PUB97: Can't Use Excel 97 Spreadsheet with Mail Merge

If you try to use a spreadsheet file created by Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows as the data source for a Publisher 97 mail merge, you receive this error message:

The database conversion engine that Publisher uses was developed before the Microsoft Excel 97 workbook format was finalized.

1. Open the .xls file in Microsoft Excel 97.
2. On the File menu, click Save As.
3. Click one of the following in the Files Of Type list:
   • Text (Tab delimited) (*.txt)
   • Microsoft Excel 5.0/95 Workbook (*.xls)
   • Microsoft Excel 97 & 5.0/95 Workbook (*.xls)
4. Type a new file name in the File Name box and click Save.

Publisher can use any of these types of files as the data source for a mail merge.

The Microsoft Excel 97 & 5.0/95 Workbook format is a special file format which can be opened natively by the following programs:

• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, version 7.0
• Microsoft Excel for Windows, version 5.0.

Note that a workbook saved in this format takes up more disk space than a file saved in Microsoft Excel 97 format.

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was corrected in Microsoft Publisher 98.