mailmerge filename limits

[christophe]

Hi,

Could it be that there are limitations about the table/filename
which contains the mergefields ?
for example 8 characters long without the fileextention

regards
christophe

 

[Graham Mayor]

Fieldnames should ideally be ten characters or less with no spaces.
Filename length depends on the operating system.
What *exactly* are you have problems with?

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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[christophe]

When opening the doc
It's says it can't find the table
then I click the button to point again
to that table. After choosing the proper table,
again it says it can't find ?!?
When I make the tablename smaller then it accept it.
Ok, this is not a big deal, I solved it (not so easy to think/find that
one...)
but I was also looking for documentation about this limitations

regards
christophe

 

[Peter Jamieson]

Just a guess, but...

Assuming you are accessing a FoxPro data source (as you suggest in another
thread) this limitation is probably imposed by the method Word uses to
connect to the data. Word always used to connect to .dbf files using Jet
(Access) . Jet uses "installable ISAMs (IISAMs) to connect to "foreign" data
sources such as dBASE. The Jet IISAM is designed to connect to various
versions of dBASE, up to version 5 (V) I think. My guess is that all those
versions of dBASE are so old that they only allow the old DOS 8.3 filename
format and that that is the source of this limitation.

I assume that as FoxPro developed, this limitation was relaxed, but that the
IISAM has not been updated to allow for the changes.

For recent FoxPro files (whether .dbf or .dbc) you have to use the
appropriate ODBC or OLEDB driver for FoxPro (these can be downloaded from
the Microsoft web site).

Peter Jamieson

 

[christophe]

Thanks Peter,

Does this mean that all users must download
this OLEDB driver ?
Or can it be included in a word document ?

regards
christophe

 

[Peter Jamieson]

Does this mean that all users must download

this OLEDB driver ?

Yes, if I am correct.

Peter Jamieson