I want to use an existing database in Microsoft Access 97 without converting it
Read about opening a previous-version database without converting it
When to enable
You may want to enable a database in a multiuser environment where all users can't
upgrade to Microsoft Access 97 at the same time. In this situation, a database must be
used simultaneously with different versions of Microsoft Access, and users who have
upgraded to Microsoft Access 97 can enable a database in a previous-version format. When a
Microsoft Access 97 user enables the database, Microsoft Access maintains the original
format so that users of previous versions of Microsoft Access can continue to use the
database. For example, if a shared database is created in Microsoft Access version 2.0, it
can be used with Microsoft Access version 2.0 and enabled in Microsoft Access 97.
Forward compatibility
You can enable a Microsoft Access version 1.x or 2.0 database with both Microsoft
Access 95 and Microsoft Access 97. You can also enable a Microsoft Access 95 database with
Microsoft Access 97. When you use Microsoft Access 97 to enable a previous-version
database, you can view objects in the database and add, delete, or modify records.
However, you can't modify the design of objects. To modify the design of existing objects
or to add new objects, you must open the database with the version of Microsoft Access
used to create it. You can't open a Microsoft Access 97 database with a previous version
of Microsoft Access.
Instead of enabling, you can share front-end/back-end applications between Microsoft
Access version 1.x or 2.0, Microsoft Access 95, and Microsoft Access 97, provided that the
back-end database is maintained in the oldest version of Microsoft Access that is being
used.
Same table structure
The underlying structure of tables is the same in Microsoft Access 97 as it is in
Microsoft Access 95. As a result, you can share front-end/back-end applications between
Microsoft Access 95 and Microsoft Access 97, without having to either convert or enable
either the front-end or the back-end databases. For example, the back-end database, which
contains only tables, may be a Microsoft Access 97 database, and the front-end database
can reside on machines using either Microsoft Access 95 or Microsoft Access 97.
New style of toolbars and menu bars
Microsoft Access 97 supports a new style of toolbars and menu bars. When you enable a
Microsoft Access 95 database in Microsoft Access 97, custom toolbars are converted to the
new style but the conversion isn't saved. Custom menu bars are interpreted as the new
style menu bar, but the menu bar macros are not converted and continue to be supported.
Notes :
- If your database is secure, you can make sure that it retains all its security by using
the Workgroup Administrator to join the secure database's Microsoft Access version 1.x or
2.0 workgroup information file. As long as you use the database in its original workgroup,
it retains all its security.
- Your database may increase in size when you enable it. If the database contains a
project, Microsoft Access 97 converts the project and stores it in a hidden system table
named MSysModules2 so that the database can work under the current version of Visual Basic
for Applications. Depending on the size of the project, the addition of the MSysModules2
table can as much as double the size of the database. If a database is enabled for both
Microsoft Access 95 and Microsoft Access 97, the project size will increase even more. In
rare cases, you may have enabled a Microsoft Access version 1.x database in Microsoft
Access version 2.0, enabled it again in Microsoft Access 95, and enabled it again in
Microsoft Access 97; in this case, the project will be stored in three hidden system
files.
Open a previous-version database in Microsoft Access 97 without converting it
1 Click Open Database on the toolbar.
2 Click the previous-version database file you want to enable and click
Open.
3 In the Convert/Open Database dialog box, click Open Database.
Microsoft Access enables the previous-version database in Microsoft Access 97, without
making any permanent changes to the previous-version database. An enabled database can
still be opened with its original version of Microsoft Access.
About converting a version 1.x or 2.0 database to Microsoft Access 97
In most cases, you will want to convert Microsoft Access version 1.x or 2.0 databases
to Microsoft Access 97. Although you can enable a version 1.x or 2.0 database in Microsoft
Access 97 without converting it, you can neither change the design of objects in that
database nor take advantage of many of the new features in Microsoft Access 97 until you
convert the database. Once you've converted a database to Microsoft Access 97, you can't
open that database in version 1.x or 2.0, and you can't convert it back.
If your database is a multiuser (shared) database, and all users can't upgrade to
Microsoft Access 97 at the same time, you can upgrade parts of your database to support
new features, while maintaining the original database unaltered.
Converting Microsoft Access version 1.x or 2.0 to Microsoft Access 97
Creating and modifying objects. When you're using Microsoft Access 97 to work
with a Microsoft Access version 1.x or 2.0 database, you can use objects in the database
to view and modify data. However, you can't save changes to database objects. To modify
the design of an object or create a new object in the database, you must either open the
database using the previous version or convert the database to Microsoft Access 97 format.
Changing database permissions. In order to change or add permissions in a
previous-version database, you must either open the database with the previous version or
convert the database to Microsoft Access 97 format. To take advantage of Microsoft Access
97 enhanced security, and to maintain the full security of your original database, you
should recreate your user and group accounts and passwords using a Microsoft Access 97
workgroup information file.
