If you're using Word 2002 or 2003 then the database is an Access/Jet
database with a .mdb extension. If you have Access /or Excel/, you can make
a copy of it, then open the copy and use Access's facilities to export the
data into a number of formats.
I would not work with the original, because Access then modifies the .mdb in
a way that makes it more difficult to use as a Word data source.
Alternatively, make a new mail merge main document in Word, specify that it
is a "Catalog" or "Directory" merge, then specify your existing data source
as the data source for the new merge. In the mail merge main document,
create a 1-row table with as many columns as you used in the data source
(you can only have up to around 63 columns in a Word table) and insert one
merge field in each cell.
Make sure there is nothing else in your document except that table. Merge to
a new document, and you have a Word table with all the data. Add a row of
column headings, then you can either provide that Word document as a data
source, or e.g. use "Table|Convert table to text" to remove the table, and
save the document in a number of other formats such as comma-delimited text
etc. (Be careful if your data has commas in it, though!)
Peter Jamieson
