How to "decompile" Access data base ?

[Will]

I've read some comments about decompiling in order to solve some Access dB
issues.

1 - Is this something you would do only for a data base created with Visual
Basic or C ?
2 - If an Access dB is created by just using the tools and menus that come
with Access can you still 'decompile' ?
3 - How do you do it?
4 - When would you do it?
5 - Can you do it just on a 'front end' or 'back end' ?

I am familar with 'decompiling' a compiled computer program but never
thought of Access as a language like Basic or C.

thanks for any help.

 

[Rick Brandt]

I've read some comments about decompiling in order to solve some Access dB
issues.

1 - Is this something you would do only for a data base created with Visual
Basic or C ?
2 - If an Access dB is created by just using the tools and menus that come
with Access can you still 'decompile' ?
3 - How do you do it?
4 - When would you do it?
5 - Can you do it just on a 'front end' or 'back end' ?

I am familar with 'decompiling' a compiled computer program but never thought
of Access as a language like Basic or C.

Open Access with a shortcut or from a command line with the /decompile
argument...

"Path to MSAccess.exe" /decompile

Then open your MDB. If you have any startup code or macros hold the shift key
while opening the file. All of the tokenized (compiled) VBA code in the file
will be discarded leaving your entire project uncompiled. Older versions of
Access display a message upon completion. Newer ones don't. Then close Access,
re-open Access and your file normally and then compile all modules. My full
procedure to do this is...

Compact/Repair file
Close Access
Open Access/File with /decompile argument
Close Access
Reopen Access and compact the file
Open the file and compile all modules
Compact/Repair file again

 

[TC]

Access lets you write code, for the database, in the Visual Basic for
Applications (VBA) language.

The VBA is stored within the database, in two forms: (1) the readable
source-code, which is what you see when you view or edit the code; and
(2) the corresponding semi-compiled code, which is faster to process at
runtime. Access automatically compiles the sourecode (or portions
thereof), into semi-compiled or so-called "tokenized" code, when-ever
required.

Decompiling an Access database, is the process of discarding all the
existing semicompiled code, so it will all be recreated (automatically)
when required. You're really decompiling the "VBA project", not the
actual database. The VBA project is stored within the database file.

You decompile by using the /decompile command-line switch. See F1 help
for more information. Decompiling helps in various situations, such as,
when the semicompiled code has been corrupted for some reason.

HTH,
TC (MVP Access)
http://tc2.atspace.com