problem using odc file

[Winston]

A2K2 WinXPPro. Created Mail merge linking to table in .mde file. Works fine. Edited odc file with notepad to change from .mde to .mdb. Same table, same format in both db's. Doesn't seem to recognize change in odc file. Searched for all odc files on my computer. Double checked all edited properly (so I made sure that I must be pointing to the correct odc and mdb as opposed to mde) Still continues to link to table in mde (as opposed to mdb which is what shows in the odc file). All I can conclude is that the file name XYZ.mde is encoded somehow internally in the odc as opposed just using the file name. Is this clear or should I expand my explanation of the problem? Any ideas?
thanks,
Winston

 

[Peter Jamieson]

All I can conclude is that the file name XYZ.mde is encoded somehow
internally in the odc

as opposed just using the file name.

Unfortunately it isn't even that - it's stored inside the Word document in
the Connectstring, which you cannot change even in code without using the
OpenDataSource method. Although Word also stores the name of the .odc, it
doesn't revisit the .odc even when, for example, you reopen the Word
document. So the only way to get Word to recognise the updated connection
info. is to reconnect to the data source.

--
Peter Jamieson

A2K2 WinXPPro. Created Mail merge linking to table in .mde file. Works

fine. Edited odc file with notepad to change from .mde to .mdb. Same
table, same format in both db's. Doesn't seem to recognize change in odc
file. Searched for all odc files on my computer. Double checked all edited
properly (so I made sure that I must be pointing to the correct odc and mdb
as opposed to mde) Still continues to link to table in mde (as opposed to
mdb which is what shows in the odc file). All I can conclude is that the
file name XYZ.mde is encoded somehow internally in the odc as opposed just
using the file name. Is this clear or should I expand my explanation of the
problem? Any ideas?

 

[Winston]

Thanks Peter. Thats something like I thought. the xml in the odc is too simplistic to be the issue. Unfortunately reconnecting the data source means that I need a different document for my own purposes when testing with the mdb than I do when installed on the users desktop with the mde. I don't like using the backend db because it gets complicated when multiple users do a merge at the same time (not impossible, just a pain). The only other solution is to create a secondary mdb with just a few tables on the users desktop. Not a bad idea because it has other benefits... but a pain nevertheless.