CODEWITHSUNDEEP
ms-accessms-access-97
leebrandt
leebrandt

Reputation: 1788

I need to write an Access 97 .mdb file

I need to export data from a SQL server 2005 DB to an Access 97 .mdb file. The client that needs it, needs it to be Access 97 because the system that they're importing it into requires Access 97 file format (don't get me started). Any suggestions how to write an old-timey Access file from SQL or .Net (or VB6 or Ruby or Python..)?

Thanks in advance, Lee

Upvotes: 3

Views: 5923

Answers (6)

Justin Dearing
Justin Dearing

Reputation: 14978

The best way to do this is via PInvoke You will need to pass the CREATE_DBV3 parameter to SqlConfigDataSource(). Here is the code taken from JetSqlUtil.cs of my OSS Project PlaneDisaster.NET:

    #region PInvoke
    private enum ODBC_Constants : int {
        ODBC_ADD_DSN = 1,
        ODBC_CONFIG_DSN,
        ODBC_REMOVE_DSN,
        ODBC_ADD_SYS_DSN,
        ODBC_CONFIG_SYS_DSN,
        ODBC_REMOVE_SYS_DSN,
        ODBC_REMOVE_DEFAULT_DSN,
    }

    private enum SQL_RETURN_CODE : int
    {
        SQL_ERROR = -1,
        SQL_INVALID_HANDLE = -2,
        SQL_SUCCESS = 0,
        SQL_SUCCESS_WITH_INFO = 1,
        SQL_STILL_EXECUTING = 2,
        SQL_NEED_DATA = 99,
        SQL_NO_DATA = 100
    }

    [DllImport("ODBCCP32.DLL",CharSet=CharSet.Unicode, SetLastError=true)]
    private static extern int SQLConfigDataSource (int hwndParent, ODBC_Constants fRequest, string lpszDriver, string lpszAttributes);

    [DllImport("ODBCCP32.DLL", CharSet = CharSet.Auto)]
    private static extern SQL_RETURN_CODE SQLInstallerError(int iError, ref int pfErrorCode, StringBuilder lpszErrorMsg, int cbErrorMsgMax, ref int pcbErrorMsg);
    #endregion


    internal static string GetOdbcProviderName()
    {
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(OdbcProviderName))
        {
            var odbcRegKey = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey("SOFTWARE\\ODBC\\ODBCINST.INI\\ODBC Drivers", false);
            var drivers = new List<string>(odbcRegKey.GetValueNames());
            if (drivers.Contains("Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb, *.accdb)"))
            {
                OdbcProviderName = "Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb, *.accdb)";
            }
            else if (drivers.Contains("Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)"))
            {
                OdbcProviderName = "Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)";
            }
            else
            {
                //TODO: Condider checking for 32 versus 64 bit.
                //TODO: Find a better exception type. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7221703/what-is-the-proper-exception-to-throw-if-an-odbc-driver-cannot-be-found
                throw new InvalidOperationException("Cannot find an ODBC driver for Microsoft Access. Please download the Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable. http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=13255");
            }
        }



    /// <summary>
    /// Creates an Access 2003 database. If the filename specified exists it is 
    /// overwritten.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="fileName">The name of the databse to create.</param>
    /// <param name="version">The version of the database to create.</param>
    public static void CreateMDB (string fileName, AccessDbVersion version = AccessDbVersion.Access2003) {
        ;
        if (File.Exists(fileName)) {
            File.Delete(fileName);
        }

        string command = "";
        switch (version)
        {
            case AccessDbVersion.Access95:
                command = "CREATE_DBV3";
                break;
            case AccessDbVersion.Access2000:
                command = "CREATE_DBV4";
                break;
            case AccessDbVersion.Access2003:
                command = "CREATE_DB";
                break;
        }

        string attributes = String.Format("{0}=\"{1}\" General\0", command, fileName);
        int retCode = SQLConfigDataSource 
            (0, ODBC_Constants.ODBC_ADD_DSN,
             GetOdbcProviderName(), attributes);
        if (retCode == 0)
        {
            int errorCode = 0 ;
            int  resizeErrorMesg = 0 ;
            var sbError = new StringBuilder(512);
            SQLInstallerError(1, ref errorCode, sbError, sbError.MaxCapacity, ref resizeErrorMesg);
            throw new ApplicationException(string.Format("Cannot create file: {0}. Error: {1}", fileName, sbError));
        }
    }

If you need to do this from a 64 bit version of SQL server you will need the 64 bit version of Office 2010 or the Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable installed.

Upvotes: 0

apenwarr
apenwarr

Reputation: 11046

What you need to do is export into an Access file for whatever Access version you have installed (as long as it's 2000...2003; Access 2007 can't write to Access 97 files). I assume you already know how to do this.

Then you can create an Access object via COM and ask it to convert your new .mdb file into a new Access 97 database. In VBScript, the code looks like this (adjust as necessary if you're using VBA, VB.Net, or another language):

const acFileFormatAccess97 = 8

dim app
set app = CreateObject("Access.Application")
app.ConvertAccessProject "y:\mydatabase.mdb", "y:\mydatabase97.mdb", acFileFormatAccess97

If you have Access 97 installed, the above command won't work, because Access didn't have the ConvertAccessProject function in that version. Of course, you don't need to convert the file in that case anyway.

Upvotes: 2

Cyberherbalist
Cyberherbalist

Reputation: 12329

This is a great question! I've actually wanted to be able to do this kind of thing in a programmatic way, but in the past I've had nothing but trouble coming up with it. However, have matured a bit in my .NET skills over the years, I thought I would take a shot at writing a solution that could be executed as a Console app. This can be implemented either as a scheduled task on the windows server or sql server (using the Sql Server agent). I don't see why this couldn't be automated from the Sql Server without the following code, but I really had fun with this, so I just have to put it out there. The table in both Sql and Access is a list of dogs, with an ID, a name, a breed, and a color. Generic stuff. This actually works on my desktop between a local instance of Sql Server and Access (2007, but I don't know why it wouldn't work with 97). Please feel free to critique.

BTW, has the following:

using System.Data;
using System.Data.OleDb;
using System.Data.SqlClient;

Here:

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    SqlConnectionStringBuilder cstrbuilder = new SqlConnectionStringBuilder();
    cstrbuilder.DataSource = "localhost";
    cstrbuilder.UserID = "frogmorton";
    cstrbuilder.Password = "lillypad99";
    cstrbuilder.InitialCatalog = "Dogs";
    SqlConnection sconn = new SqlConnection(cstrbuilder.ToString());
    sconn.Open();
    SqlCommand scmd = new SqlCommand("select * from Dogs", sconn);

    SqlDataReader reader = scmd.ExecuteReader();

    if (reader.HasRows)
    {

        OleDbConnectionStringBuilder sb = new OleDbConnectionStringBuilder();
        sb.Provider = "Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0";
        sb.PersistSecurityInfo = false;
        sb.DataSource = @"C:\A\StackOverflog\DogBase.mdb";
        OleDbConnection conn = new OleDbConnection(sb.ToString());
        conn.Open();
        OleDbCommand cmd = new OleDbCommand("Delete from Dogs", conn);
        cmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text;
        cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
        conn.Close();

        OleDbConnection conn2 = new OleDbConnection(sb.ToString());
        conn2.Open();
        OleDbCommand icmd = new OleDbCommand("Insert into dogs (DogID, DogName, Breed, Color) values ({0}, '{1}', '{2}', '{3}');", conn2);
        icmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text;

        while (reader.Read())
        {
            string insertCommandString =
                String.Format("Insert into dogs (DogID, DogName, Breed, Color) values ({0}, '{1}', '{2}', '{3}');"
                , reader.GetInt32(0)
                , reader.GetString(1)
                , reader.GetString(2)
                , reader.GetString(3)
                );
            icmd.CommandText = insertCommandString;
            icmd.ExecuteNonQuery();

        }
        conn2.Close();
    }

    sconn.Close();
}

Upvotes: 0

David-W-Fenton
David-W-Fenton

Reputation: 23067

I think it's crazy to do it from SQL Server. Just create an ODBC DSN for your SQL Server and import the tables into your Access 97 MDB and be done with it. The only reason you might want to do it otherwise is if you want to automate it and do it repeatedly, but that can be automated in Access, too (TransferDatabase can do ODBC imports), and will take only as many lines of code as there are tables to import.

Upvotes: -1

Jimmy Chandra
Jimmy Chandra

Reputation: 6580

This might give you a starting point. And this article is a bit old, but you might be able to pick up something. I can only find those using Jet 4.0 which is compatible w/ Access 2000 as in the previous article. Using the MS Access driver might give you what you want.

After you created the database, use regular ODBC / OLE DB related stuffs in ADO.NET to create your table and populate them w/ your data.

Upvotes: 0

Cyberherbalist
Cyberherbalist

Reputation: 12329

I'd let Sql 2005 do it for you.

In the Sql Management Stuidio, right-click on your source database, then Tasks, then Export Data. You can use this to export directly into your Access database, just follow the prompts. Or you can output it to a file format you can use to put into Access.

Upvotes: 4

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