PUB97: Publisher Closes Publication if It Can't Read Data Source

When you attempt to open a publication that is connected to a data source for a mail merge, you receive the following error message: When you click OK, Publisher closes your publication.

This problem may occur even if you can successfully connect to the same data source from another Publication.

To work around this problem and open the publication, use the following steps:

1. In Windows Explorer, rename the file that contains the data source for the Publisher mail merge. For example, if you are using a data source called Addresses.mdb, change the name of the file to Addresses2.mdb.
   
   -or-
   
   Move the file to another folder.
2. Start Publisher and reopen the publication. When you see a message indicating that Publisher cannot connect to the data source file because the file may have been moved, deleted, or renamed, click Try to Reconnect.
3. Select the file you renamed or moved in step 1, and then click Open.
4. If you still receive the error message, repeat step 2, but click Work Without Merged Information instead of Try to Reconnect.
5. Repeat step 3.

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.