Mail Merge in 2003

[eileen b]

I have a mail merge document that was created in Word 2002 that I now need to
use in Word 2003 with a different portion of the full database. When I open
the document and go through the steps to create the mail merge, everything
appears to be fine. I see only the recipients I expect to see. However, when
I click on preview your letters, I see everyone in the database (an Excel
sheet). Moving on through the steps also results in my getting everyone in
the database.

I thought 2003 was supposed to be backward compatible. How do I work around
this obvious problem without having to recreate my document from scratch?

 

[Peter Jamieson]

The only thing I can suggest is that you try to re-apply your filters - e.g.
by opening up the Edit Recipients dialog, selecting the little drop-down at
the top of one of the columns, and either applying filters directly or
select "Advanced..." to open up the Query Options dialog box. If your
criteria have disappeared, I suppose that is an explanation of sorts.

If you selected /individual records/ in the Edit Recipients box, you may
well need to do so again.

Peter Jamieson

 

[eileen b]

I've reset the criteria by clicking 'Select a different list' and setting the
filters and sort I want to use. At this point, I see the recipients I expect
to see. However, when I click through to 'Preview your letters', it reverts
to giving me everyone in the database. At this point, I've tried using 'Edit
recipient list', which lets me reset the filter and sort criteria again, but
when I click 'Complete the merge' I'm getting everyone in the database again.
So, yes, it's not holding my criteria. Hmmm....

 

[Peter Jamieson]

Unfortunately I have not been able to replicate this here.

Can you tell us what your filter/sort criteria are?

It may be worth changing the way you connect to the Excel sheet - check Word
Tools|Options|"Confirm conversion at open", go through the connection
process again, and select either ODBC or DDE when offered. Then you will
need to reapply the filter/sort conditions.

Peter Jamieson