Re: Unrecognized Database format - how could this be??

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Doug has given you a way through this, but by way of info...

Although ".mdb" is the "native database format" used by Access, in fact Access is really a "front end" that lets you develop forms, reports and so on. It uses a "database engine" called Jet to manage .mdb databases and some other types of file. In Office 2007 there is a new version of Jet called ACE.

If you have a recent version of Word (2002 and later, more or less) on your system, the Jet engine is still installed even if you do not have Access. Word uses this engine to store its data. The "Office Address List" (OAL) format that it creates from within Mailmerge uses a very simple Access database structure with a single table, accessed via single Query. Because it's so simple, in theory you do not need anything other than Word and its mailmerge facilities to "report" the contents in the way that Doug suggests.

Even if you have Access, it's better not to open these OALs in Access, e.g. to do reporting,because Access may change the database structure so that Word no longer recognises them as OALs. However, if you make a copy and work with that, you should be OK.

If you have Excel, you should also be able to open a copy of your OAL - you may find that doing that, then modifying the column widths is as good a way of examining/printing your data as any. But again, don't try to update the original that way!

--
Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

"MsGiraffe" <MsGiraffe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:0B149159-80BB-4F06-8AA9-9DFC2CAE3E1C@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I created a database on my computer using Word to use for our auction at my
son's school. I wanted to go into the database and print it out. I went to
the C drive as I could not find it any where else. I found the database in
"My data sources" but when I try to open it, I get an error message
"Unrecognized database format: How could this be since I don't have Access
as part of my Office package? I can open it in Word but cannot print out the
Database. How do I correct this problem so I can access the database and
keep using it ? Also, to keep it from happening in the future. Thanks so
much in advance for your help - I am perplexed to say the least!

.

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