Can't select data source on a mapped network drive

[Microsoft Newsserver]

Hi,

I'm having trouble selecting a data source file that's located on mapped
network drive at Q:\

I've put the data source file there and select it in the Word 2003 mail
merge document. When I close the document and open it again I get the
standard SQL dialog box which I click Yes to but then it says "mailhouse
letter is a mail merge document. Word cannot find it's datasource
Q:\cd_mailmerge.mer

I click the Find Data Source button and select the data source file but I
get the same dialog box again with the same error - I can click the Find
Data Source button again but just go around in circles.

If I move the data source file to a folder on the C drive it works fine but
for some reason it won't work when stored on the network Q drive.

Anyone experience this before or know a workaround etc?

Many thanks,
Andrew

 

[Peter Jamieson]

This /could/ be a permissions issue, even though your message suggests you
have permission to create files on the Q: drive.

Typically, Q: would point to a share on a folder on another machine. Did you
put your .mer file in that folder from that other machine, or from the
machine where you are performing the merge? if the former, you may not have
enough permissions to use the file over the network. At least two
permissions are involved: permission to use the share itself, and permission
to use the folder it refers to. Here, for example, when I set up a share on
one machine it would typically be set to read, but no permissions are
granted to access the underlying folder, and I have to do that separately to
be able to use a file on the share as a data source.

I can't advise as to what permissions you need: in some cases, you may need
to have write and create permissions.

Anyway, that's where I'd start looking. It's also possible that there is an
issue with the .mer extension. What sort of file is it? Is it a delimited
text file?

Peter Jamieson

 

[Microsoft Newsserver]

Thanks for the reply Peter.

I put the file from the same machine that I'm doing the merge on (this is
via Citrix if that makes a difference). The file is in fact generated by an
export from a database each time you wish to merge a letter to a contact
form the database. It just does an export of that record to:

 

[Microsoft Newsserver]

Thanks for the reply Peter.

I put the file from the same machine that I'm doing the merge on (this is
via Citrix if that makes a difference). The file is in fact generated by an
export from a database each time you wish to merge a letter to a contact
form the database. It just does an export of that record to:

Q:\cd_mailmerge.mer

so it creates a new file each time you do a mail merge. I can't see any
permissions issues as I can create and delete that file. For some reason
Word just won't accept it the 2nd time you open the letter. I've found a
report of a similar incident at:

http://www.jsifaq.com/SF/Tips/Tip.aspx?id=7768

but here the drive is mapped, there's no UNC path.

The file is a comma delimited text file. I've changed the extension to .csv
and got the same problem. If I move the folder to the C drive on the Citrix
server it works fine but not on the Q drive for some reason.

Many thanks,
Andrew