[Teresa]

If I want to customise the fields in a data source (Word 2007) I can either
open the source as a Word table and make the changes there, or I can open the
main document that the data source is attached to, and use Edit Recipients.

However, if I have created the data source from scratch when using the Mail
merge Wizard, it's saved as an .mdb file. Is there any way to open an .mdb
file INDEPENDENTLY of a main document (because the same data source is used
with multiple main doocuments) and WITHOUT opening it in Access?

I tried clicking on Select Recipients on the Mailings tab (with no main
document open) then Edit Recipient List, but this only gives me the Data
Form. What I want is the Customise Columns button (which you get if the main
doc that the data source is attached to is open). The View Source button,
which I've used many times in older versions of Word to display the data
source in a table, does appear on the Data Form using the method described
above - but it's greyed out!)

Thanks
--
Teresa