Trouble Opening Form Letter (2000 SP3)

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I am having difficulty opening a form letter with an Access Database as the data source. When I click on the .doc file everything hangs with the status bar reading “Waiting for MS Access to Accept DDE Commands”.
The letter was created about a year ago on an older machine so the paths of the Word file and the Access data will likely have changed but the file names haven’t.
Any ideas on how to open the .doc?

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Have you tried specifying the data source anew? In step 2 of the Mail Merge Helper (Data source), click Get Data, then Open Data Source.

If you have no luck with DDE, try MS Access Database via ODBC (*.mdb).

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Thanks Hans

I had thought of trying that but when I have the open file dialogue box and select the form letter and click open the DDE message appears, Word just hangs and can only be closed using the task manager when the thing offers to send a message to Microsoft.

The database is Ok because in the short term I solved the immediate problem by creating a new form letter on a laptop using Word XP and it was happy to use the same data source despite being connected only over a wireless network!

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It seems probable that the document is corrupt. If Word hangs the moment you try to open it, there’s not much you can do with it.

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Hans

Things seem worse than I thought. I have tried making a totally new, unrelated form letter and as soon as I try to associate any Access file as the data source I encounter exactly the same problem/error message.

Do you thin a Word Repair might help?

Regards

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Hi Sue:
I would try to repair, using the function from the Help menu. I would also use the steps listed in post 197827. In the meantime, I’ll see if I can find anything else on your error message.
Hope this helps,

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Hans & Phil

Truckloads of virtual beers to you both. Goodness know what it was (although i suspect last months update to SP3) repairing Word enabled me to make new form letters with a .mdb as data source and to open all of my older ones.

Many thanks

Sue

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Hans & Phil

Truckloads of virtual beers to you both. Goodness know what it was (although i suspect last months update to SP3) repairing Word enabled me to make new form letters with a .mdb as data source and to open all of my older ones.

Many thanks

Sue

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Hi Sue:
I would try to repair, using the function from the Help menu. I would also use the steps listed in post 197827. In the meantime, I’ll see if I can find anything else on your error message.
Hope this helps,

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Check if the DDE settings in Access are correct:

Open any database in Access.
Select Tools | Options…
Activate the Advanced tab.
The “Ignore DDE Requests” check box should be clear (off).
The “Enable DDE Refresh” check box should be ticked (on).
The “OLE/DDE Timeout (sec)” should be set to a reasonable interval (30 is the default value).

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Hans

You are seriously the Speedy Gonzalez of this Board! Your post about enable DDE came in as I was replying to you and Phil – having done the repair the settings are as you recommend (and I suspect the defaults). I was so fazed this afternoon that I am saving the whole of this thread to my hard drive.

Next time you are in London those virtual beers can be cashed in!

Thanks a million

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I’m glad you got it solved. This kind of problem can be difficult to get a finger behind.

I’ll have a virtual , thanks.

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Enjoy – but I am serious about the real one!

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If I come to England to collect all those beers from you and others (Steve_in_Kent, for example), I am going to be seriously drunk! Does the offer include a stay in a detox clinic?

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If I come to England to collect all those beers from you and others (Steve_in_Kent, for example), I am going to be seriously drunk! Does the offer include a stay in a detox clinic?

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Enjoy – but I am serious about the real one!

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I’m glad you got it solved. This kind of problem can be difficult to get a finger behind.

I’ll have a virtual , thanks.

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Hans

You are seriously the Speedy Gonzalez of this Board! Your post about enable DDE came in as I was replying to you and Phil – having done the repair the settings are as you recommend (and I suspect the defaults). I was so fazed this afternoon that I am saving the whole of this thread to my hard drive.

Next time you are in London those virtual beers can be cashed in!

Thanks a million

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Hi Sue:
I couldn’t find anything directly on point at the knowledge base. There is an article that says you can’t use the Insert/Database command if your Access query or table has quotes in its name (here), but that doesn’t sound like your problem. Perhaps when Hans gets back online, he’ll have some more ideas.

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Phil

Sorry but you are as quick as Hans and so much better than me. The conversion of vitual beers to real ones goes for you too if you ever get to London.

Sue

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Phil

Sorry but you are as quick as Hans and so much better than me. The conversion of vitual beers to real ones goes for you too if you ever get to London.

Sue

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Hi Sue:
I couldn’t find anything directly on point at the knowledge base. There is an article that says you can’t use the Insert/Database command if your Access query or table has quotes in its name (here), but that doesn’t sound like your problem. Perhaps when Hans gets back online, he’ll have some more ideas.

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Hans

Things seem worse than I thought. I have tried making a totally new, unrelated form letter and as soon as I try to associate any Access file as the data source I encounter exactly the same problem/error message.

Do you thin a Word Repair might help?

Regards

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It seems probable that the document is corrupt. If Word hangs the moment you try to open it, there’s not much you can do with it.

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