Microsoft Office Forums

Go Back   Microsoft Office Forums > >

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 10-06-2011, 12:08 PM
Gage262 Gage262 is offline Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized Windows XP Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized Office 2010 32bit
Novice
Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 5
Gage262 is on a distinguished road
Default Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized

I am in the process of converting mail merge documents from .doc(word 2003-2007 format) to .docx format (word 2010). I open the .doc and click convert then save it as a .docx. It seems that the .docx file doesn't recognize that theres a header file anymore and instead it is using the first record in the datasource as the header and datasource. There is only one row in the datasource and the header source is in a table as suggested by microsoft.



Example: I have both versions open and go to the mail merge helper. I view the datasource in both.
.Doc
Owner_Name: Jon Doe
Organization: Some company
.Docx
Jon_Doe: Jon Doe
Some_Company: Some company

As you can see the header file isn't being recognized correctly in the .docx. Weird part is that if I relink the header file I can preview all the data correctly. But when I save it and re-open it, it doesn't recognize the header again and the data is still screwed up. I have tried this both on a network and on my desktop and I experience the same results.

Note: the header source is a doc(also tried it as a.docx) and the data source is a text file.

Thanks in advance.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 10-11-2011, 05:37 AM
Gage262 Gage262 is offline Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized Windows XP Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized Office 2010 32bit
Novice
Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 5
Gage262 is on a distinguished road
Default

Anyone have any suggestions?
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 10-11-2011, 11:35 AM
jujuwillis's Avatar
jujuwillis jujuwillis is offline Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized Windows XP Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized Office 2010 32bit
Advanced Beginner
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Dunstable, England
Posts: 77
jujuwillis is an unknown quantity at this point
Default

I've tried to replicate the issue, but with no luck using a word table with headers. It could be that the word document with the table has got corrupt.

Why not try copying the table from the Word document and pasting into Excel. Then copying it back to a NEW document and trying the merge again. Or using the Excel Worksheet as the mailmerge data?

Another option is to upload both documents to see if it can be replicated.

Should your documents contain sensitive information make a copy and change that information (replace one letter with another say). The process is the important thing here not the information.



Good Luck.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 10-12-2011, 07:08 AM
Gage262 Gage262 is offline Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized Windows XP Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized Office 2010 32bit
Novice
Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 5
Gage262 is on a distinguished road
Default Sample document, header and data source

I have attached a sample document, header and data source below. These exhibit the symptoms I am having.

You will probably need to re-link the data-source and header since they will be in a different spot on your computer.

After you do that save the document then try re-opening and see if you can preview the results.

Hopefully you can provide me some information on why this is happening. Doesn't seem like it should be this difficult.
Attached Files
File Type: txt mydatasource.txt (208 Bytes, 22 views)
File Type: docx mydocument.docx (13.2 KB, 17 views)
File Type: docx myheader.docx (13.3 KB, 15 views)
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 10-12-2011, 11:05 AM
jujuwillis's Avatar
jujuwillis jujuwillis is offline Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized Windows XP Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized Office 2010 32bit
Advanced Beginner
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Dunstable, England
Posts: 77
jujuwillis is an unknown quantity at this point
Default

The myheader.docx only has one row, the mail merge is looking for the header row and subsquent rows of information, which there aren't any. If I use the txt file, it only has the information and no corresponding headers.

If I convert the text to table it has 26 different columns and this is hard to read in Word due to page setup and restrictions. If you need to do this in Word I would suggest adjusting the table and the font to be small but the zoom to be big. Otherwise I would create the data source in Excel - word of warning though, sometimes the dates do not appear as you want them to so I suggested formatting those to text.

I tested putting additional rows in your table to put dummy text in and had no problem with the merge. However, with only the header row it returned an error message.

How you linked the txt file to be in the right columns and it worked I don't know you have me stumped on that one.

Someone here will probably explain that side of it.

So, my suggestion would be to to either insert your txt file into a word document and convert text to table and insert a header row at the top, or to insert additional rows in the header document and place the text in the rows with the information required. Or use Excel as your data source.

Hope that helps you in someway
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 10-12-2011, 11:16 AM
Gage262 Gage262 is offline Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized Windows XP Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized Office 2010 32bit
Novice
Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 5
Gage262 is on a distinguished road
Default

I appreciate the response. Unfortunately the data source is generated by another program which can only come out as a text file. The header is only one row because it should never be seen.

To get it working with just one header row I would use the "Mail Merge Helper" and relink the header. To get that button you need to add it from the list of buttons not available on the ribbon.

The part that is really weird to me is that all of this works in word 2003-2007 format. All i did was click convert. If you use a .doc for the document and header and the text file as the data-source everything should work correctly.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 10-12-2011, 11:52 AM
jujuwillis's Avatar
jujuwillis jujuwillis is offline Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized Windows XP Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized Office 2010 32bit
Advanced Beginner
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Dunstable, England
Posts: 77
jujuwillis is an unknown quantity at this point
Default

Really sorry I couldn't help you, I'm sure a brain on here can though.

The only work around I can think of at the moment is to have your data source as an excel file with the headers already in place in Row 1 and use the Import Text option on the Data Table, use the wizard for the and tab delimiter and change the type (text, numbers etc) on that wizard in (Destination in Row 2). You could always copy and paste the excel worksheet into an word document if it is necessary for it to be word.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 02-01-2012, 10:57 AM
brianatwork brianatwork is offline Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized Windows XP Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized Office 2000
Novice
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 1
brianatwork is on a distinguished road
Default

Hi yes I am having the same problem, headers do not seem to work in the newer offices word docs, I can not seem to be able to fine how you use a single line header as used in office 2000 in office 2003 anyone help please
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 02-01-2012, 11:08 AM
Gage262 Gage262 is offline Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized Windows XP Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized Office 2010 32bit
Novice
Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 5
Gage262 is on a distinguished road
Default

I ended up getting this to work(for the most part) by calling code on the document open event.

Code:
Public Sub Document_Open()

With ActiveDocument.MailMerge
    .MainDocumentType = wdFormLetters
    .OpenHeaderSource Name:="c:\mailmergetest\myheader.docx", Revert:=False, AddToRecentFiles:=False, ConfirmConversions:=False, ReadOnly:=True
    .OpenDataSource Name:="C:\mailmergetest\mydatasource.txt", ConfirmConversions:=False
End With
ActiveDocument.ActiveWindow.View.MailMergeDataView = True

End Sub
The thing is for this to work you have to click the mail merge reset button and then save it otherwise you get the message that it is already a mail merge document.

I believe it has to be saved as a .docm as well.

In the end we stayed with the .doc format.

Hope this helps you.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
convert, mail merge problem, microsoft word 2010

Thread Tools
Display Modes


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized Header, Footer and Page # Galleries Disappear - Word 2010 jmk59 Word 6 10-18-2014 04:46 AM
Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized Outlook 2010 View Source tbragsdae Outlook 2 07-25-2012 06:33 PM
Mail Merge using Word 2010 - Header source not be recognized Outlook 2010, Word2010 and Mail Merge mnorman Outlook 8 12-16-2011 12:42 PM
Merge to New Document - saved letter continues to ask for SQL source Brandi Mail Merge 2 06-16-2010 08:08 AM
Mail Merge data source on network drive Brandi Mail Merge 0 06-13-2010 11:26 AM

Other Forums: Access Forums

All times are GMT -7. The time now is 10:22 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
MSOfficeForums.com is not affiliated with Microsoft