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#1
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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Data Source error
I'm using a text file (data.wp) for the data source files on vaious word
merge (2003) forms. Lately now only the Administrator can run these forms because Word prompts for the Data Source. it's location is in the C drive of the users pc. When I browse to that location and select it a window appears with the data. I click ok and I'm asked again for the Data Source. Permissions on the "data.wp" is open to everyone. I also tried renaming the data source name to data.doc but still having the same problem. Also are there field names that should not be used in merging data? |
#2
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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Data Source error
Can you say more about what the windows that appear are saying?
If one of them is asking about SQL, you probably need to read and apply this Knowledgebase article: "Opening This Will Run the Following SQL Command" Message When You Open a Word Document" at http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=825765 I would guess that you might also be seeing a box that asks about encoding, or perhaps about the delimiters to use. Can you say which? Or maybe it is something else altogether. What is the exact format of the file? e.g. is it comma-delimited, with CR/LF characters at the end of each line? Does it have multiline data in any of the fields? Does it just contain ANSI characters or does it have accented characters etc. Also are there field names that should not be used in merging data? Typically when Word sees a field name it doesn't like it modifies it, but I don't think there are any "reserved" names. Peter Jamieson "david" wrote in message news I'm using a text file (data.wp) for the data source files on vaious word merge (2003) forms. Lately now only the Administrator can run these forms because Word prompts for the Data Source. it's location is in the C drive of the users pc. When I browse to that location and select it a window appears with the data. I click ok and I'm asked again for the Data Source. Permissions on the "data.wp" is open to everyone. I also tried renaming the data source name to data.doc but still having the same problem. Also are there field names that should not be used in merging data? |
#3
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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Data Source error
Peter, Thanks for the info but I'm not getting a sql error. The problem I
found to be with the length of the merged fields. When I shortened them the problem went away. Would you happen to know what the field lengths limits are and/or other limits e.g. naming schemes for merging data? Thanks again David "Peter Jamieson" wrote: Can you say more about what the windows that appear are saying? If one of them is asking about SQL, you probably need to read and apply this Knowledgebase article: "Opening This Will Run the Following SQL Command" Message When You Open a Word Document" at http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=825765 I would guess that you might also be seeing a box that asks about encoding, or perhaps about the delimiters to use. Can you say which? Or maybe it is something else altogether. What is the exact format of the file? e.g. is it comma-delimited, with CR/LF characters at the end of each line? Does it have multiline data in any of the fields? Does it just contain ANSI characters or does it have accented characters etc. Also are there field names that should not be used in merging data? Typically when Word sees a field name it doesn't like it modifies it, but I don't think there are any "reserved" names. Peter Jamieson "david" wrote in message news I'm using a text file (data.wp) for the data source files on vaious word merge (2003) forms. Lately now only the Administrator can run these forms because Word prompts for the Data Source. it's location is in the C drive of the users pc. When I browse to that location and select it a window appears with the data. I click ok and I'm asked again for the Data Source. Permissions on the "data.wp" is open to everyone. I also tried renaming the data source name to data.doc but still having the same problem. Also are there field names that should not be used in merging data? |
#4
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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Data Source error
I'd be surprised if you were getting a /message/ as a result of the values
of the fields being too long. Word generally just truncates the data and says nothing. I don't know all the rules for dealing with names, but for text files in Word 2003, Word a. truncates names over 40 characters. b. if you connect using ODBC or Word's internal text converter, word displays the same names in dropdowns as the field names it recognises. however, if you connect using OLEDB, it displays a name, truncated to 64 characters, in the drop-down filed insertion menu on the merge toolbar and in the Mail Merge Recipients box. However, it may not display the actual name - it may display the name preceded by the filename and a #. c. If you have 2 long names over 40 characters and the first 40 characters are the same, with the text converter, Word will "mangle" the names, e.g. if the 40 characters end in xxx, the first name will probably end in xxx and the second in xx1, but of course there could be a real name whose first 40 characters ends in xx1, so the algorithm needs to be a bit more complicated. ISTR there used to be a knowledgebase article about this. However, with OLEDB Word truncates both names and it becomes impossible to insert the data for the second name using a mergefield. So I guess it's not a bad idea to stick to names less than 40 characters long... Peter Jamieson "david" wrote in message ... Peter, Thanks for the info but I'm not getting a sql error. The problem I found to be with the length of the merged fields. When I shortened them the problem went away. Would you happen to know what the field lengths limits are and/or other limits e.g. naming schemes for merging data? Thanks again David "Peter Jamieson" wrote: Can you say more about what the windows that appear are saying? If one of them is asking about SQL, you probably need to read and apply this Knowledgebase article: "Opening This Will Run the Following SQL Command" Message When You Open a Word Document" at http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=825765 I would guess that you might also be seeing a box that asks about encoding, or perhaps about the delimiters to use. Can you say which? Or maybe it is something else altogether. What is the exact format of the file? e.g. is it comma-delimited, with CR/LF characters at the end of each line? Does it have multiline data in any of the fields? Does it just contain ANSI characters or does it have accented characters etc. Also are there field names that should not be used in merging data? Typically when Word sees a field name it doesn't like it modifies it, but I don't think there are any "reserved" names. Peter Jamieson "david" wrote in message news I'm using a text file (data.wp) for the data source files on vaious word merge (2003) forms. Lately now only the Administrator can run these forms because Word prompts for the Data Source. it's location is in the C drive of the users pc. When I browse to that location and select it a window appears with the data. I click ok and I'm asked again for the Data Source. Permissions on the "data.wp" is open to everyone. I also tried renaming the data source name to data.doc but still having the same problem. Also are there field names that should not be used in merging data? |
#5
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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Data Source error
Sorry, thought I was replying to the original poster.
