[Peter Hibbs[_2_]]

Word 2003 + Access 2003

I have written a database app' for a client which includes some mail
merge facilities. The client is having some difficulties setting up
the mail merge document and, as he is a 100 miles away, I can't easliy
see what he is doing wrong.

He has now sent me a copy of his document, is there any way of
displaying the full path and filename of the Data Source that he has
used as I think that may be his problem.

Peter Hibbs.

[Graham Mayor]

Display it where?

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



Peter Hibbs wrote:
Word 2003 + Access 2003

I have written a database app' for a client which includes some mail
merge facilities. The client is having some difficulties setting up
the mail merge document and, as he is a 100 miles away, I can't easliy
see what he is doing wrong.

He has now sent me a copy of his document, is there any way of
displaying the full path and filename of the Data Source that he has
used as I think that may be his problem.

Peter Hibbs.

[Peter Jamieson]

It's a heck of a lot easier to see if you can get him to save his merge
main document as WordProcessingML format (.xml). Otherwise you have the
problem where you can't see the data source info. without opening the
document with th email merge data source intact, and the only clue you
will get is a (truncated, probably) message in the SQL warning box that
you tend to get when opening Mail Merge main documents (and in the case
of an Access DB, you probably won't get to see the file name at all).

OTOH you can try opening the file in Notepad and see if you can spot the
connection info - if you can find, e.g. P r o v i d e r (with a space
between each letter), that suggests he is using an OLE DB connection and
other relevant info. may be visible nearby. But even that is not
completely reliable as it could be an artefact, e.g. an older discarded
piece of text.

Peter Jamieson

http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

Peter Hibbs wrote:
Word 2003 + Access 2003

I have written a database app' for a client which includes some mail
merge facilities. The client is having some difficulties setting up
the mail merge document and, as he is a 100 miles away, I can't easliy
see what he is doing wrong.

He has now sent me a copy of his document, is there any way of
displaying the full path and filename of the Data Source that he has
used as I think that may be his problem.

Peter Hibbs.

[Peter Hibbs[_2_]]

Thank you Graham and Peter.

I tried the Notepad option but could not find the word P r o v i d e r
anywhere or anything that looked like a pathname. I tried the same on
one of my own mail merge documents and found it with no trouble.

I would guess that means they have not even set up a Data Source,
which would not surprise me as they are pretty new to this facility. I
will consult with them further.

Thanks again for your help.

Peter Hibbs.

On Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:14:21 +0100, Peter Jamieson
wrote:

It's a heck of a lot easier to see if you can get him to save his merge
main document as WordProcessingML format (.xml). Otherwise you have the
problem where you can't see the data source info. without opening the
document with th email merge data source intact, and the only clue you
will get is a (truncated, probably) message in the SQL warning box that
you tend to get when opening Mail Merge main documents (and in the case
of an Access DB, you probably won't get to see the file name at all).

OTOH you can try opening the file in Notepad and see if you can spot the
connection info - if you can find, e.g. P r o v i d e r (with a space
between each letter), that suggests he is using an OLE DB connection and
other relevant info. may be visible nearby. But even that is not
completely reliable as it could be an artefact, e.g. an older discarded
piece of text.

Peter Jamieson

http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

Peter Hibbs wrote:
Word 2003 + Access 2003

I have written a database app' for a client which includes some mail
merge facilities. The client is having some difficulties setting up
the mail merge document and, as he is a 100 miles away, I can't easliy
see what he is doing wrong.

He has now sent me a copy of his document, is there any way of
displaying the full path and filename of the Data Source that he has
used as I think that may be his problem.

Peter Hibbs.

[Peter Jamieson]

I would guess that means they have not even set up a Data Source,

That's not the only possibility, unfortunately - when you do the Notepad
thing, it's hit-and-miss because whether you see "P r o v i d e r" or
not depends on Notepad happening to start decoding Unicode text at the
right point.

I should really have suggested that you use Word to try to recover text
from any file. To do that in Word 2003, go to File-Open, select
"Recover text from any file" in the "Files of Type" dropdown at the
bottom, then locate the .doc and open it. You are more likely to see
connection info. if there is any (e.g. you could look for "Provider",
but it will only be there for a default/OLE DB connection). Even then I
wouldn't guarantee thta you will see connection info.

Peter Jamieson

http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

Peter Hibbs wrote:
Thank you Graham and Peter.

I tried the Notepad option but could not find the word P r o v i d e r
anywhere or anything that looked like a pathname. I tried the same on
one of my own mail merge documents and found it with no trouble.

I would guess that means they have not even set up a Data Source,
which would not surprise me as they are pretty new to this facility. I
will consult with them further.

Thanks again for your help.

