Mail Merge

[Sarah]

I have created a mailmerge using data from a query in access 2000. In the
past I have just be able to open the word document and press the merge
command and the letters are created with the data from the access query. For
some reason now when I try to open the word document I get an error message
saying "Can't find Data Source" and when I try to navigate to the query the
document won't open, I keep getting the same message. I haven't changed any
setting on either word or access or moved any files. Can anybody help me
with this - Thanks

 

[Peter Jamieson]

I don't know what is happening here but maybe you can step through some
simple tests...

What happens if you start with a completely new blank document and use the
Mail Merge Helper to set up a new mail merge document and choose that query?

Can you find the .mdb file in the "Open Data Source" dialog box?

If so, when you open it, do you eventually see a dialog box listing the
tables and queries? Or what?

Peter Jamieson

 

[Sarah]

Hi

I've tried the suggestion regarding a new blank document, but when I save
the new document and then try to re-open it I get the same message about
"find data source".

I can find the .mdb when I navigate through the "open date source" box and I
can see the listing of table and queries but when I select the query I want
to use I just get taken back to word with the "find data source" dialog box
on the screen.

Any other suggestions

thanks

 

[Peter Jamieson]

OK, my suspicion is that you will need to "repair" your Office installation
to fix this, but before going that far,
a. can you conect to any of the tables in your .mdb, or do you see the same
result whatever you select?
b. are you able to create a completely new Access test database with (say)
a very simple table containing 2 columns and a few rows, then try connecting
to that?
c. can you try connecting using the other method available in Word 2000:
when you are in Open Data Source, check the "Select method" box. When you
try to open the .mdb, you should see a list of "connection methods"
including one with "DD" in it, and /possibly/ one with "ODBC" in it. Try the
ODBC one. However, the dialog box you see may well only list tables, or may
not list anything. You can click "Options...", check all for boxes in there,
and some tables and queries should appear - select one of them and take it
from there. (The DDE method should work, so this is just a way to see if
there is any way to connect tot he database at all.

Peter Jamieson

 

[Sarah]

Peter

Thanks for your help, option C worked and I have managed to produce the
letters via mail merge. Since you are the expert on this can you explain
what went wrong with the mail merge for me, was it an error with word? The
database is stored on a server that other people have access to. Could the
error be on our server's office installation or would it be on the
individuals pc.

Thanks again for your help, very much appreciated. - Sarah

 

[Peter Jamieson]

Well it's good news that you can connect somehow.

However, I cannot tell you where the error is occurring, only suggest some
tests that may help pin things down, which is what (a) and (b) were about.

When you connect via DDE, you are always starting a local copy of Access
wherever the database is located. From what you have said (you made no
changes on your system, you could see the list of tables/queries in your DB)
I assumed that DDE was enabled in Access, but you should probably verify
that Access Tools|Options|Advanced|"Ignore DDE Requests" is /not/ checked
and that the OLE/DDE timeout is not set to a low value (I think the default
is 30 sec.)

If you tried (b), or can try (b) with a /local/ DB (either something you
create yourself or perhaps even a copy of your network DB if you're allowed
to make one) and it works OK, then the problem is likely to be to do with
the network rather than your local configuration (it could be a timing or
security-related problem). That's also consistent with the "you have changed
nothing on your machine", although if you're getting automated updates,
other stuff may have changed.

If you can't even get a DDE connection to a simple local database then I
think it's more likely to be a problem on your machine (especially if other
people can connect to the same DB just fine), but that's about as much as I
would try to pin it down on the info. available.

Peter Jamieson