Word cannot find data source

[Recorder]

My data source is in the same directory as the main document. A shortcut to
it is in My Data Sources. (It has NOT been deleted, renamed, or moved.) Still
Word 2002 can NEVER find it. I have to reconnect it every time and then
re-filter my Mail Merge Recipients. Once everything is reloaded, I re-save
the main document and then close it. Even if I immediately re-open it, Word
will be unable to find the data source although it says it is looking in the
folder where it resides. This is extremely frustrating. Can this be fixed?

 

[Peter Jamieson]

What data source are you using (Office Address List, Word document,...) ?

There is/was definitely a problem with filtered Access data sources in Word
2002 that may not have been fixed in any service packs.

Also, Word will always use an absolute path name to connect to the data
source so the fact that it is in the same folder as your Mail Merge Main
Document is (unfortunately) irrelevant. The fact that there is a link in the
My Data Sources folder doesn't change that either - it simply makes it
easier to navigate back to the data source each time you are forced to use
Select Data Source. So, is the full path name especially long? If you move
the data source to a path with a short name (e.g. c:\mydata, or even My Data
Sources folder), does that make any difference?

Peter Jamieson