data source with 508 fields

[Christoph Arnold]

I'm trying to use a textfile (with 508 fields) as a datasource for
mailmerge.

In Word 2000 this file works, but the same file used in Word 2003/2007
doesn't work (the dot, that uses this file as a datasource is loaded and
shown in word, then word hangs / cursor stands still / no reaction on
keyboard/mouse )

The same happens, when I open just the textfile with word! No problem with
Word 2000, Wordpad, Notepad... but hangs when opened with Word 2003/2007.

Thanks for any help!

Christoph Arnold

 

[Peter Jamieson]

I would try the following:
a. check Word Tools|Options|General|"Confirm conversion at open" and try
opening the file again. Please note what format Word thinks it is trying to
open
b. if you have a virus checker enabled and are in a position to disable it
temporarily, try doing that then opening the file.

If necessary report the problem to Microsoft through their support incident
mechanism (on their website) if you cannot get it to work (other people here
may offer suggestions, but we are just volunteers).

Peter Jamieson

 

[Christoph Arnold]

Thanks for your quick response!

- I tried with confirm conversion -> word opens it as a normal textfile.
- Disabling the virus checker didn't change the behaviour.
- When we reported it to MS (two weeks ago), we were told that we can't have
more than 256 fields as a datasource for mailmerge, but this week we saw (on
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/294688/de) that it should be possible to use
more fields (we reported this - and the fact that opening just the file
fails - again, but still waiting for a response...)

Christoph Arnold

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

Most MS datasources (Excel, Access) have this limit. It should not exist
with a .csv (text) file.

--
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

 

[Christoph Arnold]

The file looks like this (with 3 of the 508 fields):

"KUN_Betriebsnummer";"KUN_Branche";"KUN_Bundesland"
"";"";"Niedersachsen"

so nothing special. It's strange that even opening just the file (without
being a mailmerge datasource) doesn't work correctly with word 2003/2007.

Christoph Arnold

 

[Peter Jamieson]

Rading your message again, I think the problem is that the data source is
attached to your .dot file.

The problem is that in Word 2002/2003, Word seems to try to open the file
twice - once when it opens the .dot with the data source connected, and once
when it opens the .doc that is created from the .dot. However, when it tries
to open the file attached to the .doc, it is already open exclusively and
Word cannot open it again. This was not the behaviour in Word 2000.

You should be able to test that by disconnecting the data source from the
..dot and only connecting it in the .doc. Unfortunately what that usually
means is that you have to write an AutoNew macro (or something like that) to
open the data source whenever a new .doc is created from the .dot.

The thing about the 255 field limit is that it does depend on the data
source, but it also depends on the way that Word tries to connect to the
data source. In the case of text (csv) type files, Word has three
mechanisms:
a. its internal text converter
b. ODBC
c. OLEDB (the default in Word 2002/2003)

As far as I know, (b) and (c) will limit you to at most 255 fields. (a)
allows more columns, but since there is no specification of the maximum we
are basically at the mercy of what Microsoft decides to do in future.
Further, when you open a text file as a data source, you may have to force
Word to use (a) (again, checking Tools|Options|General|"Confirm conversion
at open" is the only way to do this in the User Interface.

One thing that has certainly changed over the years is the text converter
tries to check the character encoding of the file. If it is "not sure", it
may pop up an additional dialog box. As far as I know, Word uses a set of
heuristics to do this (because nothing in the file explicitly defines the
character set being used, and I have certainly heard reports that large
numbers of fields or large field contents can trigger display of this dialog
box. All you can really do is see what happens on your system(s) and deal
with the problem if it occurs.

Peter Jamieson

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

I thought from your earlier post that if you checked the "Confirm
conversions at open" box, that you could open the file.

--
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

 

[Christoph Arnold]

ah ok, I didn't write that clear, the behaviour of this textfile in word
2003 is always: the file is opened in word, but after a second or so the
cursor in word stands still and word doesn't response any more...

Christoph Arnold

 

[Christoph Arnold]

Thanks for the info. Word 2003/2007 seems to do/search something when
opening files that look like datasources (after the text converter). When
opening just the file (with or without the confirm conversion dialog), the
file is always displayed but then after a second word hangs/cursor stands
still/no response.

Christoph Arnold

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

Can you open the file in Notepad? If not, it may be corrupt in some way.

--
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

 

[Peter Jamieson]

Word certainly spends more time opening data sources than it used to. For
one thing, it tries to load up to 10000 records and tries to match them
against any list of records that the user marked as selected or unselected
in the Mail Merge Recipients dialog.

Lately, I have also noticed that Word can sometimes behave strangely if it
has previously failed to open a document (including text files) and has put
it in its list of Disabled Items - it is probably worth looking in Word
Help|"About Microsoft Office Word"|"Disabled items..." and re-enabling your
file if it is listed.

Other than that, I do not know what could be the cause. All I can say is
that others have also reported problems dealing with mail merge data sources
with large numbers of fields. The only other check I would probably attempt
is to redue the number of records (just use 2 or 3) and see what happens
then. As for Word 2007, I do not have the release version, but there is no
reason to expect that it will have any improvements in this area, and one
reason so far to suspect that it might be worse.

Peter Jamieson

 

[Christoph Arnold]

Can be opened without problems in: Notepad, Wordpad, Word 2000!
The described problems are only when opening the file in Word 2003 and 2007.
(I've tested only with these 5 Programs. The problem can always be
reproduced with this textfile, it's not only sometimes, it's always when
opening with Word 2003/2007)

Christoph Arnold

 

[Peter Jamieson]

One other thought: if you try to save the file from Notepad, what encoding
does Notepad think it has - (ANSI? Unicode? etc.)

Peter Jamieson

 

[Christoph Arnold]

ANSI

One other thought: if you try to save the file from Notepad, what encoding
does Notepad think it has - (ANSI? Unicode? etc.)

Peter Jamieson

 

[Peter Jamieson]

If you save it from Notepad in UTF-8 format, does that make any difference
to what happens when you just try to open the file in Word?

Peter Jamieson

 

[Christoph Arnold]

I've saved the file now to UTF-8 and Unicode, but same problems when opening
with word.

 

[Peter Jamieson]

The only remaining suggestion I can make is that if your data file is not
confidential and you are willing to e-mail it, I can have a look here (you
have to take "KillmapS" out of my e-mail address. I'm using English language
Windows XP Pro and Word 2003, but can also start various other Windows/Word
combinations.

Peter Jamieson