WD2000: Unable to Use Mail Merge with Outlook Address Book

ID: Q236295

The information in this article applies to:

SYMPTOMS

When you try to use Microsoft Word Mail Merge with an Outlook Address Book, an error message similar to the following may appear:

Word was unable to open the data source.


CAUSE

Organizations having multiple sites, servers, address book views, and other containers can experience this problem due to the extent of hierarchy information retained by the client. This information is cached in the profile and can prevent Word from finding the Outlook Contacts information when the profile is searched.


WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, use one of the following methods:

Method 1

Export the Outlook Address Book to a .pst file and use it as input into the mail merge.

Method 2

Create the user profile manually. Make sure the Outlook Address Book is added first to the profile.
To configure the profile manually, perform the following steps:
  1. Click the Start button, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Mail. Click the Show Profiles button if it appears in the dialog box that is displayed. If a Show Profiles button does not appear, proceed to step 2.


  2. Click Add.


  3. Click Manually Configure Information Services, and then click Next.


  4. Type a name for the profile in the Profile Name box, and then click Next.


  5. Click Add, click Outlook Address Book in the list of available information services, and then click OK.


  6. Click Add, click Microsoft Exchange Server in the list of available information services, and then click OK.


  7. In the Microsoft Exchange Server box, type the name of the Microsoft Exchange Server computer to which you want to connect. Type a mailbox name in the Mailbox box, and then click Next. Note that you can click Check Name before you click OK to verify the server and mailbox names.


After the Outlook Address Book and Microsoft Exchange Server services are added, additional services may be added to the profile by selecting Add, selecting other services in the list of available information services, and then clicking OK.
After the profile is created, start Outlook and ensure the Contacts folder or folders are included in the Outlook Address Book. To do this, perform the following steps:
  1. On the View menu, click Folder List.


  2. In the Folder List, right-click the Contacts folder, and on the context-sensitive menu, click Properties.


  3. Click the Outlook Address Book tab, and click to select Show this folder as an e-mail Address Book.
    NOTE: Your contacts should appear in the Name of the address book box.


  4. Click OK.


When a mail profile is created in the Control Panel Mail tool and Manually configure information services is selected, services can be added in any order. With the Outlook Address Book included in the profile in front of the Exchange server, the Contacts Address Book may be found by Word during the mail merge.
If a new profile is created through the Control Panel Mail tool and the Profile Generation Wizard is used (default), there is no option of adding an Outlook Address Book; the first dialog box includes the Exchange Server service and other services, and the Outlook Address Book is automatically added to the profile. A Microsoft Word Mail Merge with Outlook Address Book using this type of profile may fail with the error message above.


RESOLUTION

A supported fix that corrects this problem is now available from Microsoft, but it has not been fully regression tested and should be applied only to systems experiencing this specific problem.

To resolve this problem, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information on support costs, please go to the following address on the World Wide Web:

http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/overview/overview.asp

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later: 

   Component: Word Converter

   File Name     Version
   -----------------------
   WWPAB.CNV	2.0.3410.1

NOTE: If this product was already installed on your computer when you purchased it from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and you need this fix, please call the Pay Per Incident number listed on the above Web site. If you contact Microsoft to obtain this fix, and if it is determined that you only require the fix you requested, no fee will be charged. However, if you request additional technical support, and if your no-charge technical support period has expired, or if you are not eligible for standard no-charge technical support, you may be charged a non-refundable fee.

For more information about eligibility for no-charge technical support, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q154871 Determining If You Are Eligible for No-Charge Technical Support


STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.


MORE INFORMATION

The original Wwpab.cnv file was limited in the amount of information it read from the profile. When it reached the limit without finding the Contacts Address Book, it reported that the data source could not be found. This is corrected in the newer Wwpab.cnv file.

Additional query words: Contacts 


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

Last Reviewed: June 30, 1999