Access 2007 and VB6

[Mikeb]

Will the two work together = thinking of updating my access 97 to access
2007. I just use it as a database for some VB6 programs and with the new
file format wonder if the VB6 program will still be able to read the new
formats.

 

[Tony Toews]

Will the two work together = thinking of updating my access 97 to access
2007. I just use it as a database for some VB6 programs and with the new
file format wonder if the VB6 program will still be able to read the new
formats.

VB6 can't read Access 2000 or Access 2007 format MDBs without ensuring
you have the proper DAO/ADO drivers. This was a particular problem
when A2000 came out after VB6.0 due to Jet 4.0 and DAO 3.6.

Also I see no particular reason to switch. A97 and Jet 3.5 are quite
stable. Don't muck with success.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm

 

[Mikeb]

Very true, the two do work together once you have the proper drivers. Guess
my real question are there drivers that come with access 2007 that will
allow VB6 to use the database?

 

[Allen Browne]

Mike I haven't tested this, but give it a shot and report back for
everyone's benefit whether it works or not:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...36-8C28-4598-9B72-EF94E038C891&displaylang=en

 

[Tony Toews]

Very true, the two do work together once you have the proper drivers. Guess
my real question are there drivers that come with access 2007 that will
allow VB6 to use the database?

Allen's pointed out a link but why? You don't really gain anything
useful so what's the point?

Tony

--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm

 

[Jamie Collins]

Will the two work together = thinking of updating my access 97 to access
2007. I just use it as a database for some VB6 programs and with the new
file format wonder if the VB6 program will still be able to read the new
formats.

I can see that a port from Access 97 format (Jet 3.51) to Access 2000
format would be worthwhile to leverage Jet 4.0 functionality:
table-level CHECK constraints, the DECIMAL data type, richer SQL DDL,
better SQL-92 compliance (will help when you decide to port away from
the Access product). While you can selectively switch to DAO, you'll
find that ADO covers the vast majority of Access functionality; the
same cannot be said for DAO 3.n, which is missing much of the Jet 4.0
functionality.

However, porting to Access 2007 (ACE) would not be such a
straightforward case to make because the Access team have yet to
incorporate Jet 4.0 functionality into DAO, so you may find you must
frequently switch between ADO and ACEDAO. Also, with ACE you must have
Access 2007 on each machine (and pay for an appropriate licence), while
Jet 4.0 requires only the freely-distributable MDAC.

Jamie.

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[Mikeb]

As I have not bought Access in quite awhile, I thought it would be nice to
upgrade to the latest version. I am also thinking of updateing to the new
Vista system. I just wanted to make sure that I could use VB6 with the new
version of Access even it there is a learning curve involved. I plan to buy
VB.net later in the year, I think there is going to be a new version later
in the year.

So I guess you are saying that I can't use access as a backend for programs
that I create and give to others? I would have to have anyone who used the
program buy a full copy of Access before they could use my program? That's
not very nice...

 

[Allen Browne]

So I guess you are saying that I can't use access as a backend for
programs that I create and give to others?

No, Mike that is not the case.

Access 2007 can create ACCDB files (the new format), as well as MDB files
(in Access 2000 format or Access 2002/2003 format)

You can therefore create an MDB file, and use it in your VB6 program, just
as you could with Access 2000, 2002 or 2003.

 

[Mikeb]

Thanks for the info, I feel a lot better about doing an upgrade to the
programs. I hope what you are saying is that I can get the databases fixed
up in the 2007 version and then save the whole database as an earlier
version for use with my programs.
Thanks again...

 

[Allen Browne]

You can create the database in A2000 format (or in A2002/2003 format if you
prefer), and work on it in that format using A2007, just as you could use an
A2000 format database natively in A2002 or A2003.

You cannot modify an Access 97 MDB in Access 2007. But you can't do that in
Access 2000, 2003, or 2003 either.

Here's a list of the database file formats supported by each version:
http://allenbrowne.com/ser-53code.html#GetFileFormat

 

[Jamie Collins]

Mike I haven't tested this, but give it a shot and report back for
everyone's benefit whether it works or not:http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=7554F536-8C2...

Thanks for posting the link, Allen. I've downloaded it and on first
appearances all is good.

The components include an OLE DB provider for ACE 12 (Access 2007
engine). It can be used via ADO classic to create, administer and
query an Access 2007 format (.accdb) database on a machine that does
not have Access 2007 installed. This is includes Jet 4.0
functionality; I didn't try any functionality exclusively to Access
2007 to (due to my ignorance on the subject <g>) but there is every
expectation of its inclusion.

I retract my earlier comments on the subject and now agree that VB6
can work well with Access 2007 format using these components. Of
course, issues to be considered include how these components are
permitted to be distributed and how available they will be in future
(i.e. will they continue to be publicly available as a free download)
but this is an extremely positive step by MSFT.

Jamie.

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