XL98: Type 3 Error Creating Data Source (185371)

SYMPTOMS

When you select a data source in the Microsoft Query Choose Data Source dialog box, the ODBC Data Sources dialog box may appear. If you select any of the listed data sources in this dialog box, you may receive the following error message:

Data source name not found and no default driver specified.

Then, the following message appears:

Couldn't read this file.

If you click New instead in the ODBC Data Sources dialog box and then create a new data source, you may receive the following error message:

The application "Microsoft Query" has unexpectedly quit, because an error of type 3 occurred.

You should save your work in other open applications and restart the computer.

CAUSE

These problems may occur if both of the following conditions are true:

You select a File Data Source Name (DSN) in the Choose Data Source dialog box.

-and-
The data source you select in the Choose Data Source dialog box points to a path that is 60 or more characters in length.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem and use a path to a data source that is 60 or more characters in length, create and use a User DSN for the data source instead of a File DSN.

If you want to use a File DSN, you must move the data source files into a folder for which the path is no longer than 59 characters.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

180271 XL98: Using File and User Data Sources in Microsoft Query

REFERENCES

For more information about creating data sources, click Contents And Index on the Help menu in Microsoft Query(or on the Balloon Help menu if you are using a version of the Macintosh operating system earlier than 8.0), click the Index button in Microsoft Query Help, type the following text

data sources, setting up

and then click Show Topics. Select the "Specify a source to retrieve data from" topic, and click Go To. If you are unable to find the information you need, ask the Office Assistant.