Modifying A Link Table (I'm literally begging here)

[Newsgroupie 9]

Hello,

I have a database in Microsoft 97. I want to add two new fields/columns.
When I do this I get this message:

JCQ - Database System can't save property changes for linked tables.

Do you want to continue anyway?

Please help.

How can I get around this so that I can insert two new fields into this
table?

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

Make the change in the database where the table really is, not in your
database that's linked to it.

 

[John Vinson]

How can I get around this so that I can insert two new fields into this
table?

Open the backend database (it will usually have a name ending in _BE
if you used the Database Splitter Wizard) directly, and make the
change there. The frontend database does not contain the table, only a
link to it, so naturally you can't change the structure of something
that does not exist in your database!

 

[Newsgroupie 9]

Both of those responses and plunged me further into uncertainty.

I am working in that database. I am trying to add two new columns in that
table. The table is called Main1. I want to add two new columns/fields
(First Name and Last Name) but it keeps telling me that Main1 has other
tables linked to it so I cannot create the two new fields.

As for the backend splitter wizard it tells me that my table will be . . .
split and to make a backup copy before I begin. That scared the hell out of
me so I returned to this newsgroup.

Please help.

Act as if I am the dumbest idiot on the planet when it comes to Access 97
(which I am ;-) Thank you for responding anyway. It is always nice to see
a reponse.

Thank you,

 

[Tim Ferguson]

I am working in that database. I am trying to add two new columns in
that table. The table is called Main1. I want to add two new
columns/fields (First Name and Last Name) but it keeps telling me that
Main1 has other tables linked to it so I cannot create the two new
fields.

Okay let's start from the beginning. It is now clear that a "link table" is
not the same as a linked table, so we'll need to understand a bit more
about what you do mean. Please can you post what the table looks like at
the moment and what relationships are defined; and what steps you have
taken so far to change it.

If you are _really_ working in the same mdb file that actually holds the
real table data; and if you are only trying to add a couple of fields
without affecting the key columns; then I cannot easily see why you should
not be able to carry out the command.

B Wishes


Tim F

 

[John Vinson]

I am working in that database. I am trying to add two new columns in that
table. The table is called Main1. I want to add two new columns/fields
(First Name and Last Name) but it keeps telling me that Main1 has other
tables linked to it so I cannot create the two new fields.

The trouble is that the word 'link' has two different meanings: tables
can be Linked, that is they reside in a separate database (a
"backend") and your frontend database doesn't actually contain the
tables, only a pointer to them (a 'link'). This will be visible in the
Database window by showing each such linked table with a bold black
arrow to the left of the table name. If you don't have such arrows,
the database splitter has not been run, and this isn't the source of
the problem! From your initial message it sounded like it was, but the
paragraph above suggests otherwise.

The other kind of 'link' is a Relationship between two tables.
Normally adding a new field to a table should not be affected by such
a Relationship; but you may need to open the Relationships window, and
select the line from the table you're trying to edit to whatever other
table it's related to. Delete the join line (not the table icon). Then
edit the new fields into the table, go back into the relationships
window, and create the join again.