ACC97: Header Record Delimiters Dialog Box Appears During Mail Merge with MDE (180663)

SYMPTOMS

When you try to use an MDE file as the data source of a mail merge in Microsoft Word, the Header Record Delimiters dialog box appears and prompts you to supply a field delimiter and a record delimiter with the following message:

   Data fields must be separated from each other by a character
   called a field delimiter. Similarly, data records must be
   separated by a record delimiter.

The Preview box of this Header Record Delimiters dialog box contains only garbage characters. If you click OK, Microsoft Word creates a merge document with a single merge field whose name consists of garbage characters. If you click Cancel, you receive the following error message:

Word was unable to open the data source.

The behavior occurs when you try to start a mail merge from Microsoft Word by clicking Mail Merge on the Tools menu. The problem also occurs when you initiate the mail merge from Microsoft Access by using the "Merge It with MS Word" Wizard.

RESOLUTION

Start Windows Explorer, locate the MDE file and rename it so that its extension is MDB instead of MDE. If the MDE file is located in the same folder as the MDB file, you must rename the MDE file so that its name is different from that of the original MDB file. For example, if your file is named Mergedata.mde, you may want to rename it Mergedata2.mdb. Giving the new file a different name from that of the original file also reduces the possibility of accidentally overwriting the original MDB file with the new MDB file. Note that you can modify the design of forms, reports or modules only by modifying the forms, reports or modules in the original database and saving it as an MDE again, so it is important to keep a copy of the original database.

Changing the file name extension of a database from MDE to MDB does not affect the special characteristics of an MDE file. Users of the database are still prevented from:

Creating, viewing, or modifying forms, reports, or modules in Design view.
Adding, deleting, or changing references to object libraries or databases.
Changing code using the properties or methods of the Microsoft Access or Visual Basic for Applications Object models--an MDE file contains no source code.
Changing the Visual Basic for Applications project name in your database using the Options dialog box.
Importing or exporting forms, reports, or modules.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

In Microsoft Access 97, open the sample database Northwind.mdb.
On the Tools menu, point to Database Utilities, and then click Make MDE File.
In the Save MDE As dialog box, type Northwind.mde in the File Name box, and click Save.
Close the current database.
On the File menu, click Open Database.
In the Open dialog box, click MDE Files (*.MDE) in the Files Of Type list.
Locate Northwind.mde and select it. Click Open.
On the Tools Menu, point to Office Links, and click Merge It With MS Word.
In the Microsoft Word Mail Merge Wizard, click "Create a new document and then link data to it"; click OK. Note that you see the behavior described in the "Symptoms" section.