Peter Hibbs.

On Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:14:21 +0100, Peter Jamieson
wrote:

It's a heck of a lot easier to see if you can get him to save his merge
main document as WordProcessingML format (.xml). Otherwise you have the
problem where you can't see the data source info. without opening the
document with th email merge data source intact, and the only clue you
will get is a (truncated, probably) message in the SQL warning box that
you tend to get when opening Mail Merge main documents (and in the case
of an Access DB, you probably won't get to see the file name at all).

OTOH you can try opening the file in Notepad and see if you can spot the
connection info - if you can find, e.g. P r o v i d e r (with a space
between each letter), that suggests he is using an OLE DB connection and
other relevant info. may be visible nearby. But even that is not
completely reliable as it could be an artefact, e.g. an older discarded
piece of text.

Peter Jamieson

http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

Peter Hibbs wrote:
Word 2003 + Access 2003

I have written a database app' for a client which includes some mail
merge facilities. The client is having some difficulties setting up
the mail merge document and, as he is a 100 miles away, I can't easliy
see what he is doing wrong.

He has now sent me a copy of his document, is there any way of
displaying the full path and filename of the Data Source that he has
used as I think that may be his problem.

Peter Hibbs.

[Peter Hibbs[_2_]]

Hi Peter,

That's very interesting, I have never used that option before.

As with the Notepad tests, the Data Source pathname showed up in my
test document but not in their mail merge document. Not sure what this
proves but I would think it indicates that they have not set up the
document correctly.

Anyway, I have emailed them with a set of specific instructions on
what to do so we will wait and see what they come up with.

Thanks again for your assistance with this.

Peter Hibbs.

On Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:01:08 +0100, Peter Jamieson
wrote:

I would guess that means they have not even set up a Data Source,

That's not the only possibility, unfortunately - when you do the Notepad
thing, it's hit-and-miss because whether you see "P r o v i d e r" or
not depends on Notepad happening to start decoding Unicode text at the
right point.

I should really have suggested that you use Word to try to recover text
from any file. To do that in Word 2003, go to File-Open, select
"Recover text from any file" in the "Files of Type" dropdown at the
bottom, then locate the .doc and open it. You are more likely to see
connection info. if there is any (e.g. you could look for "Provider",
but it will only be there for a default/OLE DB connection). Even then I
wouldn't guarantee thta you will see connection info.

Peter Jamieson

http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

Peter Hibbs wrote:
Thank you Graham and Peter.

I tried the Notepad option but could not find the word P r o v i d e r
anywhere or anything that looked like a pathname. I tried the same on
one of my own mail merge documents and found it with no trouble.

I would guess that means they have not even set up a Data Source,
which would not surprise me as they are pretty new to this facility. I
will consult with them further.

Thanks again for your help.

Peter Hibbs.

On Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:14:21 +0100, Peter Jamieson
wrote:

It's a heck of a lot easier to see if you can get him to save his merge
main document as WordProcessingML format (.xml). Otherwise you have the
problem where you can't see the data source info. without opening the
document with th email merge data source intact, and the only clue you
will get is a (truncated, probably) message in the SQL warning box that
you tend to get when opening Mail Merge main documents (and in the case
of an Access DB, you probably won't get to see the file name at all).

OTOH you can try opening the file in Notepad and see if you can spot the
connection info - if you can find, e.g. P r o v i d e r (with a space
between each letter), that suggests he is using an OLE DB connection and
other relevant info. may be visible nearby. But even that is not
completely reliable as it could be an artefact, e.g. an older discarded
piece of text.

Peter Jamieson

http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

Peter Hibbs wrote:
Word 2003 + Access 2003

I have written a database app' for a client which includes some mail
merge facilities. The client is having some difficulties setting up
the mail merge document and, as he is a 100 miles away, I can't easliy
see what he is doing wrong.

He has now sent me a copy of his document, is there any way of
displaying the full path and filename of the Data Source that he has
used as I think that may be his problem.

Peter Hibbs.

[Peter Jamieson]

Not sure what this
proves

Not a lot, but...

but I would think it indicates that they have not set up the
document correctly.

....seems as good a starting point as any.

I suppose it's always worth checking that you're not suffering from the
problem described in

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/825765

Peter Jamieson

http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

Peter Hibbs wrote:
Hi Peter,

That's very interesting, I have never used that option before.

As with the Notepad tests, the Data Source pathname showed up in my
test document but not in their mail merge document. Not sure what this
proves but I would think it indicates that they have not set up the
document correctly.

Anyway, I have emailed them with a set of specific instructions on
what to do so we will wait and see what they come up with.

Thanks again for your assistance with this.

Peter Hibbs.

On Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:01:08 +0100, Peter Jamieson
wrote:

I would guess that means they have not even set up a Data Source,
That's not the only possibility, unfortunately - when you do the Notepad
thing, it's hit-and-miss because whether you see "P r o v i d e r" or
not depends on Notepad happening to start decoding Unicode text at the
right point.

I should really have suggested that you use Word to try to recover text
from any file. To do that in Word 2003, go to File-Open, select
"Recover text from any file" in the "Files of Type" dropdown at the
bottom, then locate the .doc and open it. You are more likely to see
connection info. if there is any (e.g. you could look for "Provider",
but it will only be there for a default/OLE DB connection). Even then I
wouldn't guarantee thta you will see connection info.

Peter Jamieson

http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

Peter Hibbs wrote:
Thank you Graham and Peter.

I tried the Notepad option but could not find the word P r o v i d e r
anywhere or anything that looked like a pathname. I tried the same on
one of my own mail merge documents and found it with no trouble.

I would guess that means they have not even set up a Data Source,
which would not surprise me as they are pretty new to this facility. I
will consult with them further.

Thanks again for your help.

Peter Hibbs.

On Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:14:21 +0100, Peter Jamieson
wrote:

It's a heck of a lot easier to see if you can get him to save his merge
main document as WordProcessingML format (.xml). Otherwise you have the
problem where you can't see the data source info. without opening the
document with th email merge data source intact, and the only clue you
will get is a (truncated, probably) message in the SQL warning box that
you tend to get when opening Mail Merge main documents (and in the case
of an Access DB, you probably won't get to see the file name at all).

OTOH you can try opening the file in Notepad and see if you can spot the
connection info - if you can find, e.g. P r o v i d e r (with a space
between each letter), that suggests he is using an OLE DB connection and
other relevant info. may be visible nearby. But even that is not
completely reliable as it could be an artefact, e.g. an older discarded
piece of text.

Peter Jamieson

http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

Peter Hibbs wrote:
Word 2003 + Access 2003

I have written a database app' for a client which includes some mail
merge facilities. The client is having some difficulties setting up
the mail merge document and, as he is a 100 miles away, I can't easliy
see what he is doing wrong.

He has now sent me a copy of his document, is there any way of
displaying the full path and filename of the Data Source that he has
used as I think that may be his problem.

Peter Hibbs.

[Peter Hibbs[_2_]]

Peter,

Yes, I am aware of that problem and I did send them a .reg file which
makes the Registry mods recommended. This may be another thing they
haven't done yet, we will see tomorrow.

Peter Hibbs.

On Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:12:54 +0100, Peter Jamieson
wrote:

Not sure what this
proves

Not a lot, but...

but I would think it indicates that they have not set up the
document correctly.

...seems as good a starting point as any.

I suppose it's always worth checking that you're not suffering from the
problem described in

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/825765

Peter Jamieson

http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

Peter Hibbs wrote:
Hi Peter,

That's very interesting, I have never used that option before.

As with the Notepad tests, the Data Source pathname showed up in my
test document but not in their mail merge document. Not sure what this
proves but I would think it indicates that they have not set up the
document correctly.

Anyway, I have emailed them with a set of specific instructions on
what to do so we will wait and see what they come up with.

Thanks again for your assistance with this.

Peter Hibbs.

On Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:01:08 +0100, Peter Jamieson
wrote:

I would guess that means they have not even set up a Data Source,
That's not the only possibility, unfortunately - when you do the Notepad
thing, it's hit-and-miss because whether you see "P r o v i d e r" or
not depends on Notepad happening to start decoding Unicode text at the
right point.

I should really have suggested that you use Word to try to recover text
from any file. To do that in Word 2003, go to File-Open, select
"Recover text from any file" in the "Files of Type" dropdown at the
bottom, then locate the .doc and open it. You are more likely to see
connection info. if there is any (e.g. you could look for "Provider",
but it will only be there for a default/OLE DB connection). Even then I
wouldn't guarantee thta you will see connection info.

Peter Jamieson

http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

Peter Hibbs wrote:
Thank you Graham and Peter.

I tried the Notepad option but could not find the word P r o v i d e r
anywhere or anything that looked like a pathname. I tried the same on
one of my own mail merge documents and found it with no trouble.

I would guess that means they have not even set up a Data Source,
which would not surprise me as they are pretty new to this facility. I
will consult with them further.

Thanks again for your help.

Peter Hibbs.

On Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:14:21 +0100, Peter Jamieson
wrote:

It's a heck of a lot easier to see if you can get him to save his merge
main document as WordProcessingML format (.xml). Otherwise you have the
problem where you can't see the data source info. without opening the
document with th email merge data source intact, and the only clue you
will get is a (truncated, probably) message in the SQL warning box that
you tend to get when opening Mail Merge main documents (and in the case
of an Access DB, you probably won't get to see the file name at all).

