Can you open/read Access files in other Office programs?

[AAM]

I am trying to do some charity desktop publishing work
for an organization, and they have the information that I
need in Access files. I have the Office 2003 Small
Business Edition, which apparently does not include
Access. Is there a filter or anything that I can use to
read or better yet, convert and edit the Access files for
use in other Office programs? The organization has just
undergone a shift in personnel, and the new secretary
doesn't know how to export the information into another
program for me....and I would much rather not have to re-
type loads of information from hard copies of the files.
I would greatly appreciate any suggestions.

 

[Tom Wickerath]

Hi AAM,

You can import the data from the Access tables into Excel. To do this, open a new spreadsheet in
Excel.

1.) Click on Data > Import External Data > Import Data...
2.) Navigate to the folder where the database is stored. If this database has been split into a
front-end (FE) and back-end (BE) databases, then navigate to the BE database.
3.) Select a table in the Select Table dialog
4.) On the next dialog, you are allowed to specify the location and import into an existing
worksheet or a new worksheet. Click on the command button labeled Properties... Verify that the
default options are what you want, such as whether or not to refresh data on file open.
5.) You can right-click anywhere within the imported data, and you should see shortcut menu
items that include:
Edit Query...
Data Range Properties...
and Refresh Data

I suggest that you click on Edit Query... and inspect the connection information. The default
includes: "Mode=Share Deny Write;". I suggest that you change this to "Mode=Read;" (without the
quotes). Otherwise, the secretary will receive a message indicating that the database is read
only if this person attempts to open the database when you have your spreadsheet open.

You can use View > Toolbars > Customize..., select the Data category, and towards the bottom of
the Commands list, you will see a Refresh Data command. You can drag this button up to a toolbar
so that it can be used to grab the latest data from the database.

Tom

________________________________________


I am trying to do some charity desktop publishing work
for an organization, and they have the information that I
need in Access files. I have the Office 2003 Small
Business Edition, which apparently does not include
Access. Is there a filter or anything that I can use to
read or better yet, convert and edit the Access files for
use in other Office programs? The organization has just
undergone a shift in personnel, and the new secretary
doesn't know how to export the information into another
program for me....and I would much rather not have to re-
type loads of information from hard copies of the files.
I would greatly appreciate any suggestions.