Converting mdb to txt file

[John F]

I will be developing with Access 2003 or 2007 an application in a secure
environment that I will eventually want to move to an unsecured environment.
Files going out need to be scanned to ensure there is no sensitive
information. The methods used to scan cannot deal with mdb files. My
question is, can a complex application, with all types of objects and VBA
code be converted to a readable text file, then converted back to the mdb
without any loss of data or functionality?

Also, any other ideas besides converting to a text that I might consider?

Thanks.

John

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

You could use the undocumented SaveAsText (and LoadFromText) methods. See my
February, 2005 "Access Answers" column in Pinnacle Publication's "Smart
Access" for an example. You can download the column (and sample database)
for free at http://www.accessmvp.com/djsteele/SmartAccess.html

That having been said, though, you won't be able to guarantee that the
restored database is 100% the same as the original without some additional
work. You could have database properties to worry about, as well as needing
to be concerned about the application's References.

 

[Jeff Boyce]

John

There's something I'm not yet clear on...

An Access .mdb (or .accdb) file is a single file that contains all access
objects and code and (if you don't split the db) all the data. The
definition of an Access form is, in and of itself, pretty useless unless you
have data to display in that form.

Why is it necessary to have a secure Access form? I would think that having
secure Access DATA would be the critical issue.

More info, please...


Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP

 

[John F]

Doug - thanks, I will check that out. I don't mind some additional work to
restore as long as there is some bound on how much work is required. I'll
look into it.

Jeff - Objects such as forms and VBA code do not contain any sensitive
information, and the tables could be cleaned, but I would have to be able to
prove all that to a scanning process - and that process looks for words and
phrases, and unfortunately, does not process mdb files.

If I can't find a good alternative, e.g. if I am not comfortable with the
method Doug describes, I could try and see if I could work out procedures
with the "gatekeepers" a way to use Access to inspect the various objects,
but I don't know if I can arrange that.

Hope that clarifies the question.

Thanks for the replies.

John