Article ID: 239968
Article Last Modified on 11/24/2003
APPLIES TO
- Microsoft Works 2000 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Picture It! Publishing 2001 Platinum Edition
- Microsoft Picture It! Publishing 2001 Gold Edition
- Microsoft Picture It! Publishing 2001 Silver Edition
This article was previously published under Q239968
SYMPTOMS
When you click Mail Merge on the Tools menu, and then use the Address Book as your data source, you may receive the following error message:
CAUSE
This error message may appear if both of the following conditions are true:
- There is a record in the Address Book that has data in virtually all the fields.
-and-
- Each of those fields contains a large amount of data.
Note: This issue is most likely to occur if the "Notes" block in the "Other" tab contains too much data (more than 255 characters). There is a limit to converting this information while mail merging to 255 characters.
RESOLUTION
To resolve this problem, follow these steps:
- Review the records in your Address Book.
- Determine which record might be the reason for the error message.
- Edit the fields so that they do not contain a large amount of data.
How to narrow down which record(s) is/are the probable cause:
- Export the address book (WAB format) so you have a backup copy.
- Delete HALF of the records and attempt the merge.
- If the issue recurs, then you have not deleted the offending record. Repeat step 2 on the remaining records until it does not recur.
- Once the issue cannot be reproduced, the last block of records is most likely to contain the one causing the issue. Delete ALL remaining records, then import the backup copy you exported earlier.
- If the block of possible records is large, you can use the technique of deleting half at a time and testing, in order to quickly reduce the number of possibilities.
- Once you have narrowed it down to a few records, look at each one - specifically at the "Notes" block in the "Other" tab - looking for a large ammount of data (more than 255 characters - including alphabetic characters, numbers, spaces and punctuation).
- (NOTE: It may be more than one record!) Once you find the single record that seems to cause it, repeat step 4 to recover all records, then delete ONLY that record and test. If it recurs, then more than 1 record are at fault.
STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in Microsoft Works 2000.
MORE INFORMATION
This error message may appear if the record size is approximately 2,048 bytes.
For example, this would mean that the Address Book would have to have a record with about 40 fields, with an average of 50 bytes per field to exceed the record size.
REFERENCES
For more information about performing a mail merge using the Address Book, click Microsoft Works Help on the Help menu, type add names from the address book in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.
Additional query words: w_works works2k
Keywords: kbaddin kbbug KB239968
