At least you have found /a/ way to do your merge.
if you still want to have a go at sorting this, I've probably gone
through most of the ideas I have already, but...
I tried all the things suggested below - never did get an option to
choose
which connection to use - it just hung. I didn't fully understand the
On this one, I'd just like to verify that you have checked Word
Tools-Options-General-Confirm conversions at open. If you did that,
then after you have selected the .mdb in the Open Data Source dialog
box, and pressed OK (or whatever the appropriate button is there), you
should see another dialog box with a list of possible connection methods.
{ DDE Winword System Sysitems }
All you need to do for this is
a. create a new document
b. insert a pair of field code braces, e.g. using ctrl-F9
c. type DDE Winword System Sysitems between them so you end up with
{ dDE Winword S
Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk
Laura wrote:
Sorry for the delay in replying - have had to do mailshot using CSV - or
saving as Word Text and then running a merge - it's fine except that each
time I make a change in the database I have to recreate the text file.
I tried all the things suggested below - never did get an option to choose
which connection to use - it just hung. I didn't fully understand the
{ DDE Winword System Sysitems }
although in my distant past I do remember using those fields, but I can't
remember how, what for or when.. sorry.
One thing I tried was to "repair" office using my installation disks - it
ran for ages and then I tried it again and for a moment I thought it was
going to work - at least I think I got my data source to open, then
everything hung again.. I lost time and patience at that point and have not
been able to go back to it.
Thanks for your help and suggestions, I'm very grateful.
Laura
"Peter Jamieson" wrote in message
...
Worth a try I suppose :-)
I don't think anyone here knows what the cause is either, so we can only
really suggest things to consider/check and/or possible workarounds.
For your immediate needs, it's either
a. get DDE to work or
b. get ODBC to work or
c. export the data to a format that you can connect to
Since it's sounds like your need is immediate, I'd suggest you consider
using Access to do (c), and connect Word to a different data source.
For (b), going back to Doug's suggestion of using "Confirm conversion at
open", did you see an ODBC option listed? If so, did you try that? If not,
I think in Office 2000 at least some of the ODBC stuff was still optional,
but you could you modify/repair in Office Setup and add the stuff.
Unfortunately, ODBC cannot do everything DDE can do so that may not be
enough either.
For (a),
1. I guess you have already tried starting with Access and your database
open before you try to connect, /and/ Access open but the database closed,
/and/ neither open.
2. It may be worth checking Task manager to see if any copies of WINWORD,
MSACCESS, or even OUTLOOK are running. It's just possible that other tasks
are blocking DDE.
3. It may be worth trying some other DDE-related tests using Word fields:
a. start Word, then a { DDE } field into a blank Word document as
follows:
{ DDE Winword System Sysitems }
(use ctrl-F9 to insert the special {} - everything else is text)
Select the field and use F9 to update it. The result should look something
like the following . If necessary, use Alt-F9 to see the result.
SYSITEMS TOPICS FORMATS
If that works, it says that DDE is working well enough for Word to be able
to communicate with itself. If not, DDE is definitely in trouble on your
system!
If it worked, you can try starting Access first, then use the same
approach except use:
{ DDE MSACCESS SYSTEM SYSITEMS }
If that doesn't work, then there is indeed something wrong with DDE that
needs fixing. Truble is, I do not know how, and although I can think of
further tests, I'm not sure they will lead to a resolution. But...
4. There is one possibly relevant KB article:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/892850
Unfortunately, if you are using Windows 2000, you have to contact MS
support to get a fix. If you're using Windows XP, I believe the fix is in
SP3.
That said, it is only my opinion but I doubt if that is the cause in this
case.
{ DDE Excel System Sysitems }
Something that is worth trying is to see if Word can connect to anthing
(e.g. itself) using DDE:
OK, if you feel like it there's one other thing you could try, which is to
try to connect to an application that is neither Word nor Excel, using
DDE.
if that works, then there's probably a problem specifically with Excel
configuration - how to fix it, I do not know, but since re-installing
Office
does not typically destroy all configuration informatin for the
application,
it might be a question of removing a registry entry and letting Excel
rebuild it: it's probably a question for the Excel experts.
There are various programs that should respond to DDE requests. I make all
the suggestions I can think of that involve common windows/office apps
below. When trying to connect to any of them (same with Excel) it's a good
idea to ensure that the program is started and you have dismissed any
startup dialog boxes. In some case the "program" has probably already been
started.
Then in Word, change the DDE field as follows:
Change
{ DDE WINWORD SYSTEM SYSITEMS }
to the following:
Some info. from Windows Explorer:
{ DDE FOLDERS APPPROPERTIES }
Info. from MS Access:
{ DDE MSACCESS SYSTEM SYSITEMS } Access using another method that uses
DDE:
Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk
Laura wrote:
Hi Peter,
No dialogue box opens behind the window - as soon as I hit "Get Data"
WinWord freezes "not responding".
I've read pages of posts on the internet, lots of people get this
message, but I haven't yet seen a solution to it. Some people have got it
with an already existing merge document - for some reason the merge
process fails and they have been advised to rename the Data file - then
when Word tries to merge, it seeks the Data file, can't find it, asks for
the name and location and then the new data file is selected and the
merge then goes ahead. Unfortunately I can't even get that far.
I did wonder - When I restored my computer in early Jan, my HP Recovery
disks installed a different version of Word - I'm not even sure which
exactly, but I uninstalled it as I wanted Office Professional - could I
have inadvertently deleted some files? I can't remember if I uninstalled
before or after I installed Office Professional.
Thanks for your help.
Laura
"Peter Jamieson" wrote in message
...
If any dialog box would open when you open access or your database, it
will open when Word starts Access via DDE. Sometimes (often) that dialog
box is displayed behind Word so you cannot see it. Nothing appears to be
happening.
Alt-tab to see if there is such a dialog box.
Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk
Laura wrote:
Hi Doug,
Boy do I need you right now.. I don't know what else to do. I have a
laptop next to me with a similar configuration and it works, but not on
my PC. i.e., same operating system and same version of Office.
The Option "Ignore DDE requests" is and was unchecked on both machines.
The Option "Enable DDE refresh" IS checked.
What else can it be? I need to do this mailmerge on the PC, if
possible. Could it be an XP issue?
Laura
"Doug Robbins - Word MVP on news.microsoft.com"
wrote in message
...
From the Tools menu in Access, select Options and then go to the
advanced tab and make sure that the Ignore DDE requests box is
unchecked.
--
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, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com
"Laura" wrote in message
...
I hope someone can help me soon as I'm very frustrated. I have Office
2000 Professional and Windows XP SP3. I recently reinstalled
everything on my computer after doing a system restore and for some
reason which I cannot work out, I cannot do a Mail Merge using a
Table in Access (or even a Spreadsheet in Excel) with Word.
I have my Word document open and I click on Tools, Mail Merge, Active
Window. When I click on Get Data and locate my Access table it opens
the Access table and then it hangs and eventually I have to quit Word
all together. I see this message on the status bar of Word -
waiting for microsoft access to accept dde commands
But nothing happens. I'm at my wits end. I have uninstalled Office
and re-installed it.. still nothing. What is the problem? Hope
someone can help soon - I have a huge mailmerge to do tomorrow.
Thanks
Laura