Recent MS update an OBDC connectivity issue "Data Link Properties"

[Chuck]

I hope that I have correctly identified the issue in the title.

Specifically:

1. I have been doing mail merges using MS Word and MS Access for a very long time.
2. I migrated from Office 2003 to Office 365 many months ago and was able to continue doing the mail merges that I had been doing.
3. The last time I was able to do the merges was in August 2020.
4. I attempted to do a merge today without success.
5. When I try to perform a merge with any of the documents previously used documents I get a window labeled "Data Link Properties". This has never happened before and there is nothing apparent to me that I can edit that will fix the issue.
6. My preliminary conclusion is that an MS update has caused the problem.

[isladogs]

Can you show a screenshot of the Data Link Properties window

[Micron]

Never mind. You're in better hands on this one.

[Chuck]

I have spent many hours with MS support on this but without a solution. Here is a screenshot as requested

[isladogs]

Sorry but I'm not the best person to assist with this.
I use DSN-less connections so never have to work with the Data Link Properties window.
Hopefully someone else will step in and assist.

[Chuck]

The message I am getting refers to details with which I am totally unfamiliar. I have been creating Word mail merges that draw on Access data for decades, without being aware of the underlying connections, such as DSN. This is all new to me. This is why it's a bit of a puzzle. It is not clear to me having spoken to MS support (Windows support, Office support and a brief conversation with Access commercial) which area within Microsoft is responsible for providing support for this issue.

[isladogs]

As I say, I can't answer your specific question.
My mail merges are all handled from Access using code based on Albert Kallal's Super Easy Mail Merge ...and it really is very easy to use

[Chuck]

I want to add, for clarification, that my database is split into front end and back end and has been for a very long time. Both back end and front end reside on my computer.

[Chuck]

This may be important.Regarding the screenshot that I provided, if I click on "Test", this is what I get: "Microsoft Data Link Error
Test connection failed because of an error in initializing provider,[Microsoft][ODBC Driver Manager] Data source name not found and no default driver specified."

From what I have seen by way of search, it seems possible that there could be a registry issue involved here. My Office edition is 64 bit.

[Chuck]

A little more experimentation....

If from the Word merge document I point to the Access query containing the merge data, the initial error messages do not appear. I am then given the opportunity within Word to complete the merge, at which point I get this error message:
"Word could not merge with the data source because the data records were empty or no data records matched your query options."

Clearly there is something wrong with the operation of Access OBDC. What is puzzling is that I have reinstalled Access as pat of reinstalling Office 365, and my understanding is that this process includes a fresh install of ODBC and the driver.

Any suggestions re solutions or how I can learn more about ODBC would be very appreciated.