Query Criteria is lost in Recipients list in Mail Merge Word 2003

[oli merge]

Hi,

I have got fed up with the ridiculous and endless connection problems when
mail merging from Excel to Word 2003 so have started replacing all my mail
merges sources with Access tables.

This seemed to be working fine until the last two sets of documents I have
been setting up have started losing my query settings each time i input them
to the recipients list.

Its driving me mad - about 15 other documents worked fine when I input my
criteria using the little arrows next to field names on the recipients list.
However, now this happens:

The recipient list intially is reduced to the correct amount based on the
criteria i entered. I then close it and click on goto last record on the
record selector. Now I get far too many records for the criteria i input. I
do back to the recipients list - advanced to check the criteria and each and
every time it had added an OR statement which makes my initial criteria
pointless.

i.e. my criteria are:
1) letter number = "1"
AND 2) Country isblank
AND 3) Title = "Magazine1"

and i come back and it has
1) letter number = "1"
AND 2) Country isblank
OR 3) Country isblank
AND 3) Title = "Magazine1"
..

WHY o why is it doing this to me?

 

[oli merge]

Ok, I have identified that the problem lies with the "isblank" criteria in
the query options.

If i just input
AND Country = ""
then it works.

Anyone care to explain why the isblank insists on adding an OR statement? I
couldnt find any mention of this being a recognised problem on google.

Is it a genuine error or am i missing something?

If it is an error in Word, is there a microsoft acknowledged problem page
for it? If not, there should be since I have wasted ages experimenting and
searching the internet trying to fix this.

 

[oli merge]

It has stopped working again now.

It now replaces the country = nothing with the same two country is blank OR
country isblank.

Please help, why are there incorrect OR statements being placed into my
document?

 

[oli merge]

Its still happening, does noone have an ideas?

I come back to some merges and the criteria has repeated itself endlessly -
It has about 5 repetitions of Country = "" that it added itself.

Im sorry but its astonishing how BAD MS products are, im getting so
frustrated with this company that cant make ANYTHING work as it should.

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

You should do the data manipulation in Access. Create a query there that
returns the required records and then use that as the data source.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

 

[oli merge]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I may try that, the only problem being i have to run lots of different sets
of data (they are subscriber lists of magazines) through the process and so
was trying to use one general access macro to do my data processing into one
final mail merge table.

If i specifically made individidual queries for each mail merge document i
use i would have to write about 200 queries. is there a limit to how many
queries i can have in access 2003?

I have found workarounds involving not using the isblank and not using is
not criteria. it seems to be these that are buggy.

I may just have to 'bite the bullet and make all these individual queries if
i encounter any more bugs.

On a related note, does anyone know what Office 2007 is like for mail
merges? is it reliable or have they done their usual trick and completely
changed how it works with insufficient tesing thus making a whole new load of
bugs to have the joy of encountering?

Thanks,

 

[oli merge]

Actually, after thinking about it, Doug's answer does solve the problem as I
effectively have to make the same amount of queries for each mail merge
template anyway using the aforementioned dodgy Word recipients query options.

I think having access queries may actually be the way to go after all, I
will probably substiture the mail merge queries for access queries as I
encounter problems.

Since it doesnt look like anyone can give a reason for the original problem
of the criteria changing itself I will mark this question as answered (due to
Doug's work around). However, if anyone does know how or why this is
happening it would be good to make a MS knowledgebase article about it.
Thanks.

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

If you are using a database and you have to manipulate data, then doing it
in the database is using the right tool for the job. While you can drive a
screw with a hammer, a screw driver does a better job.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP