word 2008 script questions

hi, just about as amateur as it can get when it comes to applescript.
i was able to create a script that i used to call from a filemaker 7
database that took information from a record in the database, opened
word (version X), and basically inserted the information. all was
well until i upgraded to leopard, necessitating and upgrade to
filemaker 9 and word 2008. my old script used VBA and now im trying
to redo it using applescript.

ive been searching online, trying to piece things together but have
run into a snag that i cannot figure out.
so far i have....

tell application "FileMaker Pro"
tell layout "Create Estimate"
set mycontactaddress to cellValue of field "contact_address" of
current record
end tell
end tell
tell application "Finder"
open file "letterhead" of desktop
end tell
tell application "Microsoft Word"
activate
set myDoc to active document
set myAddressTable to make new table at myDoc with properties
{number of rows:1, number of columns:2}
set enable borders of border options of myAddressTable to false
set content of text object of (get cell from table myAddressTable
of myDoc row 1 column 1) to "Cell 1, 1"
end tell

There are two problems.
1. if i run the script with Word initially closed, i get the error
"Microsoft Word got an error: Can’t get active document." on the 'set
myDoc to active document' step.
if Word is active but there are no documents open, i get and error
"Microsoft Word got an error: Can’t make class table." on the 'set
myAddressTable to make new table...' step.
if Word is active and "letterhead" is open, then it doesn't produce an
error on either of those steps.
is the script getting ahead of itself (thats what it seems like). can
i get it to pause between steps?

2. i get the error "Microsoft Word got an error: myAddressTable of
active document doesn’t understand the get cell from table message."
on the 'set content of text object...' step.
ive tried deleting that line and replacing it with "set myAddressCell
to cell 1 of row 1 of myAddressTable of myDoc" only to get the error
"Microsoft Word got an error: The object you are trying to access does
not exist" with 'cell 1' being the highlighted object that the error
refers to.

all i am trying to do at this point is insert text into the first cell
in the table i created.
any help is appreciated. thanks.

On Jul 3, 10:21 am, Jolly Roger <jollyro....DeleteThis@pobox.com> wrote:
> In article
> <c5d1a6b4-d5f8-4951-a3b2-a8af83429....DeleteThis@r66g2000hsg.googlegroups.com>,
>
>  "G.Miller" <geoff.w.mil....DeleteThis@gmail.com> wrote:
> > tell application "Finder"
> >    open file "letterhead" of desktop
> > end tell
> > tell application "Microsoft Word"
> >    activate
> >    set myDoc to active document
>
> Rather than doing this, I would suggest telling Microsoft Word to open
> the document directly.
>
> --
> Please send all responses to the relevant news group rather than directly
> to me, as E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry
> SPAM filter. Due to Google's refusal to prevent spammers from posting
> messages through their servers, I often ignore posts from Google Groups.
> You'll need to use a real news reader if you want me to see your posts.
>
> JR

the file 'letterhead' of desktop is an alias to a locked word doc that
exists elsewhere. because this script will be used by different
users, i dont know how to reference it. even if i move the original
file to the desktop on each computer, the username is different and so
the name of the path is different.

tell application "Microsoft Word"
open alias ":Users:user1:desktop:testhead.doc"
will not work for 'user2' or 'user3'