.mde File

[Guest]

I have inherited an .mde file because someone has lost the .mdb file. This
file is an Access 97 format. I must now recreate the .mde file into an .mdb
file so as it can be converted to an Access 2003 format. I know that the .mde
file can not be converted. What I need is a way to read the code behind some
of the forms. Is there someway of accessing just the code from an .mde file?

 

[Rick Brandt]

I have inherited an .mde file because someone has lost the .mdb file.
This file is an Access 97 format. I must now recreate the .mde file
into an .mdb file so as it can be converted to an Access 2003 format.
I know that the .mde file can not be converted. What I need is a way
to read the code behind some of the forms. Is there someway of
accessing just the code from an .mde file?

The code is the hardest part to get from an MDE. To get that you need to
contact a company that offers that service. Even then you apparently get
code the "works", but has very generic names for everything so it is very
difficult to look at and figure out what is going on.

 

[RD]

I have inherited an .mde file because someone has lost the .mdb file. This
file is an Access 97 format. I must now recreate the .mde file into an .mdb
file so as it can be converted to an Access 2003 format. I know that the .mde
file can not be converted. What I need is a way to read the code behind some
of the forms. Is there someway of accessing just the code from an .mde file?

Hi Mike,

When an mde file is created, the code is compiled and removed. AFAIK, there is
no way to recover it. Without the original mdb your best hope is to "reverse
engineer" the functionality of the forms.

Curious, why does it need to be converted?

RD

 

[Guest]

Company mandate, Access 97 files must be converted prior to the dead line of
the removal of Access 97.

 

[David C. Holley]

In order to read the code, you'll need to find an Irish Pub and down
several pints. Once you're completely sloshed, reading the code will be
much easier.

David H
(In creating the *.mde file, Access complies the code in such a way that
it cannot be retrieved. That might be an oversimplification, but
basically the code is gone. Hitting up an Irish Pub (or better yet a
Taverna!) does nothing but help you to cope with it.)

 

[David C. Holley]

Actually you should point out that Access 2003 can run *.mdb files (and
I presume *.mde files) created in older versions of Access without
converting them. Given that you're building the file from scratch,
you'll need to basically fight however because its now its a case where
I can guarantee that it won't be converted prior to the dead line
(unless of course the deadline is in 6 months or longer).

David H
P.S. You've got a bigger chance of success if you meet with everyone
involved at an Irish Pub.

 

[Guest]

It is a very very large company and the IT department knows everything (or so
they think).
It will be a case where on the deadline date Access 97 and all databases of
the Access 97 format will be eradicated. The IT department will then take the
stance that the users were told of the deadline, hence it is there fault that
the data is lost.

 

[Guest]

Actually you should point out that Access 2003 can run *.mdb files (and
I presume *.mde files) created in older versions of Access without
converting them. Given that you're building the file from scratch,
you'll need to basically fight however because its now its a case where
I can guarantee that it won't be converted prior to the dead line
(unless of course the deadline is in 6 months or longer).

David H
P.S. You've got a bigger chance of success if you meet with everyone
involved at an Irish Pub.

 

[Rick Brandt]

It is a very very large company and the IT department knows everything (or so
they think).
It will be a case where on the deadline date Access 97 and all databases of
the Access 97 format will be eradicated. The IT department will then take the
stance that the users were told of the deadline, hence it is there fault that
the data is lost.

Updating all versions of Access is understandable (misguided perhaps, but
understandable). I fail to see what their justification is for eliminating
Access 97 *files*. Are they going to delete all Word documents created in older
versions of Word? Are they going to do likewise for Excel files?

There would be little point in keeping any Access 97 MDEs (unless they contain
data) since the newer versions won't be able to open them anyway, but deleting
files with data in them is plain stupid and there is no reason to convert ALL
files. They will be just as easy to convert on an as-needed basis.

Remind them that IT is there to server the needs of the company, not the other
way around.

 

[David C. Holley]

Then I would suggest that you go talk to your manager and provide
written documentation that it can't simply be upsized. It has to be
created from scratch or run under Access 2003 as a '97 db. You've got a
fight on your hands. As has been stated, the code *CAN'T* be retrieved.
The *.mde file has to be taken as-is.

 

[RuralGuy]

Mike,

I haven't tried it but if your .mde is vital and you have the funds here's
a possible solution:

http://www.qbuilt.com/6901.html

I have no association with qbuilt but it seems to me that Gunny (69Camero)
does and maybe he will respond.

HTH

RuralGuy

<snip>

 

[RuralGuy]

And here's a previous response I found from Jeff Conrad who seems to have
every reference in the world on Access ;o)



The queries and macros are natively importable from mde's into a new
database.

You can import all the forms and reports at one time using Serge
Gavrilov's free tool "MDE forms/reports extractor v1.1".
http://accesstools.narod.ru/.

Another link to try:
http://www.everythingaccess.com/tutorials.asp?ID=1

And another option:
http://www.eurodownload.com/download-software/5691/Access-MDE-
Unlocker.html

More information here:
http://www.access.qbuilt.com/html/faq.html#NotImpossibleToConv

 

[Tim Ferguson]

Remind them that IT is there to server the needs of the company,

I read that as "sever the needs of the company" -- which is pretty much
true of NHS computing these days..!

All the best


Tim F