Mail merge data file (Word 2002/2003)

[bjg1]

I thought this was an easy question to answer when one of our users asked it, but I'm not finding the answer.

Our user has a mail merge letter using an Excel data source. The original letter merge works just fine. The user wants to use the data source for another merge, but doesn't remember the path or filename for the Excel file. Where in Word would the path and filename for that data source be available? I thought this would be a link, but there are not links. What is the secret to finding the data source filename and path?

[HansV]

Open the mail merge document (the one with the mail merge fields).
Press Alt+F11 to activate the Visual Basic Editor (don't worry, we're not going to program!)
Press Ctrl+G to activate the Immediate window.
Type
<code>
? ActiveDocument.MailMerge.DataSource.Name
</code>
and press Enter. You should see the full path and filename of the Excel data source.

[bjg1]

Thanks for the information, Hans.

Of course, that gives me the answer, but I just do not understand why Microsoft makes some things so difficult. The Mail Merge Wizard makes creating the merge documents easy, but if you forget the name or path to your data file, you need to get into the coding area of the software. It just does not make logical sense to me.

Sorry that I was on my soap box today. Microsoft software wasn't the only software causing issues with being too complex today, at least for me.

I am so glad that the Lounge is back up. We have become dependent on Woody's Lounge to help with the problems we encounter in the Microsoft products. Thanks to all for being there for us.