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MS Office Forum / Word / Mailmerge and Fax / May 2007Word could not reestalish a DDE connection to ACCESS DB
Hi there I have been trying to solve a problem ... I can not seem to solve these problem and I have tried several things. I have a user that needs to do a mail merge in word using ACCESS DB The user clicks on any letter set up in a standard letter draft folder ( this is the normal folder containing all the team letters -the team use to send out for business correspondence). However when this particular user clicks on any letter to open up in word she gets this error message ' word could not re-establish a DDE connection to MS to complete the current task'. I have tried troubleshooting this from several angles,so far what I have done so far: Because it is asking for DDE connection and I can't seem to figure out why it is not working (I did not design the db nor set up the whole stuff) I decided to use a DSN connection to make it work so I : I have create a DSN ( a user DSN in adminstrative tools - data source -user DSN ) adding the access database - IQE and tried in word to access this source but it still comes up with it cannot find the datasource and further clicks it come up with cannot find the path to the data source \\grcdental02\dental1\......\iqe.mdb cannot be found/ I have checked the path and this is the correct path to the access database. (also done)....In word tools -option - general tab- tick confirm conversion at open'' ( also done) ...In access have made sure that in the open dialogue box that there is no tick in the exclusive box. I have asked the user to log out back in after making some changes... to no avail Another problem is now it keeps telling me that program files/ODBC /data source cannot be found in the program files ....I have added the datasource IQE access db in this folder still no avail. Also now it is coming up with a dialogue box with only OLEDB, however i click in the tick box in this dialogue box to access the DSN ( datasource) seleted ... I select IQE which is the datasource , even gone as far as selecting just access 97 as datasource BUT still comes up with ' word could not re-establish a DDE connection to MS to complete the current task'. Does anyone pls know what I can do so solve this problem ...pls or what I am missing. or any other suggestions or a way to get mail merge to work for her Other users have no problems though... she just started two weeks ago and we have given her the set up we give new starters. this is in access 97 Many Thanks in Advance capri > I have checked the path and this is the correct path to the access > database. Can you verify that you can start Access on her machine, then open that path directly in Access? Peter Jamieson > Hi there > [quoted text clipped - 72 lines] > Many Thanks in Advance > capri Hi peter Thanks for your reply and help. Yes, I am able to access the path directly in Access: \grcdental02\dental1\......\iqe.mdb cannot be found/ it opens the database fine. Many Thanks capri > > I have checked the path and this is the correct path to the access > > database. [quoted text clipped - 80 lines] > > Many Thanks in Advance > > capri OK, You must be using Word 2002 or later to have the OLEDB option, so a. which version? b. is your user actually on a different version of Word than the other users? FWIW if you have specified a .dsn file as the data source, Word 2002 and later will only show the OLEDB option. It won't show DDE because it doesn't know at this point that the .dsn points to a .mdb, it won't show any ODBC machine data sources for the same reason, and it doesn't have a general "open using ODBC" option. However, if everyone else is using DDE to open the data source (are they?) then I think it will cause you problems to have one user that is using ODBC/OLEDB, particularly if the connection details are set up by code in Access and not in the Word mail mere main document. If you create a completely new word document and try to connect to the .mdb data source, a. do you see OLEDB, DDE, and ODBC machine data source options? b. what happens if you select the DDE option? Does it connect? If so, if you then close this new document and re-open it, do you see the same problem as before? Peter Jamieson > Hi peter > [quoted text clipped - 105 lines] >> > Many Thanks in Advance >> > capri Hi Peter Thanks for your quick reply and help. The version of word is 2003 and the user is on same version as the others. 3 users are connecting with DDE and 1 via ODBC and this user is not having any problem , the one having problem one of the DDE users. ( I say the others are using DDE because in the control panel - admin tools- data sources- user DSN , the DB name is not showing (IQE) , however the ODBC user has the DB name (IQE) is showing up) . Also when I open a new word doc and try to connect it comes up with a data source dialogue box - I select new source button (as the IQE is not showing up) select the DB, and then it shows a ''OLEDB'' dialogue box and I select ''microsoft access DDE'' but it still comes up with the error problem ''word could not re-establish a DDE connection to MS to complete the current task''. It is really baffling. You mentioned ''partiularly if the connection details are set up by code in Access and not in word mail merge doc''. I am familar with the concept of mail merge and how it works , but never had to get dirty at the backend , pls how do I locate where the code is in access or the word doc, as this would enhance my troubleshooting skills and be able to answer any further questions of yours or anybody willingly to help as well. I have been trying to find the code. Many Thanks in Advance capri > OK, You must be using Word 2002 or later to have the OLEDB option, so > a. which version? [quoted text clipped - 130 lines] > >> > Many Thanks in Advance > >> > capri OK, I don't think the fact that you cannot see a suitable ODBC DSN means that the connections are DDE - in Word 2003 it's more likely that they are OLEDB, which does not need a DSN. > Also when I open a new word doc and try to connect it comes up with a data > source dialogue box - I select new source button (as the IQE is not > showing > up) select the DB, and then it shows a ''OLEDB'' dialogue box and I > select > ''microsoft access DDE'' but it still comes up with the error problem I don't think that's what you should be doing. From Word, you need to locate the .mdb /wherever it is/ When the Select Data Source dialog box opens, all you see is the files that are under My Data Sources for the user concerned. So you have to locate the IQE.mdb file by navigatiing to the correct network path, and select that. Then (as long as Tools|Options|General|"Confirm conversion at open" is checked) you should see the DDE option and you should be able to select it. If you click the New Source button, you get into a dialog which tries to set up an Office Data Connection file which "points" to the mdb file. A .odc has a similar function to a file DSN but is for OLE DB connections, not ODBC connections. This isn't really where you want to be, unless the users with working systems have the correct .odc and what you need to do is copy it onto the non-working system. > You mentioned ''partiularly if the connection details are set up by code > in > Access and not in word mail merge doc''. When you make a connection to a data source in Word, and save the mail merge main document, the connection is retained - in theory, the next time the user opens that mail merge main document, Word should re-open the data source as well (it may ask a question about SQL first). You can set up that connection in a number of ways: a. manually in Word b. using Word VBA c. using OLE automation from another piece of sofware, such as Access. The Word VBA could also be set up to run as an "AutoOpen" macro, so that it would run each time Word opened the document, even if a piece of code in Access opened it. Judging from what you have said so far, I would guess that the person who created your system set up the connections in Word. However, if the word document is being launched from Access, then it is possible that some code in there is making the connection. To find out, you would need to open the Access database, look at the form that is used to initiate the merge, and see if what Access macro or VBA module is invoked by the form to initiate the launch. Peter Jamieson > Hi Peter > [quoted text clipped - 191 lines] >> >> > Many Thanks in Advance >> >> > capri Hi Peter Thank you for you quick reply and help with this issue. Sorry I have not managed to even leave a thank you line, have been snowed in at work dealing with users queries and report writing. I appreciate the time and feedback. I would use your reply to try and solve this problem, hopefully i find a solution. Once again many many thanks for ur help capri > OK, I don't think the fact that you cannot see a suitable ODBC DSN means > that the connections are DDE - in Word 2003 it's more likely that they are [quoted text clipped - 245 lines] > >> >> > Many Thanks in Advance > >> >> > capri Thanks for the feedback - just ask again if you need further help. Peter Jamieson > Hi Peter > [quoted text clipped - 301 lines] >> >> >> > Many Thanks in Advance >> >> >> > capri
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