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MS Office Forum / Word / Mailmerge and Fax / February 2006Dynamic DataSource paths?
Hello Reader; I'm currently in the process of creating a database. I have a Word Document that contains a Mail Merge. The data source for this mail merge is an Access Database Query. They are both stored within the same folder. I want to distribute the Database with the Microsoft Word Mail Merge. But I'm finding that when I move them, the Mail Merge is still trying to look up data that is stored in the original location of the database. Which, obviously when put on a different computer/network drive doesn't work. I presumed that it would be dynamic but it remains static. I've spoken to a Teacher of I.T and computing and they suggested using a dot (.) and a backslash ( \ ) to make WORD look within the folder that the mail merge is stored in, and to find the filename that follows eg. .\Databasefile.mdb When I add this in, it still doesn't work. It accepts this as a file name, but still WORD looks for the original copy of the database when I'm transporting it. I COULD leave instructions for the end-user to update the file path of the database, but as this database will be transported around quite a lot, this will be a pain in the arse. I'd really appreciate any help that you could give me, Cheers in advance Frustrated Dan Hi =?Utf-8?B?RGFuaWVsV2FsdGVyczY=?=, In a nutshell: it can't be done without the help of macro code. Word's support of relative file paths is limited, and unstable at best. They're supported for IncludeText and IncludePicture fields, hyperlinks, but that's pretty much the extent of it. Certainly not for mail merge. Best you could do would be an AutoOpen macro that gets the current path of the active document and plugs that into the basic connection information for the opendatasource method. > I'm currently in the process of creating a database. > [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > database, but as this database will be transported around quite a lot, this > will be a pain in the arse. Cindy Meister INTER-Solutions, Switzerland http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004) 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 :-) Dear Cindy, I have been in contact with another MVP who has suggested another way of getting over my problem. Could I run by his methods with you, to see if it will achieve what I am looking for? (I'm unable to access my computer for several days) ==== 1. Create the <filename>.mdb file in Access 2003. 2. Create your Word doc and save it in the same folder as the mdb file. 3. Use the Word Mail Merge wizard to get recipients from an existing list - when prompted, double-click Connect to a New Data Source.odc - select Other/Advanced, then Microsoft Jet 4.0 OLE DB provider, then specify the path .\<filename>.mdb, select the table in the mdb file that contains your recipients, and save the data source as <filename>.odc in the same folder as the mdb and doc files, and sort / remove recipients from the list if necessary. 4. Create your mail merge document. 5. Include the odc file with the doc and mdb files when you distribute the solution. I would like to know your opinion, if this will be easier to do that creating the AutoOpen Marco that you talked about and also if they are both as dynamic as each other. Thankyou, as a MVP, your opinions are valued. Dan > In a nutshell: it can't be done without the help of macro code. > [quoted text clipped - 42 lines] > This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply > in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-) Hi =?Utf-8?B?RGFuaWVsV2FsdGVyczY=?=, > I would like to know your opinion, if this will be easier to do that > creating the AutoOpen Marco that you talked about and also if they are both > as dynamic as each other. I've never tried the odc method, so I can't say whether it works. You'd have to test it. If it does work, it should be just as dynamic as the macro method, with the advantage you wouldn't have to worry about macro security prompts. Cindy Meister INTER-Solutions, Switzerland http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004) 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 :-) This approach certainly won't work in its current form, because Word always stores an "absolute" path to the data source, in this case the .odc file. If you . In this case if you put all the files (say a.doc, a.mdb and a.odc) in c:\a, make the connection, and go into the VB editor immediate window and type print activedocument.Mailmerge.DataSource.Name the result will be c:\a\a.odc so if you then distribute the files into c:\b, Word will still look for the odc in c:\a and will not find it. Even if you use an OpenDataSource method call to open the source and provide .\a.odc as the name, Word resolves the name and stores it as c:\a\a.odc. So you /have/ to call OpenDataSource one way or another, or let the user find the data source. Being able to use relative paths would be great, but I don't know of any way to do this other than the approach Cindy mentioned. Peter Jamieson > Dear Cindy, I have been in contact with another MVP who has suggested > another [quoted text clipped - 87 lines] >> reply >> in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-) Thankyou for your help. The .odc file method has worked. When you said WORD always stores an absolute path I believe you're right. WORD DID store a static file path. Although I used a file path which in itself was dynamic (Hope you know what I mean) I used .\DatabaseFileName.mdb as my filepath. Although WORD treats this is a static, or absolute file path, the .\ is dynamic. This allows word to look within the same folder as the document that you're currently working on for the mdb file, databasefilename. I can understand what you're getting at, and appreciate your help, and believe that you're correct, when taking into account that the STATIC/ABSOLUTE file path itself was DYNAMIC. Hope you understand what I'm getting at, I'm struggling, but know what I mean. :-) Take Care Dan > This approach certainly won't work in its current form, because Word always > stores an "absolute" path to the data source, in this case the .odc file. If [quoted text clipped - 108 lines] > >> reply > >> in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-) I understand what you're driving at, but I don't understand the details, because the approach does not actually work here when I try it. Clearly makes sense to you , and if you've tested your approach in the circumstances that matter to you, that's mostly what counts. I do wonder whether a. you've actually deleted the "old" odc and mdb in your tests b. there are version differences or other settings that make it work for you. Perhaps I have simply misunderstood. Peter Jamieson > Thankyou for your help. > [quoted text clipped - 159 lines] >> >> reply >> >> in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-) |
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