Yes, Excel is usually better than Word at connecting to data sources.

Try this:
a. make sure you have an ODBC DSN for the ISERIES (Windows Start|Control
Panel|Administrative Tools|Data Sources (ODBC), or Windows Start|Control
Panel|Performance and Maintenance|Administrative Tools|Data Sources (ODBC)).
b.In the Select Data Source dialog box, use the menu at the top right to
start MS Query. Select your DSN and take it from there. You may still get
problems with login and password, but I think you will get to the point
where you can see some data.

If you have Access, you could try another approach:
a. create a new Access database
b. create a table that is linked to the ISERIES datasource
c. use that table as the data source for the merge.

Peter Jamieson
"Renzo_F" wrote in message
...
With Excel the ODBC drivers of Iseries access (old client access/400 or
new
iseries access) works well and return me data correctly. In Word the
connection ask me for a password and i can choose the library/file. Then
appears a windows with all types of converters and odbc, but the iseries
access odbc doesn't appear and i must choose "Database file OLE DB", i
know
the other types (mdb, xls, qy etc..). At this time appears "unable to open
data source" (unable - impossible in english version ??). Finish...

"Peter Jamieson" wrote:

My guess is that this is a security (login/password) issue. When you
connect
from Word to the ISERIES, do you use MS Query? Do you have to enter a
login/password? If so, the problem is probably that MS Word "forgets" the
username and paassword later. If so, suggestions:
a. can you specify the username and password in the ODBC DSN for the
Iseries? If you cannot do it in a "user" or "system" DSN, try creating a
file DSN and adding the necessary parameters manually. Then try using
that
..dsn when you start MS Query
b. use Word VBA and an OpenDataSource call to specify the necessary ODBC
connection information. This is not straightforward so you may need
further
help. Unfortunately, I do not have an ISERIES here so cannot tell you
exactly what should be in the connection string.

Also, in both cases, you will be storing login/password information in a
rather insecure way, so be careful!

Peter Jamieson

"Renzo_F" wrote in message
...
when i try to merge directly from Iseries as400 file in a word document
I
receive the message: Record 1 contains too few data...etc. I use a
ISERIES
ACCESS ODBC DRIVER (ver.10.00.03.00) OS400 ver. 5.3.0 Iseries Access
ver.5.3.0 on windows XP pro and Office 2002 SP3 (all fixes of windows
and
office are installed). The same links works correctly between Iseries
as400
and excel of the same office. Please help me...
Bye.
Renzo.