error message "word cannot find its datasource"

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Azi - 06 May 2004 16:56 GMT

We use mail merge in several Word 2002 letters and have
it point to an Outlook contacts for the address
information. I recently moved this data. Now, each time
we go in to these docs, the data source is stripped and
get a "word cannot find its data source". We rerun the
mail merge wizard and save the doc but the error always
comes up the next time. I see the knowledge base article
212321 explains this is a known error, that the path
statement changes, but how do i correct it?

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Cindy M -WordMVP- - 07 May 2004 15:49 GMT

Hi Azi,

> We use mail merge in several Word 2002 letters and have
> it point to an Outlook contacts for the address
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> 212321 explains this is a known error, that the path
> statement changes, but how do i correct it?

I'd try:
- create a new document
- copy all but the last paragraph mark of an existing
main merge doc to the new doc
- link back up to the datasource (Outlook contacts)
- merge
- save, close, re-open

If this works, then this is what you'll have to do for each
main merge document. Note that you'll need to watch out for
things like margins, headers, footers...

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update
Sep 30 2003)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any
follow question or reply in the newsgroup and not by e-mail

:-)

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Azi - 12 May 2004 16:01 GMT

that's what is frustrating. creating a new document doesn't correct the problem either. I am just creating a simple fax document from the fax wizard and am able to do the mail merge, but get that "word cannot find it's datasource error" after saving and reopening the document. Wherever that temp file is stored, it never gets saved. Ergh! Any more ideas?

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Cindy M -WordMVP- - 13 May 2004 15:09 GMT

Hi =?Utf-8?B?QXpp?=,

> that's what is frustrating. creating a new document doesn't correct the problem either. I am just creating a simple fax document from the fax wizard and am able

to do the mail merge, but get that "word cannot find it's datasource error" after
saving and reopening the document. Wherever that temp file is stored, it never
gets saved.

Well, FWIW, it's been the rare occasion that a Word main merge document has been
able to reconnect *with Outlook*. I wouldn't really want it to reconnect with the
"temp" file that's created in memory, because that information is static. If
that's what you'd want, then it might make more sense to export the Outlook
information explicitly to a text or xls file format, then merge to that.

There have been a very few versions of Word + SP that have managed to
successfully reconnect to Outlook when a main merge document is opened, under
very special circumstances. But generally, I expect to get the error message, and
then have to select the profile again. I just thought, since it once worked for
you, it might again if you had a "clean" document. But if the problem has started
due to a change in the software configuration, then I really don't know how to
help you go back. Possibly, someone in an Outlook newsgroup could help...

FWIW, I also prefer starting mail merge from within Outlook's Tools/Mail merge
menu, as it gives a lot more possibilities. Perhaps try it that way?

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Sep 30 2003)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply
in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-)

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Azi - 14 May 2004 20:26 GMT

Thanks for the input. I ended up using a downloadable template for microsoft.com for a contacts database and customizing it. Then, I imported the outlook contacts into Excel. it works great now and finds the Excel data source every time. That's the last time I use Outlook as a "data source". Hope this helps someone else. Thanks for everyone's input.

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