Change query output column order, Access 2003

[Myrna Larson]

I just upgraded from Access XP to Access 2003. I am working with an MDB file
originally created in Access 2000.

I want to change the order of the output columns in an existing query.

In the past, I accomplished this in Design view by dragging the column to
its new position. This gave me what I wanted in DataSheet view and made the
appropriate change to the SQL statement.

When I do the same thing in Access 2003, then run the query, the column
order is NOT changed, and the SQL statement is not changed, either.

Similarly, if I change the SQL statement to reflect the new order, it
doesn't "take". I still see the original order in the Design and DataSheet
views.

OTOH, when I move the column in DataSheet view, then run the query again,
the new order is "remembered", but the Design view grid and the SQL
statement are not changed to match what I see in the Datasheet.

IOW, the only way I have found to re-order the output columns is to do it in
Datasheet view. The end result is that the grid, the SQL statement, and the
data sheet are not "in synch".

I can't find anything on this by searching the MS Knowledge Base or via a
Google search of the newsgroups. Has anybody else seen this? What is going
on? What has to be done to fix it?

Windows XP, SP2, BTW.

 

[Myrna Larson]

More information: it seems that if you EVER change the column order from
Datasheet view, then you can NEVER change it from the Design View grid or via
the SQL statement. The Datasheet view and the Grid/SQL statement may be "out
of synch". When you run the query, the order is what you set from Datasheet
view. If you export the query, the order is what you see in the Grid/SQL.

The above also happens with a brand-new query created in Access 2003.

Is this expected behavior or a bug? If it's expected, how do you remove the
manual changes made in Datasheet view?