Database names that are reserved words. If a database you are converting has a
database name or project name that is a reserved word in Microsoft Access 97, an
underscore ( _ ) will be appended to the converted database or project name. For
example, a Microsoft Access version 2.0 database named Forms will have the name Forms_
after it is converted to Microsoft Access 97.
New toolbars and menu bars. Microsoft Access 97 supports a new style of toolbars
and menu bars. When you convert a Microsoft Access 95 database to Microsoft Access 97, any
custom toolbars, as well as built-in toolbars, are automatically converted to the new
style of toolbar. Custom menu bars, created with the Microsoft Access 95 Menu Builder or
with macros, are interpreted as the new-style menu bars when you open a converted
database, but are not automatically converted, and therefore can't be edited using the
Customize dialog box. You can use the Create Menu From Macro and Create Shortcut Menu From
Macro subcommands on the Macro command (Tools menu) to create the new style of menu bar
from macros that use AddMenu actions. This enables you to use the Customize dialog box to
edit them.
DoMenuItem replaced with RunCommand. The DoMenuItem action is replaced in
Microsoft Access 97 with the RunCommand action; DoMenuItem is still supported for
backwards compatibility. When you convert a database, the DoMenuItem action is
automatically converted to the RunCommand action.
/Runtime command-line option no longer supported. In order to use the /runtime option,
you must use Microsoft Office 97, Developer Edition (ODE). For information on the ODE,
click .
Converting Microsoft Access version 1.x only (not version 2.0) to Microsoft Access
97
Control names that contain the right bracket (]). If your Microsoft Access
version 1.x forms have controls that include the right bracket in their names, the forms
will work the same as they did in version 1.x after you convert them to Microsoft Access
97. However, you can't create a new control that contains a right bracket in its name, and
if you try to modify a control name that already contains a right bracket, you must remove
the right bracket.
Backquote character (`) in object names. If an object name in a Microsoft Access
version 1.x database includes a backquote character (`), you won't be able to open that
object using Microsoft Access 97 or to convert the database to Microsoft Access 97 format.
Use Microsoft Access version 1.x to rename it first. After renaming the object, you must
also change references to that object in your queries, forms, reports, macros, and modules
for them to work correctly. To find references to the old name in your converted database,
on the Tools menu, point to Analyze, and then click Documenter.
Updating query fields. Using Microsoft Access 97, you can update the data in
some fields in multiple-table queries that you can't update using Microsoft Access version
1.x. For example, in a query that includes fields from a Customers table and an Orders
table (where one customer can have more than one order), you can't update fields from the
Customers table using version 1.x. Using Microsoft Access 97, you can update fields from
the Customers table in most situations. This makes your queries and the forms based on
them less restrictive. If you don't want these fields updated in a form, set the Locked
property of form controls that are bound to the fields to Yes.
Combo boxes and list boxes. For combo boxes and list boxes that have their
RowSource property set to a table or a query, Microsoft Access 97 displays data in the
rows of the combo or list box using the format defined for the data in the Format property
of the underlying field. Microsoft Access version 1.x didn't do this. Validation rules for
tables. Enhanced validation rules for fields and records make your data safer in Microsoft
Access 97, but come with new restrictions on what elements you can include in a rule.
Rules in Microsoft Access version 1.x databases that conflict with these restrictions
can't be converted.
In Microsoft Access 97, validation rules you set for tables or their fields are always
enforced, whether you add or edit data through a form or datasheet, append or update
query, or Visual Basic for Applications, or by importing it. Validation rules set for
controls on forms are enforced only when you enter data using the form. In Microsoft
Access version 1.x, validation rules protect your data only when you enter or modify it
using a datasheet or form. In most cases, this enhanced validation doesn't change the way
your database works at all. If you have the same validation rule set for both a field in a
table and a control on a form that's bound to that field in a Microsoft Access version 1.x
database, after converting the database you can delete the validation rule set for the
control. Your form will work the same way whether you delete the validation rule or not.
If your Microsoft Access version 1.x database validation rules contain elements not
allowed in Microsoft Access 97, the rules won't be converted to Microsoft Access 97
format. When Microsoft Access encounters invalid validation rules while converting your
database, it creates the ConvertErrors table in the converted database, with information
to help you fix the rules.
Visible property. In Microsoft Access version 1.x, setting a control's Visible
property to No makes the control invisible in Form view and also hides its column in
Datasheet view. In Microsoft Access 97, setting a control's Visible property to No doesn't
hide its column in Datasheet view. To hide a column in Microsoft Access 97, on the Format
menu, click Hide Columns. You can also set the column's ColumnHidden property in a macro
or Visual Basic code.
Text and Memo fields with Null values. In a Microsoft Access version 1.x
database, if you don't type a value in a Text or Memo field, Microsoft Access stores a
Null value in the field. In Microsoft Access version 2.0 and later, you have the option of
storing either a Null value or a zero-length string. When you convert a database, all the
Null values in your 1.x database remain Null values in the converted database, and your
database will work exactly as it did in version 1.x. To take advantage of the new
flexibility, you can change the property settings of the new Required and AllowZeroLength
properties for Text and Memo fields.
