WD2000: ErrMsg: "Word could not open <Filename> because it didn't contain a valid database."

ID: Q224049

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word 2000

ERROR MESSAGE

When you perform a mail merge with a text file (*.txt) data source, the following error message may appear:

Word could not open <Filename> because it didn't contain a valid database.

NOTE: Microsoft Office 2000 has built-in functionality that allows you to get more information about difficult-to-troubleshoot alerts or error messages. If you want to enable this functionality for this and other error messages in Microsoft Office 2000, please download the Microsoft Office 2000 Customizable Alerts file from the Microsoft Office Update Web site at the following address:

http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/2000/downloadDetails/alerts.htm

NOTE: If you reached this article by clicking the Web Info button in an error message, you already have Customizable Alerts enabled.

CAUSE

The delimiters selected in the Header Record Delimiters dialog box do not match the delimiters used in the data.

WHAT TO TRY

The delimiters selected in the Header Record Delimiters dialog box do not match the delimiters used in the data.

Data records are separated by a character called a record delimiter. Similarly, individual data fields are separated from each other by a character called a field delimiter. You can correct the choice of delimiters that Word uses to parse the text data file by doing the following:

On the Tools menu, click Mail Merge.

In the Mail Merge Helper, click Get Data and then click Open Data Source.

In the Open Data Source dialog box, change the Files of type setting to Text Files.

Locate and select the text data file, and click Open.

In the Header Record Delimiters dialog box, select the appropriate field and record delimiters used in the text data file and click OK.

For more information about managing a mail merge data source, click Microsoft Word Help on the Help menu, type "plan and organize a mail-merge data source" in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topics returned.

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Additional query words:


Keywords          : kbdta wd2000 
Version           : WINDOWS:2000
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbprb