WD2003 Data source not saved in document?

[Matt Danger]

I have several documents that worked this way in Word 97,
2000 and 2002: I could "Attach a data source" to a
document and then the list of mail merge variables would
always be available when I edited that document later.
Now in Word 2003 I have to re-attach the data source every
time i edit the document? Is this a bug??

Thanks!!
Matt

 

[John Grierson]

Hi Matt,

I don't have that problem. But the icon on the Mail Merge
tool bar (to the left of Insert Word field) is not very
obvious.

John

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi Matt,

I have several documents that worked this way in Word 97,
2000 and 2002: I could "Attach a data source" to a
document and then the list of mail merge variables would
always be available when I edited that document later.
Now in Word 2003 I have to re-attach the data source every
time i edit the document? Is this a bug??

Hard to tell without more information. Definitely not what
*ought* to be going on, though!

What's your data source / where did you enter the data? And
is it (or the main merge doc) in a network location?

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Sep
30 2003)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow
question or reply in the newsgroup and not by e-mail

 

[matt danger]

My datasource is a .dbf file that is saved in a static,
local location. c:\program files\software\temp\patvar.dbf
This file is created by our software when the software
first runs and is populated with new data each time a
merge is requested. This functionality has worked with
the three previous versions of word without problem.

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi Matt,

OK, here are common causes of the problem I'm familiar with.
Does either of them ring a bell?

- Windows is set to not display file extensions

- You've set filters using the "Recipients" dialog box

Something else you should try is
- rename Normal.dot to NormalOLD.dot
- start up Word
- connect to the data source with the new document that
appears at startup. Insert some text and a couple of merge
fields. Save, close, re-open. does the problem occur?

My datasource is a .dbf file that is saved in a static,
local location. c:\program files\software\temp\patvar.dbf
This file is created by our software when the software
first runs and is populated with new data each time a
merge is requested. This functionality has worked with
the three previous versions of word without problem.

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Sep
30 2003)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any
follow question or reply in the newsgroup and not by e-mail