Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, checking the "confirm conversions
at open" was not the problem, but your comment about the DDE conversion
helped me navigate to what {i think} is the problem...

The XLS data file is an Excel 2003 spreadsheet with the default 3 embedded
worksheets, and attempting to open it via DDE caused the Find Data Source
dialog to re-appear continuously. I never got an error message, but the mail
merge routine is too stupid to stop trying. However, if I open the XLS file
and save it as a single XLS v4 worksheet, then try the mail merge as a DDE
connection, everything works and Excel opens.

There is -- of course -- no way that I could ever explain this mess to the
user. I'm just going to advise them that it "mail merge doesn't work the way
it used to any more" and exit the scene.


"Doug Robbins - Word MVP" wrote:

From the Tools menu, select Options and then go to the General tab and check
the "Confirm conversions at open" box. Then if you use the DDE method of
connection to the datasource, the source will be opened when the mail merge
main document is opened. You will need to re-attach the source to the
document that does not cause this to happen at the moment.

--
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

"Larry" wrote in message
...
I have two similar Word mail merge main documents. Each of them uses an
Excel
spreadsheet as its data source. When I open one of them, Word opens (as
you
would expect). When I open the other one, Word opens _but_ Excel also
launches and the data file is available as an icon on the bottom-screen XP
toolbar. I like that feature, but cannnot figure out how one Word doc
"knows"
to launch Excel, but the other does not.

What option/setting in a mail merge main doc would also launch Excel?
(Office 2003)