MS Word Mail Merge via DDE Problem

I have a problem with a Mail Merge Document I have created whereby when I complete the merge it throws out the error the Word could not open the data source.

However, this problem only seems to occur when the sheet is loaded with data to merge across. If the excel document is only half-full this does-not occur. There are no other variables and I have tested to high heaven.

You can tell it is about to fail because when successful it opens the Workbook and leaves it open in the background, if it is going to fail it opens it but then closes and asks you if want to save any changes even though none have been made?

I am using DDE because all other MS Excel Merge methods limit the volume of characters that can be merged per field and also the number of fields that can be merged and I have 162 merge fields.

Any ideas on how to solve this problem. It is not a Computer issue because the same issue occurs across multiple machines.

We are using Office 365 for business.

Thanks

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Answer

Doug Robbins - MVP Office Apps & Services (Word)

Your reasons for using DDE are not valid.

Using the Default OLE DB Database Files method of connecting to the data source does not impose a limit on the number of merge fields.

The number of characters that can be merged per field can be restricted by the type (size) of data in the first 6 or 8 records. However there will be no restriction if a the first (a dummy record if need be) contains enough data in each field to set the type of data that is expected.

The "half full" limit that you mention is most likely caused by the use of a DDE connection.

Hope this helps,
Doug Robbins - MVP Office Apps & Services (Word)
dougrobbinsmvp@gmail.com
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