mail merg file list

[auroracrum]

I am attempting to perform a mail merge on a dbf type file. The vendor that
created the file uses different file extensions because they use the same
file name for different purposes (i.e. original file is file.dbf a sorted
file is file.srt).
I attach the file with the srt extension to the mail merge document and when
asked choose that the file is dbf type. The document states that it is
attached to the srt file but when I print the file is actually attached to
the file with the dbf extension on it.

Any ideas out there as to why that happens and how I may get attached to the
file with the srt extension on it.

Thanks

 

[Peter Jamieson]

As far as I can tell, there is no way to get the dBase ODBC or Jet (Access)
drivers to read a file with a .srt extension.

The simplest approach is probably to rename the file back to a dbf.
Unfortunately, you can't simply add ".dbf" to the end of the name.

Another possible approach would be to use the Visual FoxPro ODBC driver
rather than the dBASE driver. This seems to work with Word 2003 with a dBASE
III format file but I cannot be sure that it works with other versions of
either WOrd or the .dbf format. You will need to set up an ODBC DSN using
the ODBC administrator. When you try to create a new Visual FoxPro DSN you
may see a message saying that you have to download the latest version of the
driver - if so, it is currently at

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vfoxpro/downloads/updates/odbc/default.aspx

I haven't been able to get the Visual FoxPro OLEDB provider to work with
files named .srt

Peter Jamieson

 

[hilllo]

We do large mailings and it is a lot faster to merge a .dbf file into a word
template than to do Excel. It would also save time if we ONLY had to export
the .dbf file and not have to export into excel as well. What setting do I
need to change to allow a .dbf to merge into a word template?

Lori

 

[Peter Jamieson]

Typically, Word 2003 will open a Dbase III, IV or 5 table as a data source.
It uses the Access (Jet) OLEDB provider to do it, but what I cannot tell you
off the top of my head is whether the necessary software to do that is
installed if you just install Word. If you install any version of Office
2003 that includes Access, you should be OK. The necessary components should
also be available from the MS website (the MDAC used to contain everything
you needed, but the Jet components were separated out several years ago).

Usually, the thing to do is try it and see.

If you are using Word 2002, I think the story is the same. With Word 2000 or
earlier, you may have to go via ODBC and that may require you to set up a
dBase ODBC DSN.

Peter Jamieson (sorry, won't be around for follow-up on this next week).