.MDB file saved with Word docs from mail merge

Margaret Kellner

I'm at my second company that uses Raiser's Edge.  At both companies I pulled acknowledgement letters through the mail merge function.  At my previous company, I only saw the Word files saved when pulled.  At my current company, I see an additional .MDB file for every merge pulled, which I then have to go through and delete.  I understand that they are a necessary part of the merge process, but there has to be a way to hide them.  Not only did I not see them at my previous place of employment, but I have current colleagues who used to pull letters before me who have never seen these .MDB files.  It seems to only be my account/computer/whatever that sees them.


I realize that it's a minor inconvenience overall, but it does take time to delete them and they clutter up my letter folders.  Does anyone have any advice on this matter?  Blackbaud support has not been helpful, saying that their engineers don't know why I would have never seen them before.


Thanks!

John Heizer

I know that RE creates a temporary .MDB file to do the merges, but it should also be handling the deletion of that file when the merge is completed.  I've NEVER seen that temp file in more than 20 years of working with RE at multiple organizations, so I don't think the engineers are understanding the end-user viewpoint.


The one thing I can suggest to check is in RE under Tools -> User Options... -> File Locations.  Be sure there is a file path entered for every option you use.


 

Margaret Kellner

Aha!  I knew I was right.  Thank you


Now, going to the File Extension tab as you suggested, all I'm seeing is a path for is the AddressAccelerator Data Files.  To be clear, I want to save the .docx files in a folder of my creation and the .mdb files to disappear or save somewhere else.  I just looked at my colleague's tab, and his looks the same as mine, but he also never sees .mdb files.

Aaron Rothberg

Are you sure AddressAccelerator is the only option you have available to set a file location? You should see something like this:



 

Margaret Kellner

I do see that window.  I meant that AddressAccelerator Data Files was the only line that had a location indicated.  All the rest are blank.  This is also true for my colleague who doesn't get visible .mdb files.

Aaron Rothberg

To your point, not setting the file location may not be the problem, but that's what John was suggesting you set. If you click in the white space next to any file type, you'll see an ellipsis appear. Click on that ellipsis and browse to your desired location to set that location.



 

Margaret Kellner

Yes, I understand how it works.  My point is that my colleague also does NOT have any file locations selected there except for AddressAccelerator, yet he does NOT see the .mdb files.  This leads me to conclude that this window may not be the solution.  A question I do have about it, though, is if I select a location, will it save the .docx files there as well?  I currently have those saving to my desktop.

Tim Hendrickson

I get those too and have just been deleting them.  I've tried opening them in Access, but they seem to be non-standard .mdb files.

Leslie McGeady

I also get .mdb
files that are saved to my desktop which is where all letters are
saved.  It's a nuisance but one that hasn't been at the top of
my to-do list so I never looked into it until I saw this
conversation.  I too simply delete them.

--

Leslie McGeady

Development Database
Coordinator

505 South Ludlow Street

Dayton, OH 45402

(937) 461-3740
x212

cjeagles.org

Isaac Comer

Logically, some sort of setting between your computer and your colleague's.  Whether or not we can determine what that is, is another story.


The only thing I can think of at the moment is to check on the environment variables "TEMP" and "TMP".


There are several ways to do that.  Here's one of them:

Press Windows + R to display the "Run" box

type "sysdm.cpl" exactly as written, but without the quotes and press Enter.


This should bring up the "System Properties" box.  Choose Advanced tab, then: Environment Variables.


In the upper pane, will be "User variables for <username>"


"TEMP" and "TMP" should both be there, and they should have values like: "C:\\Users\\<username>\\AppData\\Local\\Temp" or something similar.  If either of them are missing or set to the desktop or something, then that could explain it.  Alternatively, if the "Temp" folder is read-only for some reason, that might also be it.


--- OR ----


It could be some strange Raiser's Edge thing.  But still, if it happens to yours and not your college's, then some one of the infinitude of settings is different between your two computers.


If they keep getting created:  with a bit of effort, a one-line batch file could be made that deletes all MDB files from the desktop when you double click it:

del "%userprofile%\\Desktop\\*.MDB"


Note, I haven't actually tested that yet.  And they will skip the recycle bin, so be sure not to put important .MDB files there just in case.