Printing Errors After the Microsoft Word 2211 Update

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Notice: New versions of the Aeon 5.1 Client (v5.1.9) and Aeon 5.0 Client (v5.0.5) that resolve this issue are now available.
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Problem

After the Microsoft Word version 2211 update, attempting to print from the Staff Desktop Client triggers the following error message:

"The OpenDataSource method or property is not available because a macro is currently running."

We’ve reported this issue to Microsoft. You can read more about the issue here.

Status

Updated versions of the Aeon Desktop Client are now available that introduce a new mail merge method resolving this issue. Please run the update for your currently installed major version of the Aeon Desktop Client (Aeon Client 5.1.9 or Aeon Client 5.0.5) to implement this fix.

Running the desktop client update will automatically switch the client mail merge method to use the updated functionality. No existing printing functionality will be affected or changed by this update. 

If you are unable to run the desktop client update, please click below for information on the manual workaround options available.

Click for additional workaround options

Video Overview

The following video provides an overview of the issue and the known workarounds prior to the desktop client hotfix release:

Video explaining the printing issue and workaround options

Option 1: Rollback the Word Update

Contact your IT staff to rollback to Microsoft Word Version 2209 or prior to restore automatic merging and printing. Disable Microsoft Word updates pending resolution of this issue. Instructions for this process are available in Microsoft's documentation

Option 2: Manually Merge the Print Documents

Manually open the print template and merge it with the data source to create the merged print document each time you need to print from the Staff Desktop Client. Steps for manually opening the document and merging:

  1. Attempt to print your document(s) from the Staff Desktop Client so that the new data file is created
  2. The error message will display 
  3. Close out the error message
  4. Locate your print templates by checking the Customization Manager under System | General | PrintDocumentsPath (Aeon & ILLiad) or System | Printing | PrintDocumentsPath (Ares)
  5. Consult the documentation to find the name of the template to open in the PrintDocumentsPath directory and the associated data file. For example, the ILLiad LendingLoanSlips.doc template merges with the Documents\ILLiad\Print\StacksL.xslx data file.
  6. Navigate to the document you need to print in File Explorer and double-click to open it. This should be a Word document file.
  7. If presented with a box that says “Opening this document will run the following SQL command....” click No and proceed with the steps below unless you have saved the document with the proper data source previously. If you have already run through this process and saved the template with the associated data source, you can click Yes and skip to the Finish and Merge step below.
  8. Open the Mailings ribbon at the top.
  9. Click the Select Recipients button and choose Use an Existing List...
  10. Navigate to the data source associated with the print template as specified in the documentation linked above. Data source files are .xlsx files located in Documents\ProductName\Print. (Ex. Documents\ILLiad\Print\StacksL.xslx.)
  11. Click Open
    • If you get a popup box asking if you are using the PrintQueue or LegacyQueue, choose the appropriate one for your template, usually PrintQueue. If there is only one option in the popup box, select that option and click OK.
  12. Click Yes to merge with the data source if prompted
  13. Click Mailings on the menu bar then select Finish and Merge to choose to either Edit/Display the documents before sending them to the printer or Print without editing:
    1. Select OK to choose all records to merge
    2. Select a printer if necessary and print your document
    3. If you have adequate permissions, you can save this template with the associated data file so that you don’t have to link the data file with each printing. To do so, just click the Save option in Word.
  14. Repeat for each printing job
Please contact support@atlas-sys.com if you need assistance walking through this process or if you’d like some text to send to your IT group to request permission to edit /save print templates.

Questions?

If this article didn’t resolve your issue, please contact Atlas Support for assistance:

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