OTOH you can try opening the file in Notepad and see if you can spot the
connection info - if you can find, e.g. P r o v i d e r (with a space
between each letter), that suggests he is using an OLE DB connection and
other relevant info. may be visible nearby. But even that is not
completely reliable as it could be an artefact, e.g. an older discarded
piece of text.

Peter Jamieson

http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

Peter Hibbs wrote:
Word 2003 + Access 2003

I have written a database app' for a client which includes some mail
merge facilities. The client is having some difficulties setting up
the mail merge document and, as he is a 100 miles away, I can't easliy
see what he is doing wrong.

He has now sent me a copy of his document, is there any way of
displaying the full path and filename of the Data Source that he has
used as I think that may be his problem.

Peter Hibbs.

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

Why don't you try something like Mikogo (www.mikogo.com) to take a look at
their computer and see what is going on?

--
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
"Peter Hibbs" wrote in message
news
Peter,

Yes, I am aware of that problem and I did send them a .reg file which
makes the Registry mods recommended. This may be another thing they
haven't done yet, we will see tomorrow.

Peter Hibbs.

On Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:12:54 +0100, Peter Jamieson
wrote:

Not sure what this
proves

Not a lot, but...

but I would think it indicates that they have not set up the
document correctly.

...seems as good a starting point as any.

I suppose it's always worth checking that you're not suffering from the
problem described in

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/825765

Peter Jamieson

http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

Peter Hibbs wrote:
Hi Peter,

That's very interesting, I have never used that option before.

As with the Notepad tests, the Data Source pathname showed up in my
test document but not in their mail merge document. Not sure what this
proves but I would think it indicates that they have not set up the
document correctly.

Anyway, I have emailed them with a set of specific instructions on
what to do so we will wait and see what they come up with.

Thanks again for your assistance with this.

Peter Hibbs.

On Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:01:08 +0100, Peter Jamieson
wrote:

I would guess that means they have not even set up a Data Source,
That's not the only possibility, unfortunately - when you do the
Notepad
thing, it's hit-and-miss because whether you see "P r o v i d e r" or
not depends on Notepad happening to start decoding Unicode text at the
right point.

I should really have suggested that you use Word to try to recover text
from any file. To do that in Word 2003, go to File-Open, select
"Recover text from any file" in the "Files of Type" dropdown at the
bottom, then locate the .doc and open it. You are more likely to see
connection info. if there is any (e.g. you could look for "Provider",
but it will only be there for a default/OLE DB connection). Even then I
wouldn't guarantee thta you will see connection info.

Peter Jamieson

http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

Peter Hibbs wrote:
Thank you Graham and Peter.

I tried the Notepad option but could not find the word P r o v i d e r
anywhere or anything that looked like a pathname. I tried the same on
one of my own mail merge documents and found it with no trouble.

I would guess that means they have not even set up a Data Source,
which would not surprise me as they are pretty new to this facility. I
will consult with them further.

Thanks again for your help.

Peter Hibbs.

On Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:14:21 +0100, Peter Jamieson
wrote:

It's a heck of a lot easier to see if you can get him to save his
merge
main document as WordProcessingML format (.xml). Otherwise you have
the
problem where you can't see the data source info. without opening the
document with th email merge data source intact, and the only clue
you
will get is a (truncated, probably) message in the SQL warning box
that
you tend to get when opening Mail Merge main documents (and in the
case
of an Access DB, you probably won't get to see the file name at all).

OTOH you can try opening the file in Notepad and see if you can spot
the
connection info - if you can find, e.g. P r o v i d e r (with a space
between each letter), that suggests he is using an OLE DB connection
and
other relevant info. may be visible nearby. But even that is not
completely reliable as it could be an artefact, e.g. an older
discarded
piece of text.

Peter Jamieson

http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

Peter Hibbs wrote:
Word 2003 + Access 2003

I have written a database app' for a client which includes some mail
merge facilities. The client is having some difficulties setting up
the mail merge document and, as he is a 100 miles away, I can't
easliy
see what he is doing wrong.

He has now sent me a copy of his document, is there any way of
displaying the full path and filename of the Data Source that he has
used as I think that may be his problem.

Peter Hibbs.

[Peter Hibbs[_2_]]

Thanks Doug,

I might just try that out. I need to talk to my client first though.

Peter Hibbs.



On Wed, 15 Jul 2009 07:50:06 +1000, "Doug Robbins - Word MVP"
wrote:

Why don't you try something like Mikogo (www.mikogo.com) to take a look at
their computer and see what is going on?