Article ID: 116470
Article Last Modified on 1/19/2007
APPLIES TO
- Microsoft Word 6.0 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Word 6.0a
- Microsoft Word 6.0c
- Microsoft Word 95 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Word 95a
- Microsoft Word 97 Standard Edition
This article was previously published under Q116470
SYMPTOMS
When Word performs a mail merge using a DDE link to a Microsoft
Excel data source, Word looks only at the first sheet available in the
Microsoft Excel workbook. Word does not allow you to select another
worksheet. Also, editing the data source to move another sheet to the first
position while it is attached to the Word main document does not allow you
to access the new sheet.
CAUSE
When using DDE to attach a Microsoft Excel worksheet as a mail merge
data source, Word recognizes only the first sheet in the workbook. Also,
Word does not recognize any changes you make to the data source while the
Microsoft Excel worksheet is attached to the mail merge main document.
STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the above listed versions
of Word for Windows.
WORKAROUND
Method 1
You can select a specific sheet in a Microsoft Excel workbook
using the converter instead of the DDE option. To do this, select
the Confirm Conversions (Word 6.0) check box or click the Select
Method (Word 7.0 - 97) check box in the Open Data Source dialog
box. Select the desired sheet from the list of all available
sheets in the workbook.
Method 2
If you choose to use the DDE option, you can open Microsoft Excel, then open the workbook and move the desired sheet to the
first position. (To do this, click and drag the desired sheet tab
to the first position on the sheet tab bar at the bottom of the
current workbook.) Save the Microsoft Excel workbook. In Word,
reestablish the DDE link to the Microsoft Excel worksheet before
performing your merge. (To do this, from the Tools menu, select
Get Data, Choose Open Data Source, select your Microsoft Excel
file, and reselect the entire worksheet.)
Method 3
If the Microsoft Excel worksheet contains other information not
intended to be used as merge data, you can define a range name
for the data. (To do this, open the Microsoft Excel worksheet and
select the range of cells that contain your data. From the Insert
menu, select Name, then select Define and type the desired name
without spaces.) The worksheet containing the range should be
moved to the first position in the workbook as described in
Method 2. Return to your mail merge main document in Word and
reattach the data source. Instead of selecting the entire
worksheet, select the range name.
REFERENCES
"Microsoft Word User's Guide," version 6.0, pages 676-677
"Microsoft Excel User's Guide," version 5.0, Chapter 7, "Working in
Workbooks"
Additional query words: dde converter data source sheet worksheet excel multiple mailmerge mm sheets worksheets top
Keywords: kbinterop kbmerge kbprb kbprint KB116470