MailMerge.OpenDataSource Method (Word)

Attaches a data source to the specified document, which becomes a main document if it is not one already.

Syntax

expression .OpenDataSource(Name, Format, ConfirmConversions, ReadOnly, LinkToSource, AddToRecentFiles, PasswordDocument, PasswordTemplate, Revert, WritePasswordDocument, WritePasswordTemplate, Connection, SQLStatement, SQLStatement1, OpenExclusive, SubType)

expression Required. A variable that represents a MailMerge object.

Parameters

Name	Required/Optional	Data Type	Description
Name	Required	String	The data source file name. You can specify a Microsoft Query (.qry) file instead of specifying a data source, a connection string, and a query string.
Format	Optional	Variant	The file converter used to open the document. Can be one of the WdOpenFormat constants. To specify an external file format, use the OpenFormat property with the FileConverter object to determine the value to use with this argument.
ConfirmConversions	Optional	Variant	True to display the Convert File dialog box if the file is not in Microsoft Word format.
ReadOnly	Optional	Variant	True to open the data source on a read-only basis.
LinkToSource	Optional	Variant	True to perform the query specified by Connection and SQLStatement each time the main document is opened.
AddToRecentFiles	Optional	Variant	True to add the file name to the list of recently used files at the bottom of the File menu.
PasswordDocument	Optional	Variant	The password used to open the data source. (See Remarks below.)
PasswordTemplate	Optional	Variant	The password used to open the template. (See Remarks below.)
Revert	Optional	Variant	Controls what happens if Name is the file name of an open document. True to discard any unsaved changes to the open document and reopen the file; False to activate the open document.
WritePasswordDocument	Optional	Variant	The password used to save changes to the document. (See Remarks below.)
WritePasswordTemplate	Optional	Variant	The password used to save changes to the template. (See Remarks below.)
Connection	Optional	Variant	A range within which the query specified by SQLStatement is to be performed. (See Remarks below.)
SQLStatement	Optional	Variant	Defines query options for retrieving data. (See Remarks below.)
SQLStatement1	Optional	Variant	If the query string is longer than 255 characters, SQLStatement specifies the first portion of the string, and SQLStatement1 specifies the second portion. (See Remarks below.)
OpenExclusive	Optional	Variant	True to open exclusively.
SubType	Optional	Variant	Can be one of the WdMergeSubType constants.

Remarks

To determine the ODBC connection and query strings, set query options manually and use the QueryString property to return the connection string. The following table includes some commonly used SQL keywords.

Keyword	Description
DSN	The name of the ODBC data source
UID	The user logon ID
PWD	The user-specified password
DBQ	The database file name
FIL	The file type

To instruct Word to use the same connection method as in earlier versions of Word (Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) for Microsoft Office Access and Microsoft Office Excel data sources) use SubType:=wdMergeSubTypeWord2000.

How you specify the range depends on how data is retrieved. For example:

• When retrieving data through Open Database Connectivity (ODBC), you specify a connection string.

• When retrieving data from Excel using dynamic data exchange (DDE), you specify a named range.

  Security Note
  Dynamic data exchange (DDE) is an older technology that is not secure. If possible, use a more secure alternative to DDE, such as object linking and embedding (OLE).

• When retrieving data from Access, you specify the word "Table" or "Query" followed by the name of a table or query.

Security Note
Avoid using the built-in system administrator ( sa ) logon account. Instead, make system administrators members of the sysadmin fixed server role, and have them use their own accounts to log on. Use sa only when there is no other way to log on. To prevent unauthorized access through the sa logon account, you should assign that account a strong, unique password.

Security Note

When possible, use Windows Authentication (also referred to as a trusted connection), which uses a Windows user account to connect to SQL Server. When a user connects through a Windows user account, SQL Server uses information in the Windows operating system to validate the account name and password. Before you can use Windows Authentication, a server administrator must configure SQL Server to use this mode of authentication. If Windows Authentication is not available, avoid saving users' logon information. It is more secure for users to enter their logon information each time they log on.

Avoid using hard-coded passwords in your applications. If a password is required in a procedure, request the password from the user, store it in a variable, and then use the variable in your code. For recommended best practices on how to do this, see Security Notes for Microsoft Office Solution Developers.

Example

This example creates a new main document and attaches the Orders table from an Access database named "Northwind.mdb."

Dim docNew As Document 
 
Set docNew = Documents.Add 
 
With docNew.MailMerge 
 .MainDocumentType = wdFormLetters 
 .OpenDataSource _ 
 Name:="C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office" & _ 
 "\Office\Samples\Northwind.mdb", _ 
 LinkToSource:=True, AddToRecentFiles:=False, _ 
 Connection:="TABLE Orders" 
End With

This example creates a new main document and attaches the Excel worksheet named “Names.xls.” The Connection argument retrieves data from the range named "Sales."

Dim docNew As Document 
 
Set docNew = Documents.Add 
 
With docNew.MailMerge 
 .MainDocumentType = wdCatalog 
 .OpenDataSource Name:="C:\Documents\Names.xls", _ 
 ReadOnly:=True, _ 
 Connection:="Sales" 
End With

This example uses ODBC to attach the Access database named "Northwind.mdb" to the active document. The SQLStatement argument selects the records in the Customers table.

Dim strConnection As String 
 
With ActiveDocument.MailMerge 
 .MainDocumentType = wdFormLetters 
 strConnection = "DSN=MS Access Databases;" _ 
 & "DBQ=C:\Northwind.mdb;" _ 
 & "FIL=RedISAM;" 
 .OpenDataSource Name:="C:\NorthWind.mdb", _ 
 Connection:=strConnection, _ 
 SQLStatement:="SELECT * FROM Customers" 
End With

See Also

Concepts

MailMerge Object

MailMerge Object Members