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MS Office Forum / Word / Mailmerge and Fax / January 2008Error message: "Unable to obtain list of tables from the data sour
After switching to Windows Vista and Office 2007, I get a screen with the error message: "Unable to obtain list of tables from the data source" every time I try to do a mail merge. Before, with Office 2003, everything worked just perfect. What does it mean and how can I fix it. Unfortunately the precise meaning and significance of this message depends on the data source. As far as I know, the error comes from the OLE DB data provider that Word uses to get data from a variety of data source types, e.g. Access, Excel, Outlook if you are connecting to a contacts folder from within Word, and some delimited text files. When you get the message, the chances are that either there is somthing wrong with a thing called the MDAC, or it means that some setting is missing somewhere. There are some problems in this area that I have certainly never solved. Most people seem to see the message when they are trying to get data from Outlook: if that's what you're doing, and you are trying to specify the Outlook contacts folder from within Word, I suggest that instead you open Outlook ,select some contacts, click Outlook Tools|Mail Merge..., read the options in the dialog box carefully, and take it from there. If not, maybe you could tell us what the data source is? (FWIW, the OLE DB provider "sees" a data source as a "database" containing "tables". Precisely what the provider considers to be a database depends on the type of data source. FOr example, an Access .mdb or Access 2007 .accdb is a "database" and some or all tables and queries are considered to be "tables". An Excel Workbook is a "database" and worksheets and named ranges are "tables". FOr Outlook I'm not sure I can characterise exactly what the provider considers to be a "database" and "tables")  SignaturePeter Jamieson http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk > After switching to Windows Vista and Office 2007, I get a screen with the > error message: "Unable to obtain list of tables from the data source" [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > just perfect. > What does it mean and how can I fix it. Thanks for your response. To better explain the situation, I had created templates in Word 2003 with some mail merge fields, being Outlook 2003 Contacts folder the source. Windows XP was the OS. Everything worked just fine. When I got this new computer with Windows Vista, Office 2007, I used the Easy Transfer feature to transfer all the files from my old to my new computer. Done that, I tried to open the templates and insert mail merge info, and that's when I got the message "Unable to obtain...". I can open the document, though, but the merge fields woudn't work. Have a better idea now? > Unfortunately the precise meaning and significance of this message depends > on the data source. As far as I know, the error comes from the OLE DB data [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > > just perfect. > > What does it mean and how can I fix it. OK, for starters... 1. Are your templates real Word templates (.dot files) or are they .doc files? (what I call "skeletons", purely to distinguish them from Word templates)? 2. Are you still using .dot/.doc with Word 2007 or have you already converted them to .dotx/.docx etc.? 3. When you open the /template/ and look at the Mailings tab in the ribbon, is the Eidt Recipient List option greyed out? 4. If so, presumably you are clicking Select Recipients and selecting the "Select from Outlook Contacts" option, and that is the point at which you are seeing the error message? 5. If so, someone recently suggested the following: >> Here's a resolution which has worked for me. I HOPE it helps in your >> particular case. [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >> Books / Outlook Address Book >> c. Close and re-open Outlook. There's more, but maybe you could look at that first. SignaturePeter Jamieson http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk > Thanks for your response. > To better explain the situation, I had created templates in Word 2003 with [quoted text clipped - 56 lines] >> > just perfect. >> > What does it mean and how can I fix it. 1. Yes 2. I don't know. Wouldn't the Easy Transfer feature on Windows Vista take care of this, though? 3. Yes 4. This happens even when I try to insert mail merge info on a new document. 5. There is an "Outlook address book Type MAPI" listed there. > OK, for starters... > 1. Are your templates real Word templates (.dot files) or are they .doc [quoted text clipped - 84 lines] > >> > just perfect. > >> > What does it mean and how can I fix it. > 2. I don't know. They will probably still be called .dot if they have not been converted. > Wouldn't the Easy Transfer feature on Windows Vista take > care of this, though? I doubt it - I don't think it is part of that feature's brief to convert between one version of Office and another as well as one version of WIndows and another. > 3. Yes > 4. This happens even when I try to insert mail merge info on a new > document. > 5. There is an "Outlook address book Type MAPI" listed there. OK, 1. Make sure that the Contacts list is actually in the Outlook Address Book (I usually open the Contacts "bar" , right click on the Contacts folder under "All Contact Items", click the Properties option and look at the Outlook Address Book tab. But I would be surprised if it was not set up to be an Outlook Address Book. 2. try following the instrucitons in the following article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918792 (If you are using Vista-64, try using the following registry key, probably as well as the one described in the article: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows Messaging Subsystem ) If neither of those things helps, then I am probably not going to be able to provide any more ideas. Personally I would consider the approach I mentioned earlier... >> >> Most people seem to see the message when they are trying to get data >> >> from [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >> >> the >> >> options in the dialog box carefully, and take it from there. SignaturePeter Jamieson http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk > 1. Yes > 2. I don't know. Wouldn't the Easy Transfer feature on Windows Vista take [quoted text clipped - 106 lines] >> >> > just perfect. >> >> > What does it mean and how can I fix it. In addition, Windows Easy Transfer creates a corrupt Outlook profile in which the Outlook Address Book is completely disabled. You must create a new Outlook profile before you will ever be able to merge to Outlook. SignatureRuss Valentine [MVP-Outlook] > 1. Yes > 2. I don't know. Wouldn't the Easy Transfer feature on Windows Vista take [quoted text clipped - 106 lines] >> >> > just perfect. >> >> > What does it mean and how can I fix it. Thanks Russ. Is there a KB article about this problem? SignaturePeter Jamieson http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk > In addition, Windows Easy Transfer creates a corrupt Outlook profile in > which the Outlook Address Book is completely disabled. You must create a [quoted text clipped - 115 lines] >>> >> > just perfect. >>> >> > What does it mean and how can I fix it. Dream on. Microsoft only seems to document problems for which they have solutions. They leave the rest to us. FAST and WET have never worked with Outlook and likely never will. SignatureRuss Valentine [MVP-Outlook] > Thanks Russ. Is there a KB article about this problem? > [quoted text clipped - 121 lines] >>>> >> > just perfect. >>>> >> > What does it mean and how can I fix it. Thanks, Russ, Can you please tell me how to create a new Outlook profile, according to your answer? > In addition, Windows Easy Transfer creates a corrupt Outlook profile in > which the Outlook Address Book is completely disabled. You must create a new [quoted text clipped - 109 lines] > >> >> > just perfect. > >> >> > What does it mean and how can I fix it. If you didnt try it already, I suggest you look up "profile" in Outlook 2007 help. You basically need to go into Windows Control Panel->User Accounts->Mail SignaturePeter Jamieson http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk > Thanks, Russ, > [quoted text clipped - 133 lines] >> >> >> > just perfect. >> >> >> > What does it mean and how can I fix it.
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