Insert database problem

[UBoatCaptain]

Hi all,

I am trying to create word documents that pull financial data from an Oracle
database. I used 'insert database' from the database toolbar, refined the
query using MS Query, and then inserted the data as fields. The problem is
that something that I think worked before, doesn't work now. If I hit f9 to
update on a particular machine I get errors "there is not enough memory to
complete this operation" and "Word was unable to open the data source". I get
the same errors ifI try to insert a new query.

What I find most disconcerting about this is that it used to work on the
machine in question, and it still works on 2 other machines I've tried. All
the machines have Office 2003 installed. One machine that works and the one
that doesn't are running XP Pro. The other machine that works is running XP
Tablet Ed.

It would be nice to know why this is happening, but more important to me is
to know whether this method of data access from Word is generally flaky. If
it is, I would welcome any suggestions about a more robust way to pull
financial data into Word from Oracle. At the moment, I don't have confidence
in Word tables with database insertion. 2 out of 3 is not good enough.

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi =?Utf-8?B?VUJvYXRDYXB0YWlu?=,

In my experience (not with Oracle), the Database field works fine as long as you
use an ODBC connection. If Word 2002 or 2003 tries to connect using the new
default, OLE DB, and the connection string is too long, it gets cut off when
writing the Database field code (Alt+F9 will toggle the field codes on/off in a
document). It's quite possible that the machines that can't update the link are
using OLE DB, while the others are defaulting for some reason to ODBC (perhaps
the OLE DB provider wasn't installed on them).

Assuming all machines have the required Oracle ODBC driver installed, you should
be able to force the ODBC connection by going directly over MS Query (from the
menu you get when you click the "Tools" icon in the Open Datasource dialog box).

If you already have an ODBC connection (the database field code will tell you
that), then perhaps you have a different driver installed on the machines that
aren't working.

I am trying to create word documents that pull financial data from an Oracle
database. I used 'insert database' from the database toolbar, refined the
query using MS Query, and then inserted the data as fields. The problem is
that something that I think worked before, doesn't work now. If I hit f9 to
update on a particular machine I get errors "there is not enough memory to
complete this operation" and "Word was unable to open the data source". I get
the same errors ifI try to insert a new query.

What I find most disconcerting about this is that it used to work on the
machine in question, and it still works on 2 other machines I've tried. All
the machines have Office 2003 installed. One machine that works and the one
that doesn't are running XP Pro. The other machine that works is running XP
Tablet Ed.

It would be nice to know why this is happening, but more important to me is
to know whether this method of data access from Word is generally flaky. If
it is, I would welcome any suggestions about a more robust way to pull
financial data into Word from Oracle. At the moment, I don't have confidence
in Word tables with database insertion. 2 out of 3 is not good enough.

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

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