I agree that it would be nice to have these rules better documented (there may be appropriate KB articles - I haven't checked), although in some cases the relevant documentation probably belongs with the appropriate ODBC driver/OLEDB provider. Peter Jamieson "Peter Jamieson" wrote in message ... I'd be surprised if you were getting a /message/ as a result of the values of the fields being too long. Word generally just truncates the data and says nothing. I don't know all the rules for dealing with names, but for text files in Word 2003, Word a. truncates names over 40 characters. b. if you connect using ODBC or Word's internal text converter, word displays the same names in dropdowns as the field names it recognises. however, if you connect using OLEDB, it displays a name, truncated to 64 characters, in the drop-down filed insertion menu on the merge toolbar and in the Mail Merge Recipients box. However, it may not display the actual name - it may display the name preceded by the filename and a #. c. If you have 2 long names over 40 characters and the first 40 characters are the same, with the text converter, Word will "mangle" the names, e.g. if the 40 characters end in xxx, the first name will probably end in xxx and the second in xx1, but of course there could be a real name whose first 40 characters ends in xx1, so the algorithm needs to be a bit more complicated. ISTR there used to be a knowledgebase article about this. However, with OLEDB Word truncates both names and it becomes impossible to insert the data for the second name using a mergefield. So I guess it's not a bad idea to stick to names less than 40 characters long... Peter Jamieson "david" wrote in message ... Peter, Thanks for the info but I'm not getting a sql error. The problem I found to be with the length of the merged fields. When I shortened them the problem went away. Would you happen to know what the field lengths limits are and/or other limits e.g. naming schemes for merging data? Thanks again David "Peter Jamieson" wrote: Can you say more about what the windows that appear are saying? If one of them is asking about SQL, you probably need to read and apply this Knowledgebase article: "Opening This Will Run the Following SQL Command" Message When You Open a Word Document" at http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=825765 I would guess that you might also be seeing a box that asks about encoding, or perhaps about the delimiters to use. Can you say which? Or maybe it is something else altogether. What is the exact format of the file? e.g. is it comma-delimited, with CR/LF characters at the end of each line? Does it have multiline data in any of the fields? Does it just contain ANSI characters or does it have accented characters etc. Also are there field names that should not be used in merging data? Typically when Word sees a field name it doesn't like it modifies it, but I don't think there are any "reserved" names. Peter Jamieson "david" wrote in message news I'm using a text file (data.wp) for the data source files on vaious word merge (2003) forms. Lately now only the Administrator can run these forms because Word prompts for the Data Source. it's location is in the C drive of the users pc. When I browse to that location and select it a window appears with the data. I click ok and I'm asked again for the Data Source. Permissions on the "data.wp" is open to everyone. I also tried renaming the data source name to data.doc but still having the same problem. Also are there field names that should not be used in merging data? |
#6
Posted to microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields
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Data Source error
The only message I always got (if not the administrator) was that the data
file could not be found when indeed it was there. However if someone else ran the same word merge doc it worked fine and I could run it again then. The problem ended up that the same person could not run that process back to back or the data file error appeared. I appreciate all your help and will use your recommendations in the future. I don't think any of the field names were over 20 characters, but since I changed them I can't be for sure. "Peter Jamieson" wrote: I'd be surprised if you were getting a /message/ as a result of the values of the fields being too long. Word generally just truncates the data and says nothing. I don't know all the rules for dealing with names, but for text files in Word 2003, Word a. truncates names over 40 characters. b. if you connect using ODBC or Word's internal text converter, word displays the same names in dropdowns as the field names it recognises. however, if you connect using OLEDB, it displays a name, truncated to 64 characters, in the drop-down filed insertion menu on the merge toolbar and in the Mail Merge Recipients box. However, it may not display the actual name - it may display the name preceded by the filename and a #. c. If you have 2 long names over 40 characters and the first 40 characters are the same, with the text converter, Word will "mangle" the names, e.g. if the 40 characters end in xxx, the first name will probably end in xxx and the second in xx1, but of course there could be a real name whose first 40 characters ends in xx1, so the algorithm needs to be a bit more complicated. ISTR there used to be a knowledgebase article about this. However, with OLEDB Word truncates both names and it becomes impossible to insert the data for the second name using a mergefield. So I guess it's not a bad idea to stick to names less than 40 characters long... Peter Jamieson "david" wrote in message ... Peter, Thanks for the info but I'm not getting a sql error. The problem I found to be with the length of the merged fields. When I shortened them the problem went away. Would you happen to know what the field lengths limits are and/or other limits e.g. naming schemes for merging data? Thanks again David "Peter Jamieson" wrote: Can you say more about what the windows that appear are saying? If one of them is asking about SQL, you probably need to read and apply this Knowledgebase article: "Opening This Will Run the Following SQL Command" Message When You Open a Word Document" at http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=825765 I would guess that you might also be seeing a box that asks about encoding, or perhaps about the delimiters to use. Can you say which? Or maybe it is something else altogether. What is the exact format of the file? e.g. is it comma-delimited, with CR/LF characters at the end of each line? Does it have multiline data in any of the fields? Does it just contain ANSI characters or does it have accented characters etc. Also are there field names that should not be used in merging data? Typically when Word sees a field name it doesn't like it modifies it, but I don't think there are any "reserved" names. Peter Jamieson "david" wrote in message news I'm using a text file (data.wp) for the data source files on vaious word merge (2003) forms. Lately now only the Administrator can run these forms because Word prompts for the Data Source. it's location is in the C drive of the users pc. When I browse to that location and select it a window appears with the data. I click ok and I'm asked again for the Data Source. Permissions on the "data.wp" is open to everyone. I also tried renaming the data source name to data.doc but still having the same problem. Also are there field names that should not be used in merging data? |
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