PUB2002: Publisher Quits During Mail Merge (287569)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Publisher 2002

This article was previously published under Q287569

SYMPTOMS

During a mail merge, Publisher 2002 may quit without warning. The merged information may be lost.

In addition, you may be unable to cancel a mail merge by clicking Mail Merge on the Tools menu or to select Color Printing under Commercial Printing Tools on the Tools menu. If you continue with the mail merge, the program quits.

On a computer that is running Microsoft Windows 2000, Publisher quits with no error. With Microsoft Windows 98 or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), you may receive the following error message:
MSPUB.EXE has caused a stack fault in KERNEL32.DLL

CAUSE

This situation occurs if you select one of the process color modes in the Color Printing dialog box after you initiate a mail merge. Usually, you cannot simultaneously select both a mail merge and color printing options; however, if you start the Mail Merge Wizard and then immediately change the color printing settings before you finish the Mail Merge Wizard, you experience the symptoms described in the "Symptoms" section of this article.

WORKAROUND

To avoid this problem, do not change your publication's color mode after you start a mail merge.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

Color Printing Features

Color modes are primarily used for printing a publication through a commercial printer. These modes include process colors (CMYK), process colors (CMYK) plus spot color(s), and spot color(s).

Mail Merge

A mail merge creates a unique document for each record in the mail merge. It is usually not desirable to apply a mail merge (create individually unique publications) and to convert the publication to process mode for printing to an outside printer (for mass production) at the same time. For this reason, Publisher 2002 is designed to cancel these mutually exclusive features.

If you enable your document for one of the process color modes, and then you click Mail Merge on the Tools menu, the Mail Merge Wizard and other options are not available.

If you start the Mail Merge Wizard and select your data source, the Color Printing option under Commercial Printing Tools on the Tools menu is not available.

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:11/5/2003
Keywords:kbbug KB287569