Mialmerge with Excel Data brings up DAtal Link box

[Roberta]

I am using Word 2003 on WinXP OS. Each time we select the Excel spreadsheet
so we can get the sheet we want, the Data Link Properties box opens asking us
to
1) specify the following to connect to ACCESS data.
2) Enter information to log on to the database.

I only want to get the names and addresses out of the Excel spreadhseet. I
do not need anything from Access.

What can I do to get this box to not come up?

 

[Peter Jamieson]

Does your spreadsheet have a password?

If so, the simplest workaround is to check Word
Tools|Options|General|"Confirm conversions at open", then go through the
connection process again and select the DDE option when it is offered.
You'll probably

For this to work, you have to have Excel on the same machine where you are
using Word.

If that isn't the problem, let us know.

Peter Jamieson

 

[Peter Jamieson]

Thinking about it, if the issue is password-related, it's probably easier to
remove the password. If you need user-level security, you may be able to use
Windows (NTFS) file permissions to achieve what you want.

Peter Jamieson

 

[Roberta]

There is no password. It is not password protected.

 

[Peter Jamieson]

In that case
a. several things could be wrong, e.g. see
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885832/en-us
b. the DDE approach I suggested is sstill one possible way to go, at least
temporarily
c. the reason why you see stuff about ACCESS is because the OLEDB provider
that Word 2003 uses by default to get data from an Excel source is the Jet
provider, i.e. the same thing that it uses to get data from Access. (the Jet
provider can get data from a number of things including Excel files, .mdbs,
text fiels and so on).

Other stuff you could try:
a. check whether it is just this Excel file that causes the problem, or all
Excel files
b. if it is just this one, the file could be corrupt. In simple cases you
can try saving tthe contents in another format (e.g. .csv format) then
re-importing it, saving as .xls and seeing whether Word can connect to that.

Peter Jamieson