DMM: Error (5922) - Word Was Unable to Open the Data Source

• Microsoft Direct Mail Manager for Windows

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to print a mailing from Microsoft Direct Mail Manager, you may receive the following error message:

   Error (5922) - Word was unable to open the data source.

   The error occurred when printing with Word. Please check your settings
   and try again.

CAUSE

Microsoft Word is attempting to use the ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) Text driver to process a text data file that contains tabs, quotation marks, or extended characters. For more information about why this happens, see the "More Information" section of this article.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, use any of the following methods.

Method 1: Remove the ODBC Text Driver

This method allows Word to use its own text converter instead of the ODBC Text Driver to read the data file. Use the following steps to remove the ODBC Text driver:

1. Quit Microsoft Direct Mail Manager, Microsoft Word, and all Office programs, including the Office Shortcut Bar.

2. Click the Windows Start menu, point to Settings, and click Control Panel. Click Add/Remove Programs.

3. Click the Install/Uninstall tab.

4. Select Microsoft Office.

   The Microsoft Office Setup program will start.

5. Select Add/Remove from the Microsoft Office Setup program.

6. Select the Converters, Filters, and Data Access category. Click Change Options in the Setup dialog box.

7. Click once on the Data Access category and click Change Options.

8. Scroll down to the bottom of the drivers list and clear the Text Driver check box. Click OK.

9. Click OK or Continue until Setup has completed successfully. Click OK again and restart Microsoft Direct Mail Manager.

Method 2: Submit the Mailing to a Mailing Service

Rather than printing the mailing out yourself, you can submit the mailing to a mailing service and have them process the mailing for you. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Step 3 of the Microsoft Direct Mail Manager wizard gives you the following options:

         Quick and Simple - First Class Mail
         Standard Mail
         Easy - Use a Mailing Service
         Do not print the mailing now.
   

2. Rather then printing the mailing yourself, you choose the third option "Easy - Use a Mailing Service" and have a Mailing Service perform the task for you.

Method 3: Perform the Merge from Microsoft Word

You can perform the merge process manually from Microsoft Word and choose the type of data connectivity you want to use. That is, you can manually choose to connect to the data file using the Text Converter rather the Text ODBC driver and bypass some of the limitations of the Text ODBC driver. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Start Microsoft Word.

2. Follow these steps to create a mail merge main document (you can create form letters, envelopes, or labels):

   a. On the Tools menu, click Mail Merge.

   b. Click Create, and then click Form Letters, Envelopes, or Labels.

   c. Click new Main Document (or Active Window if the mail merge main

         document is already open).
   

3. Attach the Mergedata.txt file, that Microsoft Direct Mail Manager created, as your data source using the text converter.

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

   b. Navigate to the Microsoft Direct Mail Manager folder. By default,

         this is (C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Direct Mail
         Manager).
   

   c. From the Files Of Type list, select Text Files.

   d. Click to select the Select Method check box.

   e. Click the Mergedata file and click Open.

   f. In the Confirm Data Source dialog box, click Text Files (*.txt) and

         click OK.
   

4. Continue with the merge, adding merge fields as needed. Perform the merge, by either merging directly to the printer, or merging to a new document and then printing the new document.

STATUS

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

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft Direct Mail Manager prints the mailing by connecting to Microsoft Word using OLE Automation and handing the task off to Microsoft Word for processing and printing. Microsoft Word will then connect to the data source text file generated by Microsoft Direct Mail Manager and process the request.

When using a text file as a data source, Microsoft Word can either connect through a Text ODBC driver or a text converter. For performance reasons, Microsoft Word will always attempt to use the Text ODBC driver to connect to the data source, if the Text ODBC driver is installed. If the driver is not installed, Word will use the text converter.

The Text ODBC driver that ships with Microsoft Office can process only certain types of information. If the text file contains tab-delimited text, comma and quote delimited text, or extended characters, you will receive an error message saying that Word could not open the data source.

REFERENCES

For more information about using the mail merge feature in Word, start Microsoft Word, click the Office Assistant, type "mail merge," click Search, and then click one of the topics.

For more information about removing the Text ODBC driver, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE ID: Q137385
   TITLE: WD: Error Using Tab-Delimited Data File with ODBC Driver

   ARTICLE-ID: Q120802
   TITLE     : Office: How to Add/Remove a Single Office
               Program or Component

Additional informational is available through the Microsoft Direct Mail Manager Web site. You can access this Web site by clicking the "Learn More" button on the Welcome screen of Microsoft Direct Mail Manager.