I don't get this particular problem no matter how I connect to the Excel
sheet. But there is certainly the potential for a clash, in that Word
generates an SQL statement to get the data, and single quote is used in SQL
(at least the way Word does it) to quote text values, e.g.

SELECT * FROM mydata WHERE surname = 'Smith'

However, for this to cause problems you would really have to be specifiying
"O'Donnell" - or whatever - as a filter criterion, in whch case Word would
probably not generate valid SQL:

SELECT * FROM mydata WHERE surname = 'O'Donnell'

It seems unlikely but maybe you are doing something like that?

Peter Jamieson


"G.G. Biggar, Jr." wrote in message
...
Sir Douglas --

Been on the road for the last week, so I did not see your post until this
evening.

Yes, the appropriate box was checked.

Could the problem have something to do with different interpretations of
an
apostrophe by Word (the merge document) and Excel (the data file source)?

Gordon


"Doug Robbins" wrote in message
...
Gordon,

Have you checked the box against the "Confirm conversions at open" item
under ToolsOptionsGeneral?

--
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
"G.G. Biggar, Jr." wrote in message
...
Sir Douglas --

I'm not sure that I know what you mean when you say "attach the data
source...select(ing) the DDE method..."

If I use a blank space in the name field of the Excel file (in place of
an
apostrophe), there is no problem in creating a match-up during the
merge.
I
think that the software doesn't like my single-quote in that it is
looking
for another closing quote, so to speak.

Gordon



"Doug Robbins" wrote in message
...
Hi Gordon,

In Word, select Options for the Tools menu and then on the General
Tab,
check the "Confirm conversions at open" item and then when you attach
the
data source to the mailmerge main document, select the DDE method of
connection and see if that overcomes the problem.

--
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
"G.G. Biggar, Jr." wrote in message
...
I have an Excel data file that I use as a master list for merges.
Recently,
I added a last name with an apostrophe (e.g., O'Donnell). Word
comes
back
during a merge with the message, "Word could not parse your query
options
into a valid SQL string."

I can get around this by omitting the apostrophe in the master list,
but
it
does not seem very professional. Is there an alternative?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Gordon Biggar
Houston, Texas