Word 2003 Mail Merge Problem when E-Mailing Data Source

[Karen Townsend]

I can't believe Microsoft would make Word 2003 so non-user friendly when it
comes to their "improvements" to the Mail Merge process. We finally figured
out how to use and edit fields, but the major problem we are having is in
e-mailing the mail merge document and its data source. The document and the
data source work just fine if you have created it on your pc, but if you try
and e-mail it to another user, you get warnings and the data source will not
properly open. You have to search for the data source each and every time
you open the document. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Peter Jamieson]

What is the data source (a Word document? a .mdb file? something else?)

Are you e-mailing the mail merge main document and the data source in the
same e-mail? As attachments? If so, are the recipients extracting and saving
the mail merge main document and data source in the same way? Where are they
putting the files?

What warnings are the recipients seeing? If one of them is to do with
execution of a SQL command then they may need to apply the information in
the following article

"You receive the "Opening this will run the following SQL command" message
when you open a Word mail merge main document that is linked to a data
source"

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/825765

I don't like the additional complication either...

Peter Jamieson

 

[Karen Townsend]

The data source is a.mdb file for a Word document. When it is e-mailed, I
right click and save the document in my Word files and the data source in My
Data Sources. They are both being sent in the same e-mail as attachments.
Files are then saved on the recipients hard drive or on a corporate shared
drive. We have tried both ways and get the same results.

When the files come across in the e-mail attachment, the Word file is fine;
however, the .mdb file comes across as "warning.htm" as the file name. If
you try to open it, you get a message indicating "Blocked File Alert." We
thought that might be a network issue on our end, so I sent it to my home
e-mail address and get the same thing. I've tried saving it as an .mdb file
with the origina name and move to the next steps indicated below.

After the files are saved, I open the Word file and am told that "....file
name... is a mail merge document. Word cannot find its data source." I
choose the option to "find data source" and am directed to a "Data Link
Properties" box where I am asked to "Specify the following to connect to
Access data. Select or enter a database name." When I choose the database
name, I get another box "ODBC Microsoft Access Driver Login Failed;
Unrecognized database format."

 

[Peter Jamieson]

OK, I don't know what precisely is blocking the .mdb attachment in your
case, but if for example I send a .mdb using Outlook 2003 from here, Outlook
blocks the attachment - as far as I know you can get around that type of
block by renaming the .mdb before you send it, (the recipient would need to
rename it back at the other end before opening the Word document), or by
wrapping the .mdb (and perhaps the .doc) inside a .zip and sending that, in
which case the recipient would have to unzip the file. However, it may be
that your e-mail client, corporate firewall or some other piece of software
is blocking the attachment, and if so, it may be looking at the content,
determining that it's an Access/Jet file even if you rename it or Zip it,
and blocking that, in which case I think you would have to discuss the
situation with your network admin people.

I am pretty sure that the error you are seeing a tthe recipient end is
caused by the fact that you are simply not receiving the .mdb (i.e. the
warning.htm is just a .htm, not a renamed .mdb).

However, even if/when you manage to get the .mdb through to the other end,
your recipient may face another problem, which is that the .doc will
probably have recorded the absolute pathname of its data source. Since the
absolute pathname of a user's "My Data Sources" folder typically contains a
login username, the pathname on your system will probably differ from the
pathname on the recipient's system. So you may find that the user always has
to re-attach the data source. If you want to avoid that, you may find that
you need to do one of the following:
a. agree a standard location for the .mdb file(s) (e.g. c:\mymdbs or some
such) or
b. disconnect the .doc from the data source before sending it, and have an
AutoOpen macro in the .doc that connects the data source when the .doc is
opened. When you disconnect, you typically lose any sort/filter options but
all the fields etc. remain.

Trouble is, I suspect neither of those options is going to be feasible in
the sort of environment you're working in.

Peter Jamieson