mail merge error message: "exceeds maximum width"

[clairemth04]

I'm trying to add a field to a data source for a mail merge in Word 2003 and
keep getting this error message that says "exceeds maximum width." What's
going on here?

 

[Doug Robbins]

What are you using as the data source - With 2003, a data source in a Word
document is limited to about 64 fields, a data source in Excel or Access can
have about 255 fields.

Are you sure that the message is not that the maximum number of fields has
been exceeded rather than "exceeds maximum width"

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Hope this helps,
Doug Robbins - Word MVP

 

[clairemth04]

Using Word 2003 as the data source, I had gotten to about 40 fields on my
first try and somewhere in the teens on my second try before getting an error
message that said "exceeds maximum width." Any ideas? Thanks for your
responses.

 

[Doug Robbins]

Just testing now, this happens because the total width of all of the columns
becomes to great. If you reduce the width of the columns, you are able to
add more, but the easiest thing is probably to use Excel as the datasource.

--
Please respond to the Newsgroup for the benefit of others who may be
interested. Questions sent directly to me will only be answered on a paid
consulting basis.

Hope this helps,
Doug Robbins - Word MVP