Microsoft KB Archive/185371

= XL98: Type 3 Error Creating Data Source =

Article ID: 185371

Article Last Modified on 9/11/2002

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Excel 98 for Macintosh
 * Microsoft Query 2000

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This article was previously published under Q185371



SYMPTOMS
When you select a data source in the Microsoft Query Choose Data Source dialog box, the ODBC Data Sources dialog box may appear. If you select any of the listed data sources in this dialog box, you may receive the following error message:

Data source name not found and no default driver specified.

Then, the following message appears:

Couldn't read this file.

If you click New instead in the ODBC Data Sources dialog box and then create a new data source, you may receive the following error message:

The application "Microsoft Query" has unexpectedly quit, because an error of type 3 occurred.

You should save your work in other open applications and restart the computer.



CAUSE
These problems may occur if both of the following conditions are true:
 * You select a File Data Source Name (DSN) in the Choose Data Source dialog box.

-and-
 * The data source you select in the Choose Data Source dialog box points to a path that is 60 or more characters in length.



RESOLUTION
To resolve this problem and use a path to a data source that is 60 or more characters in length, create and use a User DSN for the data source instead of a File DSN.

If you want to use a File DSN, you must move the data source files into a folder for which the path is no longer than 59 characters.



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.



MORE INFORMATION
For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

180271 XL98: Using File and User Data Sources in Microsoft Query

