display multiple items, generate item-specific tables, and include relationship data.

Table generation in mail merge templates depends on both the template configuration and the way data is structured in Jama Connect. Users often encounter issues when attempting to include multiple item types or relationships due to limitations, such as unsupported nested table tags.

By following recommended patterns—such as using TableStart/TableEnd or TemplateStart/TemplateEnd tags and organizing items appropriately—users can create scalable, well-formatted tables that accurately reflect their data.

Resolution

General Best Practices

Use table styles in Microsoft Word to control formatting instead of manual styling
Structure data in Jama Connect intentionally to support export behavior
Organize items into folders, sets, or components to enable predictable table generation
Use:
- Sets for single item-type documents (e.g., only User Needs)
- Components for documents containing multiple item types

However, if you need a document to contain one or more different sets of Jama items, use a component as the container for your document.

Implementation

Create Tables with Multiple Items (Single Item Type)

Use this approach when generating a table with multiple items of the same type.

Ensure items exist as children of a container (folder, set, or component)
In the Word template, define a table row using:
- TableStart:CHILDREN
- TableEnd:CHILDREN
Reference the item type (e.g., User Needs “UN”) within the tags
Include desired fields inside the table row

Key considerations:

All items must exist under the same parent container
Any valid field for that item type can be used inside the table
Table formatting is controlled by the applied Word table style

Limitation:

Nested table tags are not supported
You cannot include upstream or downstream relationships within this structure

Create Tables with Relationships

Use this approach when you need to include upstream or downstream relationships.

Use relationship tags:
- TableStart:UPSTREAMRELATIONSHIPS / TableEnd
- TableStart:RELATIONSHIPS / TableEnd
Avoid nesting table tags inside other table tags
Instead, define each item as its own table using:
- TemplateStart:<ItemType>
- TemplateEnd:<ItemType>
Place the table header before the TemplateStart tag
Allow individual item tables to render sequentially (“stitched together”)

Key considerations:

This approach enables relationship data in tables
The header will display even if no items are returned
Each item generates its own table, creating a continuous output

Create Complex Single-Item Tables

Use TemplateStart/TemplateEnd tags to build detailed, structured tables per item.

Define a table layout for a single item (e.g., test protocol)
Use TemplateStart:<ItemType> and TemplateEnd:<ItemType>
Populate the table with:
- Item fields
- Relationship data (if needed)
Repeat for each item during export

Use cases:

Verification test protocols
Detailed requirement breakdowns
Structured reporting formats

Design Considerations for Data Structure

To ensure successful table generation:

Place items under appropriate containers (folders, sets, or components)
Use consistent item types within containers when using CHILDREN tags
Separate item types when needed to avoid conflicts
Plan for relationships early if traceability is required in exports

Additional Resources

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